In the House of Commons on Jan 14th, Joy Morrissey, the Conservative MP for Beaconsfield, secured an adjournment debate on the subject of, ‘Education Provision in South Buckinghamshire.’

The debate focused on the large village of Burnham, which has a grammar school but no non-selective school. This means that any child who doesn’t pass the Bucks 11-plus, is forced to travel long distances to school. As Joy Morrissey said, “Since 2019, the young people of Burnham who are not in selective education find themselves caught in excessively long journeys to schools in Maidenhead and other parts of Buckinghamshire and Slough…It is unfair for our residents, and it is having a significant effect on their mental health, physical wellbeing and finances.”

The local non-selective school failed and closed due to a falling school roll. While the debate spent a lot of time arguing that there were the pupil numbers needed to open a new non-selective school in Burnham, there was barely a mention of the village grammar school.

In response to the debate, Catherine McKinnell, the Minister for School Standards, said, “The academically selective element of secondary education in Buckinghamshire adds an additional element of complexity in place planning, as does cross-border movement into schools in neighbouring local authorities.”

It seems ridiculous to look at situations like this without acknowledging that there is a thriving secondary school in Burnham already. The problem for Burnham pupils is that the one school in the village insists on the barrier of a test pass for admittance. The local school doesn’t helpfully serve its community, instead it sorts children into those worthy, or not worthy, of being educated in its classrooms. It seems that many citizens in selective areas, including Conservative MPs, are blinkered to the perfectly obvious point that secondary schools can and do succeed when they admit pupils of all attainment levels. We now have a Commons where 409 MPs were educated in comprehensive schools. Shouldn’t they understand this point? Indeed nearly three in four (73%) Labour MPs attended comprehensive schools. People thrive and succeed in comprehensive schools throughout the land, selective education is proven to be unnecessary. 

A near identical situation is playing out in selective Kent.  In Cranbrook, the grammar school thrived, while the non-selective school struggled and closed. Just like in Burnham, parents in the community have founded a campaign group, trying to create a new local school so their children can avoid ridiculously long school commutes.

Selective education can be criticised for so many reasons, but surely even its supporters must see, that on a purely practical level it’s bound to cause problems for school planning, and cause situations like these. The viability of non-selective schools is regularly in jeopardy because they are invariably seen as second best to the grammars. A grammar school with 30 year 7 places free simply drops the requirement for a test pass and admits 30 pupils through appeals. No non-selective school can compete on equal terms, and falling rolls risks school closure.

Kent is a good case study, with around 100 secondary schools and 32 of these grammar schools. Non-selective secondary schools come and go while the grammars expand and enjoy a privileged position. Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury closed in 2015, Pent Valley Technology College in Folkestone closed in 2017, High Weald Academy in Cranbrook closed in 2022.  School closures are an unsettling trauma for staff and pupils who are forced to move, and a problem for families who must travel further afield to find an alternative school.

If we create many schools that are selective there will be fewer school options for the majority of children. This Commons debate skirted around the edges of this problem. What we really need are good local schools that welcome any child in their community. We don’t need grammar schools, they are bad neighbours in our school communities, they need to drop their tests and offer an excellent education to all.