Bring back assisted places for poor pupils

Parents want a return of taxpayer-funded schemes to pay for bright children from poorer backgrounds to go to independent schools, a report says.

Some 75,000 youngsters took part in the Assisted Places Scheme, which ran for 17 years from 1980 before it was abolished by Tony Blair.

A report today on education and social mobility by the Sutton Trust campaign group says more parents now support rather than oppose schemes for the state to pay for able children to go to high-quality private schools.

An opinion poll by the Trust found 41 per cent thought all children should have the chance to go to private school at taxpayers’ expense. Only 29 per cent were against, with the rest undecided.

Read the full article in the Daily Mail.