Kent grammar school 'social mobility' doubts

Tonbridge's Weald of Kent Grammar School will open a site in Sevenoaks in 2017

Grammar schools in Kent have been criticised for having low numbers of pupils from poorer backgrounds.

Only 3% of pupils in the county's 39 grammar schools receive free school meals, compared to 15% in its comprehensives.

Kent County Council leader Paul Carter said social mobility at the grammars was "not where we would like it to be".

He has launched a commission to investigate how to boost the number of pupils from poorer homes in grammars.

It follows the permission given last week by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan for a grammar to expand to a new site in Sevenoaks.

The decision, allowing the Weald of Kent school in Tonbridge to open an "annexe", side-steps a 1998 law banning the creation of new grammars.

Conservative councillor Jenny Whittle said the authority will look at ways of getting more children from poorer backgrounds into the selective schools.

'Nothing ruled out'

She said: "We need to look at, for example, should children on free school meals be able to enter grammar schools if they have lower than the average [test score] that is required in Kent?

"Should we look at quotas? Should we look at creating a bursary scheme which offsets costs for children entering grammar school - uniform costs for example.

"Nothing is ruled out."

However, Gordon Marsden MP, who is the shadow minister for further education, said the council was "tinkering with the problem", saying there was "no evidence base" for what it was trying to do.

"Because of that we've now got this embarrassing situation where [Secretary of State for Education] Nicky Morgan has one of her flagship councils having to admit that their grammar schools are not working for social mobility," he said.

"It bears out everything we've been saying for the last week."