11 Plus Exams Forum

There are only 160,000 seats in the whole of England GSs and 2 million apply for it I heard on Wright stuff last week. Good that I chose to go late for work on that day. I was able to watch it. It was a programme on 'Bring back Grammar schools.' Did anyone else watch it?

Why did the Government or local authorities scrap them if there is demand for it? Either it should all be Secondary modern or each authority has to have their own 1 or 2 GSs for each gender or mixed and Secondary modern for each gender or mixed according to their population isn't it? Then there is no need for Superselectives and catchment this percentage and out of catchment this percentage and all that. Simples

Ahap - maybe you should be replace Mr Gove as Education Minister!

Well there is a question! TBH with the political views re Grammar schools in the 60s and 70s onwards I am pleasantly surprised that we have any left at all.

pheasantchick wrote:Ahap - maybe you should be replace Mr Gove as Education Minister!

Ok - not many of us who didn't get a place would be totally overjoyed at the prospect of a secondary modern as a school.

I guess that's why ? Just a thought.................

Looking for help wrote:not many of us who didn't get a place would be totally overjoyed at the prospect of a secondary modern as a school

And as that would probably account for about 70% of the population if grammar schools were re-introduced nationally, it may be that even most politicians on the right don't want to alienate too many voters?

Clearly there is demand for GSs, but this right to scrap the GS or not to each local authority was given by a Minister who has been educated in a GS. Did he think that no one else should go to a Grammar School other than him? And then came another lady who was educated in a GS, also scrapped them.
Sorry I was not educated in the UK, so that is why these questions. It seems unfair when one local authority has a GS and another doesn't. Then a small local authority will have too many and big one will have none. It is quite confusing, why were these actions brought? Did it not work or is there any other reason?

As someone pointed out, the majority didn't pass the 11 plus so are not so likely to vote for governments who plan to have more..

Lots of people like the idea of GS but go off them somewhat if their kids don't get a place... in one afluent area it was said that every child who does not get a place at a GS is 2 votes for a comprehensive system.


In your first post you say that 2 million are applying - there are only approx 600,000 kids in each school year sso far fewer would be applying to GS - do you know where they got the 2 million from?

The programme was on Friday 5th October, they do not say where they got the statistics from, it just said that 2 million apply each year for 160,000 places. It is on channel 5 on demand it will be available only for about 20 hours.

sounds like some double counting!