In October 2015, the education minister Nicky Morgan gave approval for the opening of a grammar school in Sevenoaks, Kent. This was surprising because in 1998 the Labour government had passed a law prohibiting new grammar schools. However, Morgan argued that the law did not apply in this case since this was not truly a new school but an annex to an existing school: the Weald of Kent Grammar School in Tonbridge.
Grammar school children are selected at age 11 on the basis of academic ability. The schools offer a traditional academic curriculum. In the old ‘tripartite’ system, grammar schools existed alongside secondary modern schools, which offered a more vocational education. Despite the introduction of comprehensives, and later academies, grammar schools survived in some parts of the country and 164 remained in 2015.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
