Most people back the Prime Minister's plan to scrap a ban on grammar schools, a Sky News snap poll suggests.

Some 60% of respondents told Sky Data they backed the proposals, while 27% were against and 13% said they didn't know or failed to answer.

Theresa May earlier sought to tackle critics head-on by insisting her plans for a new generation of grammar schools did not hail a return to the 1950s.

Announcing plans to lift Tony Blair's 1998 ban on selection, the Prime Minister argued it was not a proposal "to go back to a binary model of grammars and secondary models" but "to look to the future".

Image: 60% said they agreed with ending the ban on new grammar schools

Sky Data also asked respondents whether the Government should hold a general election before changing its policy on schools.


Nearly 54% said it did not need to hold a general election before creating the new policy, 34% said it did and 12% gave another answer.

Respondents were also asked whether grammar schools are better than comprehensive schools for working class children.

Image: 54% said the Government was right to change its education policy without first holding a general election

The proportion who said they are better was 46%, with 34% saying they are worse and 12% saying it made no difference.

In her first major policy speech since taking office earlier, Mrs May said the reforms were aimed at providing "a good school place for every child and one that caters for their individual needs".

:: May's Grammar School Backing A Party Pleaser

However, the PM faces a tough task taking the plans through Parliament with Labour vowing to oppose the "regressive policy every step of the way".

Image: 46% of respondents said they believe grammar schools are better than comprehensive schools for working class children

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron also said the return to grammars was an "out-of-date, ineffective approach" which would be defeated in the House of Lords, where the Government does not have a majority.

There is also concern within the Tory ranks, including from former education secretary Nicky Morgan.

In announcing her plans, Mrs May outlined a number of steps aimed at ensuring that the new and expanded grammars took pupils from poorer backgrounds, including quotas.

Removing the bar on selection in state schools, which was kept in place by her predecessor David Cameron, Mrs May argued it was "completely illogical to make it illegal to open good new schools".

Identifying areas of poor education & lack of good schools is right. Idea that more selection is the answer is wrong https://t.co/hxSIX1Wujd — Nicky Morgan (@NickyMorgan01) September 9, 2016

In a move to allay concerns that better-off parents would secure places for their children by paying for tutoring, she said new-style smart tests would assess the "true potential" of each pupil.

Schools would also be encouraged to take students at 14 and 16 as well as 11, to avoid the risk of youngsters being written off as non-academic at the start of their secondary careers.

The PM also said independent schools, which had "become more and more divorced from normal life", would face a tougher test of public benefit in order to maintain their charitable status.

Universities would also be forced to support attainment in the state education system, by sponsoring a state school or setting up a new free school.

Are Grammars Really Better Than Comps?

In another move set to spark controversy, Mrs May confirmed she will lift restrictions requiring oversubscribed faith schools to make 50% of places available to children from other religious communities.

Mrs May claimed the raft of reforms would "set Britain on the path to being the great meritocracy of the world".

However, chief schools inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has accused the PM of "putting the clock back" and warned a return to grammars would threaten the progress made in the state system.

All of the proposals unveiled in Mrs May's speech will go out for consultation.

:: Sky Data polled a nationally representative sample of 1,013 Sky customers on 9 September.