Comprehensive Future has updated its interactive map of grammar schools with new information obtained through a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Education. There are new figures for disadvantaged pupils, out of area pupils, and privately educated pupils in each grammar school.
CF has also obtained information to study the numbers of disadvantaged pupils in the non-selective schools surrounding individual grammar schools. This analysis revealed shocking disparities in the proportion of disadvantaged pupils in many schools which are only streets apart.
CF’s chair, Dr Nuala Burgess, said, “It beggars belief that two schools in the same neighbourhood should show such stark differences in the numbers of disadvantaged pupils on their roll. Our new information is an eye-opener. It shows the unfairness of selective areas with non-selective schools educating far higher proportions of disadvantaged and SEND pupils compared to neighbouring grammar schools. In the meantime, grammar schools admit shamefully low numbers of Free School Meal (FSM) children. To add insult to injury, some grammar schools admit as many as three quarters of their pupils from outside their local area. Some grammars were also found to be admitting a very high proportion of pupils previously educated in private schools.”
“The unfairness of all this is even greater when you consider that while the national average for FSM pupils in secondary schools is 24%, our latest study shows that if a school is located near a grammar school it can have anything between 40 % – 60% of FSM pupils.”
The study found there are 35 grammar schools which have more than a 30% gap between their FSM proportion and that of a neighbouring school. The largest gap is 54 percentage points between St Anselm’s College and Birkenhead Park School. The Wirral grammar school educates just 10% free school meal pupils, while the non-selective school a 6 minute walk away educates 64% disadvantaged pupils.
Several grammar schools with extremely high proportions of privately educated pupils are found in close proximity to schools with above average numbers of disadvantaged pupils. This social imbalance highlights the inequity in selective areas.
- In Essex King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford admits 18% privately educated pupils while the nearest non-selective school educates 39% free school meal pupils.
- Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar in Alford, Lincolnshire admits 16% private pupils while the nearest non-selective secondary school educates 43% FSM pupils.
- In Bromley, St Olave’s and St Saviour’s Grammar School admits 16% of its intake from private schools while the closest non-selective school admits 48% FSM pupils.
The latest data shows grammar schools admit an average of 6.7% FSM pupils, while in CF’s previous study in 2021 they admitted 5.2%. However the overall number of pupils receiving free school meals has risen in this timeframe.
Dr Nuala Burgess said, “Our figures show only a tiny shift in the figures since our last study of the data in 2021. This is in spite of grammar school assurances of their efforts to improve their intake of disadvantaged pupils. It would seem that little has changed. Grammar schools remain socially selective schools with their pupils more likely to come from affluent families with degree educated parents – exactly the kind of advantages which boost children’s chances of passing 11-plus selection tests. The whole concept of grammar schools is flawed. Selective education discriminates against poorer families.”
Comprehensive Future’s map of grammar schools includes new data on the % of FSM pupils at the nearest non-selective school to each grammar, and it can be found at the following link:
https://comprehensivefuture.org.uk/interactive-map-of-grammar-schools/
All data sources for CF’s map are listed here:
The grammar schools with the biggest % gap with their nearest non-selective school.
CF’s previous study of grammar schools used data from the school census of Jan 2021, our latest data uses the school census of Jan 2023.
*Most pupils will be privately educated however the data is based on ‘pupils not attending a state primary school’ so some pupils might be homeschooled or educated abroad.
