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...

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has long been one of the strongest political voices against school selection – Comprehensive Future

As Andy Burnham settles into Downing Street, Comprehensive Future is highlighting his longstanding support for comprehensive education and fair school admissions — ... Read more

comprehensivefuture.org.uk

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...

Kent’s grammar school system has a £7.2m maths problem

Plus a council stretching from Folkestone to Sheppey, six-hour border queues, Southern Water bosses facing trial and a far-right damp squib in Dover

kentcurrent.news

👋 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...

Schools to offer technical subjects to pupils from age 14, Burnham says

The government wants pupils to take courses like AI and manufacturing which are linked to local jobs.

bbc.co.uk

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-...

Why do Ofsted's new report cards reward grammar schools and punish secondary moderns? – Comprehensive Future

Schools Week recently analysed Ofsted new report cards and found that grammar schools were frequently judged to have a ‘Strong’ standard for ... Read more

comprehensivefuture.org.uk

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...

How the grammar school rat race left the white working class behind

The rise of the 11-plus tutoring industry has reshaped the classroom, with profound consequences for social mobility

telegraph.co.uk

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...

Grammar schools are inclusive, says Ofsted

Analysis findings prompt backlash, but heads say they should be judged on what they achieve for their pupils

schoolsweek.co.uk

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

Comprehensive Future@compfuture.bsky.social · 2mo ago

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...

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...

CF Conversations #1: Selection, Meritocracy and the 11-Plus – Professor Peter Mandler

CF Conversations · Episode

open.spotify.com

"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...

Parents say grammar test changes won’t end tutoring advantage

Parents in Gloucestershire react to the attempt to make grammar schools 'more accessible'.

bbc.co.uk

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...

Released documents reveal attempts to resist 11-plus FOI disclosures – Comprehensive Future

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act have raised fresh questions about transparency in selective school admissions. The documents show that ... Read more

comprehensivefuture.org.uk

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.

Comprehensive Future@compfuture.bsky.social · 2mo ago

. 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?...

. 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?...

Selection, Meritocracy and the 11-plus: A History

YouTube video by Comprehensive Future

youtu.be

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

Selection, Meritocracy and the 11-plus: A History

YouTube video by Comprehensive Future

youtu.be

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...

Petition: Abolish grammar schools & reallocate funding to SEND & mainstream schools

Require phase out of remaining state-funded selective grammar schools. Reallocate funding to SEND support. Require local authorities to redirect resources from selective testing (11 plus) toward an in...

petition.parliament.uk

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...

More than half a century on, women who sat the 11-plus still feel its effects – Comprehensive Future

A recent study by Amanda Lavelle of the University of Essex, uses interviews to explore how “passing” or “failing” the 11-plus still ... Read more

comprehensivefuture.org.uk

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...

Gloucestershire grammar schools to adopt new 'accessible' test

Testing will happen before the summer holidays to help families who cannot access private tutoring.

bbc.co.uk

“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...

Our Essex grammar school is full of rich kids – pushy parents are gaming the system

One of the best state schools in the country is under pressure – amid mounting concerns that tutored, privileged children are winning too many places

inews.co.uk

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-...

Every Child Achieving and Thriving? Inclusion starts at the school gate – Comprehensive Future

The government’s new SEND white paper makes a promise that is hard to argue with: every child, including those with special educational ... Read more

comprehensivefuture.org.uk

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...

Public concern grows over fairness in school admissions – Comprehensive Future

New research from the National Secular Society, based on polling by More in Common, highlights public concern about how some state-funded schools ... Read more

comprehensivefuture.org.uk

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...

Top English schools take in half as many Send pupils as average comprehensive

School leaders believe some deploy a deliberate strategy to boost grades and improve finances, new research suggests

theguardian.com

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...

Northern Powerhouse Launches Third Edition of Fairer Schools Index - Northern Powerhouse Partnership

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) has today launched its third edition of the Fairer Schools Index, providing a vital, contextually adjusted alternative to the government’s Progress 8 measure ...

northernpowerhousepartnership.co.uk

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...

Reform signals return of new grammar schools – Comprehensive Future

The i newspaper reports that Reform UK is considering lifting the ban on new grammar schools if Nigel Farage becomes Prime Minister. ... Read more

comprehensivefuture.org.uk

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...

The idea of “bringing back grammar schools” is pure nostalgia politics. Modern education systems focus on raising standards for all children, not selecting a minority and leaving the rest behind. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Reform government could back new wave of grammar schools

Reform, which has made former Tory minister Suella Braverman its new education spokeswoman, could allow them to be set up via the free school system.

dailymail.co.uk

It's being reported that Reform UK plan to create new grammar schools if they come into power. Such a bad move! Do parents really want to see more primary school children sitting the 11-plus? 🙁 inews.co.uk/news/politic...

New grammar schools set to return if Farage becomes PM

The creation of new selective schools was outlawed by New Labour in 1998

inews.co.uk