Isn't going on about the 11
plus old hat?
Surely we shouldn't abolish
grammar schools?
Haven't comprehensives failed?
Who decides which children
should go to which school?
How can school admissions be
fair?
Isn't going on about the
11 plus old hat?
Selection has a very major effect on English education as many
English children still face selection at 11. This is a completely unnecessary barrier for
young children to face. It is likely that around 20% of primary children face entry tests
on ability to move on to secondary school. 15 out of the 152 local authorities have fully
selective secondary systems another 21 have fully selective secondary schools. Reports
show that this means large numbers of children are affected by selection. Many whose
parents can afford it are coached for long periods and then face failure early on in their
school lives. In selective areas many children travel long distances to go to school.
Social segregation is hugely increased by selection. Large amounts of public money which
could be spent on schools are spent on travel to school, tests and appeals. Welsh and
Scottish children do not face selection at 11.
Surely we shouldn't abolish excellent grammar schools?
That's right. We need to keep the schools. Comprehensive Future does
not want any schools to close but wants an end to selection on ability and aptitude. All
schools should be excellent, without selecting their intake. What we want to see is all
schools change their admission policies so that starting with an intake for yr 7 no child
faces entry tests on ability or aptitude. No teacher, child or parent already in the
grammar schools would be disturbed. Gradually over years these schools will become
comprehensive.
Haven't comprehensives failed?
No. Since comprehensive education was introduced in much of the
country, barriers to achievement for many young people have been removed. The annual
government statistics of school attainment, examination results, and participation in
further and higher education offer clear evidence of a 'levelling-up' over the last 25
years. The idea that there was a golden age is wrong, in the past 40% of children left
grammar schools with no qualifications. Internationally the most successful education
systems do not select children at 11.
Who should decide which children should go to which school?
What most parents want is a good local school. Admissions criteria
like nearness to school or siblings allow parents to predict if they are eligible.
Inevitably in some areas schools are not spread evenly, so there can be a need to use
catchment areas, feeder primaries, banding or lotteries. However more and more schools are
deciding their own admissions criteria, this leads to social segregation. Comprehensive
Future believes that setting admission criteria should not be open to individual schools.
The school admission forum which includes local representatives of all schools in the area
should be where decisions are made about which admission systems are fair. We also want to
see a stronger role for the locally elected authority. The administration for all schools
i.e. deciding which child fits the admission criteria for all local schools should be done
by the local authority not individual schools.
How can school admissions be fair?
The School Admissions Code sets out the rules on fair admissions
criteria. In the past, even apart from selection, many subjective criteria, for example
based on interviews, were used by schools to select children from supportive backgrounds.
Recently the School Admissions Codes and the Schools Adjudicator have outlawed unfair
criteria, but some parents are still being asked for more information than allowed by the
Code. Comprehensive Future wants selection on ability or aptitude removed. Any decision to
introduce banding, i.e. admitting children to reflect the ability profile, should be made
by the local admission forum and should apply to all schools in the area using the same
method. The test on which banding is to be based should be taken by all children in the
primary schools so that banding would reflect the ability profile across the area.
Individual schools should not be allowed to introduce banding based only on those who
apply and whose parents can bring them to take a test at the school, thereby again
selecting children from supportive backgrounds. |
