News

Bristol University research busts Grammar School ‘social mobility’ myth

22.05.17

fac h
Molly Scott Cato, MEP for the South West, has slammed Theresa May’s proposals to bring back Grammar Schools as a new study by the University of Bristol exposes the much-touted ‘social mobility’ myth [1].
 
Researchers at the University found a selective education system harms the university prospects of bright pupils who miss out on a place a grammar school. 
 
The findings also show that while children from the very richest families living in selective areas have an 80% chance of going to a grammar school, only a third of pupils from poorer backgrounds are likely to get a place. 
 
Molly Scott Cato, the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Bristol West, attended the March for Education in Bristol on Saturday to protect the city’s schools from £33m of Conservative funding cuts [2]. She Said:
 
“Grammar schools don’t boost social mobility. It is and always has been a myth that they do. It’s a charade. Grammar schools help pupils from the wealthiest families at the expense of those from middle and low-income families.”
 
“As this latest study confirms, grammar schools are the height of evidence-free policy-making; they will only entrench inequality in an already divided society.”
 
“Theresa May needs to take off her rose-tinted spectacles and stop looking backwards; funnelling money away from our schools to fund an outdated and segregated vision of education is set to have a devastating impact on children in Bristol.”
 
“The education system in Bristol, under the Tories, is already under immense pressure, £33m cuts [3] will make it that much harder for teachers and headteachers to do their jobs – and put an estimated 1000 jobs at risk [4].”
 
“The combination of grammar schools and such vast cuts will have a doubly devastating impact on the quality of education available to pupils across Bristol. We’re already seeing schools like Redland Green [5] and Olympus [6] feeling forced to go cap in hand to parents as the funding crisis hits critical levels.”
 
“Greens have pledged to scrap the current grammar schools, bring academies and free schools back under local authority control and invest £7billion in our education system to fill the funding gap created by years of underinvestment and cuts. Greens want to create an inclusive education system that can positively transform lives [7].”
 
“If elected as your MP, I pledge to stand united with teachers, parents, and my Green colleagues in the House of Commons to resist any attempts to revive antiquated grammar schools, fight education cuts, and stand up to protect our schools in Bristol and across the country.”
 
ENDS
 

Share

More news

See all

Green-Led Transport Committee passes raft of new transport measures for Bristol

13.09.24
Transport

Read

‘We must face up to Bristol’s drug problem with bold solutions’

12.09.24
Opinion

Read