Although Nicky Morgan suggested yesterday that the government could be about to water down its grammar school proposals, Justine Greening showed no such signs in her conference speech. The Education Secretary received a standing ovation as she went on the offensive in defending Theresa May’s plans for a return to selective education.
In a sea change from her claim this summer that she was simply ‘open minded’ to the idea, Greening put in a fiery defence of the proposal to lift the grammar school ban. After paying tribute to her own comprehensive roots – as the first ever Education Secretary to attend a non-selective state — Greening explained that education was at the heart of the government’s plan to create a meritocracy. She said grammar schools could do this by creating a ‘level playing field’ for children. Greening even managed to go one better than May at PMQs — actually coming up with a statistic to back up her words:
‘I talked about a level playing field, grammar schools have a track record at closing the attainment gap between children on free school meals and their better off classmates.
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