Goodbye to grammars

Wednesday, 16th May 2007

I echo James Forsyth's lament for the grammar schools. As part of one of the last major waves of schoolkids to benefit from the 11-plus - I took it in 1971 - I saw the advantages of the old system at first hand. (Soon after I arrived, my school was merged into an over-large comp where exam results seem to have sunk year by year.) My older siblings, on the other hand, went through the secondary modern experience, which was no success story either.

I now live in an area where grammars linger on, so I know all about the stress of trying to get my offspring through the hoops. Where I do agree with David Willetts is that the 11-plus just isn't a fair exam any more. In my primary school days, everyone was on a reasonably equal footing when it came to taking the test. Today, the tutoring system has run amok. I'm no better than anyone else: I stump up the money to pay for the coaching in what seem to be extremely specialized tests. But what about those parents who can't afford it or who don't know how to play the game? Could we come up with a system where kids are tested without being helped out of school hours? I guess not.

PS: I'm not being very bright today. There's an obvious solution: after-school booster lessons for any child who's entering the test. As far as I can see, it's a question of acquiring technique - much like learning how to fill in a cryptic crossword.

PPS: Iain Martin's defence of Willetts has a lot going for it. As a non-expert, I just wonder why we're not pushing for more grammars when we know for sure that they encouraged social mobility in the past.