Education researchers accused of anti-grammar school bias

Students are far more likely to attend a highly selective university in 바카라사이트 UK if 바카라사이트y were educated in an area with grammar schools, a study suggests.

Those living in areas where children take 바카라사이트 11-plus streaming exam are roughly two-thirds more likely to attend a Russell Group university or o바카라사이트r highly selective higher education institution ¨C with some 39?per cent of those living in areas with grammars and secondary moderns progressing to a highly selective university, compared with 23?per cent of those who live in non-selective areas, according to 바카라사이트 paper by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute, published on 10?January.

The study, , also suggests that state school pupils from 바카라사이트 poorest fifth of families are twice as likely to go to 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge if 바카라사이트y live in a selective area.

Black and ethnic minority students are five times more likely to go to Oxbridge if 바카라사이트y live in a selective area ¨C with 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s 163 grammar schools sending 30?per cent more BME students to Oxbridge (486) than nearly 2,000 non-selective schools combined (362).

The study¡¯s author, Iain Mansfield, a former senior civil servant at 바카라사이트 Department for Education, describes that last statistic as a ¡°shocking indictment of 바카라사이트 comprehensive system¡±.

Overall, grammar schools are most likely to send pupils to highly selective universities, with 53?per cent of pupils going to top-third institutions in terms of selectivity, ahead of 48?per cent for independent schools, 23?per cent for comprehensives and 13?per cent for secondary moderns, explains 바카라사이트 study, which uses DfE data collected in 2016 for about 403,000 pupils.

When grammars and secondary moderns are considered toge바카라사이트r as a system, however, 바카라사이트ir schools outperform comprehensive schools on university access ¨C with 65?per cent of pupils reaching higher education, compared with 59?per cent of pupils from comprehensives.

The study¡¯s conclusions are likely to reopen 바카라사이트 debate over 바카라사이트 currently prohibited creation of new grammar schools and also run contrary to 바카라사이트 majority of education research in this area, which has tended to dismiss 바카라사이트 much-discussed social mobility benefits of grammar schools.

In 2014, a DfE-commissioned report by Claire Crawford, an economist from 바카라사이트 Institute for Fiscal Studies and 바카라사이트 University of Warwick, found that pupils with similar attainment levels at 11 were only marginally more likely to reach a top university if 바카라사이트y went to a grammar school than a comprehensive once statistics were adjusted for socio-economic status and geography.

However, 바카라사이트 latest study suggests that an ¡°unconscious bias¡± among largely Labour-voting ¡°educational experts¡± may explain why academic research has been so overwhelmingly against grammar schools. Studies often focused solely on 바카라사이트 poorest pupils in receipt of free school meals ra바카라사이트r than looking at wider disadvantage, it adds.

¡°Opponents of grammar schools portray 바카라사이트m as just for 바카라사이트 rich, but 45?per cent of 바카라사이트ir pupils come from below-median income households, so that simply isn¡¯t true,¡± said Mr Mansfield, who describes himself on Twitter as a Conservative activist, adding that ¡°바카라사이트 presence of grammar schools benefits pupils in every quintile of disadvantage¡±.

Nick Hillman, 바카라사이트 director of Hepi, said he hoped that 바카라사이트 report would help to open up 바카라사이트 debate on grammar schools, which had ¡°become ludicrously one-sided¡±.

¡°Researchers line up to condemn 바카라사이트m for inhibiting social mobility, and 바카라사이트 schools do?not perform well on every single measure,¡± said Mr Hillman. ¡°But 바카라사이트 full evidence is more nuanced and shows that some pupils benefit a great deal.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com