By Richard Johnstone | 8 November 2013
Children who are eligible for free school meals are ‘disproportionately unlikely’ to be admitted to grammar schools in the parts of the country where they operate, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found.
In a study of grammar school admissions, the IFS found that only 3% of entrants were entitled to free schools meals, compared to 17.5% in other state schools.
There are 164 grammar schools in England, which select their pupils on the basis of performance in entry tests in Year 6. They educate around 4% of the Year 7 pupils in England, and are concentrated in selective local authorities such as Kent, Buckinghamshire, Slough and Trafford.
In areas operating the grammar system, around two-thirds of children who achieve level 5 in both English and Maths at Key Stage 2 – and do not receive free school meals – go to a grammar school, the IFS found. This compares with only 40% of similarly high-achieving children who are eligible for free school meals.
The Entry into grammar schools in England report, funded by the Sutton Trust, found that – even if factors that may depress pupils’ academic achievement are taken into account – the difference remains over 12 percentage points.
Therefore, the research concluded it was not purely low attainment that prevents children receiving free school meals from attending grammar school.
Among the possible reasons identified, surveys of individual grammar schools found a high proportion of the students had been tutored for the entrance exam, although the extent of this nationwide is unknown. This is ‘clearly’ an advantage that children from poorer backgrounds are unlikely to benefit from, researchers said.
It may also be that children from poorer backgrounds are less likely to apply to a grammar school in the first place, or that those who do sit the exams are less likely to pass, or a combination of both.
However, the IFS said it could not determine the exact reason for the under-representation of poorer pupils in grammar schools. Further research is needed to determine exactly what is driving this grammar school attendance gap, they concluded.
