Roy Boffy (Letters, 15 April) makes an important point about natural fluctuations in size and ability of year groups, some years denying a grammar-school place to an able child and some years yielding a place to a less able child. Here in In Buckinghamshire, where the 11-plus has survived, an entirely different phenomenon is at work, whose effects on Buckinghamshire children dwarfs any due to Mr Boffy’s fluctuations. The examination is open to all-comers and in the examination last September 41.3% of those sitting it were from out-of-county – and they achieved a pass rate almost twice that of the Buckinghamshire candidates (47.4% v 24.5%).
It seems reasonable to assume that the greater success of the out-of-county children was not the result of a greater intrinsic ability but, rather, of some strong elements of pre-selection: driven parents who can negotiate the system and coaching, for example. The result, a little arithmetic shows, was that only 42.4% of Buckinghamshire grammar school places were initially offered to Buckinghamshire children and 57.6% to out-of-county children. These figures fit with a steady trend over recent years.
In the more distant past, more than 30% of Buckinghamshire children typically passed the examination; now the figure is down to less than 25%. A large number of them who would previously have been deemed “grammar-school material” are now judged not to be in order to make way for advantaged outsiders. Probably the only social mobility involved in this is the long-distance bussing of children into Buckinghamshire to attend its selective schools.
Professor Peter Dawson
Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire
• Discussion about selective schools fails to appreciate that the selection doesn’t stop at 11. In the high-powered girls’ grammar which I attended in the 1960s, it was possible to leave at 18 with three decent A-levels and 10 good O-levels, feeling like a second-class failure because you were not one of the high fliers who gained the glittering prizes and the starring roles in plays and operas, or who became house captains or head girl. A universal, comprehensive system offering the highest possible quality of education, linked to high expectations, with small class sizes and an inclusive approach will deliver the educated society we desperately need. Close all the grammars, free schools, faith schools and offer every child such an excellent education that no one would consider sending their child to a private school or pressure their child into obtaining a grammar-school place.
Susan Castles
Wem, Shropshire
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