Grammar schools to make ‘formal’ commitment to admitting poorer pupils
Grammar school Head Teachers will make a formal commitment to try to increase the number of disadvantaged children they admit, schools minister Nick Gibb has suggested.
In a response to the Commons Education Select Committee’s report on grammar schools, he said selective school Heads will commit to improving their admissions of poorer pupils in a “formal agreement”.
One of the recommendations from the committee of MPs in February was to ensure that tests were not the only basis on which admissions to grammar schools were decided.
In the government’s response, Mr Gibb wrote: “The Grammar School Heads’ Association (GSHA) has been clear that their members are committed to improving admission rates for disadvantaged pupils, and it is important this commitment is now delivered by selective schools.
“I welcome the fact that the GSHA will codify this commitment in a formal agreement with the Department for Education.”
Earlier this year, Tes exclusively revealed that more than a third of the existing grammar schools in England were set to change their admissions procedures next year to take more children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Read the full article on the Tes.