Comprehensive Future

Ending academic selection is always our goal. Our new campaign sets out three practical steps towards it. Fairer Schools: Three Asks for Andy Burnham Explore the asks and join our panel in Westminster on 25 November, 5pm. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/fairer-schoo...

Is the 11-plus system 'rigged against poorer pupils?' Pass rates in poorer areas are significantly lower. Pupils attending private schools achieve the highest pass rate of any group. Expensive test tuition is commonplace. Why do we allow this inequality? www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/ke...

Thousands of Kent children learn today if they're 'grammar school standard'. Families face huge stress over this verdict. Yet Medway proposes letting more children pass next year to fit school places. Has children's 'ability' changed, or just the goalposts? www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/...

The 11-plus pass mark was 121. Court documents show Bucks grammar schools instructed their test provider to standardise scores so 1,600 in-county candidates would qualify. How did it work—and why does it matter? comprehensivefuture.org.uk/how-can-the-...

So much pressure to get a grammar school place, and to live up to expectations if you attend one. Shouldn't we stop hyping up these prestigious schools? Research shows grammar schools don't get better results, and it shouldn't be presumed that the teaching is better. inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

We support the theme of this year's CASE conference. Selection tests at age 10 and 11 make so many children stressed and miserable. "Why are so many children unhappy at school? And what we can do about it." 📅 Saturday 10th October 🕙 10am to 4pm 📍London Greenwich www.campaignforstateeducation.org.uk

CF's take on Andy Burnham's speech yesterday. #UKEd #UKEducation comprehensivefuture.org.uk/the-son-of-a...

“The son of a man who failed the 11-plus becoming Prime Minister.” A moving line from Andy Burnham today, and a reminder that no test at 10 or 11 should be allowed to limit a child’s future. Comprehensive education opens up opportunity. Selection rations it. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Can England build a comprehensive future—or are we still looking back to a tripartite past? @murraym965.bsky.social considers selection, vocational education and what genuine inclusion demands in our latest Future Thoughts article. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/a-comprehens...

Grammar schools’ results cannot be separated from the pupils they select. Major new QUB research finds that differences in outcomes are largely attributable to pupil intake—not school effectiveness—and calls for an end to high-stakes selection at 10 & 11. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/academic-sel...

A major new QUB study finds academic selection at 10–11: • reinforces inequality • puts children under pressure • narrows the primary curriculum • offers little evidence of improved social mobility Selection concentrates advantage. It doesn’t create it. www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/norther...

Tuition for 3 year olds, 11-plus homeschool bootcamps for a year... The crazy fight to win grammar school places is no good for children and has no educational point. Why do we let this continue? inews.co.uk/news/educati...

Grammar schools do NOT have an intake representative of their local area. This is the problem. Funny that some sectors of the press only notice when it's about ethnicity. Why do they never shout about the low numbers of disadvantaged and SEND pupils in grammars? www.gbnews.com/news/grammar...

"The 11 plus was unfair because it consisted of a single test, taken on a single day, at the end of primary school." Abigail failed the test in 1970, but more than 50 years later, children are still being divided by a one-off test. abigailsheppard.substack.com/p/this-is-th...

'The uncomfortable truth for education policymakers is that high-performing schools rarely pass exams on their own - families pass them.' A thoughtful article about the subtle ways schools use admissions to admit the pupils with the 'right' sort of parents. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Good luck to every child sitting the 11-plus in Kent and Buckinghamshire today. Whatever happens, one test at 10 or 11 cannot measure your worth, your potential or everything you’re capable of. We wish the children well. We just wish they didn’t have to be divided at 11.

Just 1 in 10 pupils at Kent and Medway grammar schools are eligible for free school meals, compared with 3 in 10 at non-selective schools. Tutoring is only part of the problem. Any test used to decide who gets access to a state school creates a barrier to entry. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Worth noting that England is now also outperforming Northern Ireland with its grammar schools, which use to get similar results. Comprehensive education works!

When access to a state school depends on passing a high-stakes test, parents who can afford it will pay for every possible advantage. "The 11-plus has created an industry in which anxiety about a child’s future school can be monetised." schoolsweek.co.uk/600-for-prac...

BBC Radio 4 looks back at 50 years of comprehensive education. But the comprehensive revolution was never completed. Grammar schools and the non-selective schools alongside them remain a significant part of England's school system today. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

An extraordinary insight into the 11-plus arms race. £10,000 tutors. Study for hours every day. Children developing speech impediments and soiling themselves under extreme pressure. It doesn't have to be like this. 😔https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/london-elite-grammar-schools-qeb-henrietta-barnett/

"As long as grammar schools exist, the myth of meritocracy lives on." An interesting article by a former grammar pupil who argues that selective schools are not the answer to educational inequality. www.varsity.co.uk/comment/31786

Andy Burnham has been making the case for comprehensive education for more than a decade. From "I oppose selection with everything I've got" to "call time on the test", we've brought together some of his key comments on grammar schools and fair admissions. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/prime-minist...

Kent County Council is spending £7.2m to expand a grammar school. The complexity of selective place planning wastes public money. How many children will sit the exam? How many will pass? Will they be boys or girls? Why not simply build schools that work for all? www.kentcurrent.news/kents-gramma...

