125 education professionals sign “Educators Against the 11-plus” letter as school leaders warn of the system’s deep harm to children.
Comprehensive Future has sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, calling for the phasing out of the 11-plus test and a national move towards a genuinely inclusive comprehensive education system.
The letter has been signed by 125 education professionals, including academy CEOs, headteachers and senior school leaders, as well as classroom teachers, academics, and governors from across England.
Together, these signatories represent decades of educational leadership and direct and relevant experience of working in selective and non-selective areas. Their message is clear: selection at 11 years of age undermines equality of opportunity and entrenches inequality across communities. Most importantly, the 11-plus has the potential to damage a child’s confidence in ways that last a lifetime.
A significant number of educators chose to sign the letter anonymously. Many explained that in selective areas it can be professionally difficult to voice concerns publicly, particularly for school staff working within or next to a grammar school.
Many of those who signed the letter also took the opportunity to stress the emotional and educational consequences of testing children at 10 and 11, with many professionals emphasising the long-term harm created by the exam’s pass/fail label.
One classroom teacher wrote, “I am 53 and failing the 11+ has sat like a shadow to my existence.
Many educators stressed the exam’s social bias. As one educational psychologist wrote, “The 11+ is an invalid tool which selects class, not academic potential”.
A headteacher stressed, “Tutoring is essential to achieve the necessary score, no matter how bright a child is.”
The concerns raised by the educationalists who signed the letter echo the powerful testimonies shared at Comprehensive Future’s recent event “Educators Against the 11-plus: What Educators Know, What Policymakers Ignore” which was held in the House of Lords.
Two school leaders working at the sharp edge of selective systems, Wayne Norrie, CEO of Greenwood Academies Trust, and Carl Smith, Principal of Casterton College Rutland, described the real-life consequences of selection on the children they teach.
Wayne Norrie spoke of the deep emotional impact on his pupils. He described children “in tears” waiting for their 11-plus results and Year 7 pupils arriving at secondary school referring to themselves as “failures”. He explained how selection distorts whole local systems, affecting teacher recruitment, transition between schools, and the confidence of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Carl Smith described the stark reality of selective areas, “Every morning, I drive past two bus queues in the same village – one for the grammar school, one for the comprehensive. It’s a quiet but heartbreaking reminder of the divisions this system creates.”
He urged policymakers to finish “the unfinished revolution” and move towards an education system that no longer labels children at 11.
Many of the Headteachers who signed Comprehensive Future’s Educators Against the 11-plus letter expressed similar sentiments. One stated that
“Grammar schools undermine comprehensive schools by their very existence. Finishing the job begun in the 1960s is long overdue.”
Comprehensive Future Chair, Dr Nuala Burgess, said, “The strength of feeling among these educators is undeniable. Even in areas where opposition is hard to voice, there are professionals willing to speak up because they can see the harm caused by the 11-plus every single day. They all believe that the 11-plus is an unnecessary high stakes test which has no place in today’s education system.
We urge the Secretary of State to listen to these educational experts and their collective expertise, and we ask for the opportunity of a meeting to bring these experts together with Ms Phillipson’s team to discuss how a fully inclusive education system can be achieved.”
Comprehensive Future hopes Ms Phillipson and her Department of Education will take seriously the evidence and testimonies provided by the professionals who teach, support, and guide England’s children every day. Educatonalists know what is best for our children and they deserve to be heard.
