Sir Peter Lampl responds to Justine Greening’s speech

Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Sutton Trust, welcomed Justine Greening’s commitment to tackling inequalities in grammar schools and urged radical change to their recruitment practices in the forthcoming White Paper.

He said: “We welcome Justine Greening’s commitment to addressing the challenges that children from poor and ordinary working families face getting into grammar schools.

“Sutton Trust research has shown that existing grammar schools are socially selective. This is mainly because of the extensive private tuition and prep schools for those who can afford them.

“Through outreach, test preparation and contextual admissions this could be radically changed. It is vital that government focuses its White Paper on ensuring that these steps are taken.”

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Our Chief Executive, Lee Elliot Major, also appeared on the Today programme to discuss Justine Greening’s speech on grammar schools.

Lee Elliot Major said “A child from a private prep school would be 10 times as likely as a child on free school meals to get into a grammar, so they are disproportionately serving those from the richest backgrounds at the top and not those from the poorest”.

Listen to the full segment here, starting at 2hrs 10 mins.