Sir Peter Lampl: Times letter on grammar schools

Sir,

Peter Hitchens highlights our research on social selection in comprehensives (letter, Mar 13). However, other Sutton Trust research has shown that today’s grammar schools are highly socially selective, with only 3 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals.

That is why we welcome the government’s proposals, which would enable grammars to recruit more low and moderate- income students. This would lead to much better outreach, giving children from disadvantaged backgrounds a break when it comes to admissions. Such children, after all, will not have had the considerable advantages of private tuition or have been to a prep school. The government should get existing grammars moving in the right direction before opening new ones.

Read the letter online here.