Disadvantaged pupils will have access to even more good or
outstanding school places as the Government invests another £50
million to make sure as many children as possible benefit from
world class education.
Launching the second round of the Selective Schools
Expansion Fund today (11 February), the Department for
Education will be making money available for grammar schools to
create additional places, but only if they demonstrate how they
will attract more disadvantaged pupils and work with other
schools in their area to raise standards locally.
Today’s launch marks the second round of funding available for
this programme, following the announcement of the 16 schools that
were successful in bidding for the first round. All those schools
committed to a range of measures to improve access for
disadvantaged pupils, and the Department for Education has also
today published details of those commitments.
All schools successful in the first round of the fund were rated
as Outstanding, with 98% of grammar schools rated either Good or
Outstanding overall. Grammar schools are also popular with
parents, with around 15 pupils choosing a selective school as
their first preference for every 10 selective places offered.
Today’s announcement builds on the 825,000 new school places
created since 2010 and the one million this Government is on
course to create by 2020.
School Standards Minister, , said:
Selective schools are some of the highest performing schools in
the country and so it’s right that more pupils should have the
opportunity to benefit from the world class education they
provide. It’s also right that access to those places should be
fair to pupils from all backgrounds, which is why selective
schools must demonstrate how they are going to admit more
pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, if they are going to
expand.
It is also a requirement that selective schools work with other
schools in their area. Whether through a multi academy trust or
an informal partnership, we want to see more selective schools
using their expertise to improve opportunities for a wider
group of young people.
All schools that bid to expand must submit a Fair Access and
Partnership Plan, setting out how they will improve access for
disadvantaged pupils. Today, the department is publishing the
plans of those schools that were successful in round one, making
clear the extent of the work that will be undertaken to make sure
as many young people as possible, regardless of their background,
can benefit from a place at an Outstanding school.
The nature of this work is wide ranging, for example Chelmsford
County High School will set up help desks in partner primary
schools to assist parents registering children for the entrance
test, while sixth form students at Queen Mary’s High School –
along with a number of others – will tutor pupil premium children
in literacy and numeracy to support them ahead of the entrance
test.
Chief Executive of the Grammar School Heads Association Jim
Skinner said:
We are delighted that further selective schools are being given
the opportunity to expand. The number of pupils reaching
secondary age means that it makes absolute sense that, just
like other good and outstanding schools, they are able to
expand.
The work we are doing with the Department for Education through
our Memorandum of Understanding, is proving most valuable in
extending the initiatives that member schools have undertaken
in recent years, to increase access for disadvantaged pupils
and support other schools in raising standards for all
children. Along with the Selective School Expansion Fund, this
work is making an important contribution to ensuring more
children receive the high quality education that is right for
them.
The window for applications to the second round of the Selective
Schools Expansion Fund will be open for ten weeks until 23 April.