👋 Meet the Board: Dr @nualaburgess.bsky.social. Researcher at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social, specialising in post-16 education, vocational learning and education policy. Chair of @compfuture.bsky.social. 📚 Read why Nuala is part of our board below 👇 4/9 #Forum

Andy Burnham's technical education plans are welcome — but in selective areas, a pathway at 14 risks formalising a divide that started at 11. Reform-run Kent and Lincolnshire show why this matters. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/burnhams-tec...

Burnham's Manchester model shows academic and technical subjects sit well side by side. But this only works where children haven't already been divided at 11. In selective areas, won't a vocational push at 14 risk reviving secondary moderns by the back door? #uked www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ofsted's new report cards reward grammar schools for 'strong' inclusion. The secondary moderns that admit the pupils grammars reject get the worst judgements. How can this be right? comprehensivefuture.org.uk/why-ofsteds-...

Congratulations to Andy Burnham on becoming PM and Lucy Powell on her appointment as Education Secretary. Both have long records of supporting inclusive comprehensive education and speaking out against school selection. We look forward to making the case for fairer admissions to the new government.

When even the Telegraph is raising concerns about grammar schools, it's clear something isn't working. “Doing well in class is no longer enough, you have to have had years of additional coaching to pass.” (paywall) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07...

Grammar schools are being rated as having "Strong" inclusion. Schools that exclude most local children and admit tiny proportions of SEND and disadvantaged pupils. We need a serious conversation about what Ofsted means by 'inclusive.' schoolsweek.co.uk/grammar-scho...

My interview with Peter Mandler as a podcast - listen on the bus, tube, etc.!

Our interview with @petermandler.bsky.social is now available as a podcast. He discusses the history of selection, meritocracy and the 11-plus, and what this can tell us about current debates on selective education. open.spotify.com/episode/4ITJ...

"I feel guilty that we're giving my daughter an advantage because we're paying for tutoring." Parents call grammar school entry a "moral dilemma". When families feel they must pay to avoid their child being disadvantaged, the problem isn't the parents. It's the system. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

How transparent is the 11-plus? FOI documents show a major test provider advising schools how to resist requests for admissions testing information. Should details of tests that shape children's futures be hidden as "commercially confidential"? comprehensivefuture.org.uk/released-doc...

Enjoyed doing this. This history equips us with the tools to talk about our current education system, even in non-selective areas, about the relationship between schools and social mobility, exam stress, etc.

. Historian @petermandler.bsky.social talks about the history of academic selection and what we can learn from the post-war education system. He busts popular myths about grammar schools and social mobility. youtu.be/kfXmDse3yO8?...

If grammar schools need to redesign the 11-plus to reduce tutoring and middle-class cramming, they’re admitting the system isn’t measuring ‘ability’ in the first place. The tutoring industry won’t disappear because the test is 6 weeks earlier. www.dailymail.com/news/article...

“If selection doesn’t improve social mobility, why are we doing it?” Professor Peter Mandler discusses the history — and consequences — of the 11+ and academic selection in Britain. New interview with Jack Deasley for Comprehensive Future. Watch:https://youtu.be/kfXmDse3yO8

Grammar schools admit far fewer pupils with SEND than neighbouring non-selective schools. As SEND reform moves centre stage, the role of academic selection is increasingly under scrutiny. A supporter has launched this petition. Please sign and share: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

Research shows the 11-plus shapes identity, confidence and belonging for decades after children take it. More than 50 years on, women who sat the 11-plus still feel its effects. Selection doesn’t just sort pupils. It stays with them. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/more-than-ha...

Moving the 11-plus and aligning it with the curriculum sounds fairer… But as one tutor puts it, "Tutoring will adapt rather than disappear.” There is no such thing as a tutor proof test. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“Nobody is getting in off the back of picking up half a dozen practice papers from WH Smith in the summer of year 5." When entry depends on years of paid prep, the system is surely flawed beyond fixing. inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

The SEND white paper promises every child will achieve and thrive. But it assumes all schools admit a representative intake. In grammar school areas, they don't — by design. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/every-child-...

Where any admissions criteria limit access for local or disadvantaged children, it’s right to ask whether the system is fair. State-funded schools should be inclusive and accessible to all. comprehensivefuture.org.uk/public-conce...

If the “best” schools take fewer SEND pupils, are they really the best? New research shows 'top' schools admit far fewer disadvantaged SEND pupils than their local areas. That’s not excellence. That’s selection. #FairAdmissions www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The NPP Fairer Schools Index confirms what we already knew: grammar schools’ “top” rankings are often just a reflection of their selective intake, NOT better teaching. When you adjust for pupil background, their scores drop significantly. #uked www.northernpowerhousepartnership.co.uk/northern-pow...

Reform UK is reportedly considering lifting the ban on new grammar schools. But England already has selective areas, the evidence shows this system of education doesn't work. Expanding selection would be a step backwards. #ednews #edpolicy #ukedchat comprehensivefuture.org.uk/reform-signa...

That's a good point. By bringing back Grammar Schools, you also bring back Not Grammar Schools.

With Reform UK calling for the return of grammar schools, I’ve shared an excerpt from my first book The Myth of Meritocracy examining the evidence on who actually benefits from selection. Clue: it isn’t working-class pupils. www.forthedeskdrawer.com/p/the-enduri...