Theresa May’s plans to bring back grammar schools in England have run into immediate opposition from a number of senior Tories, who have indicated that they may vote down the controversial reforms along with Labour and the SNP.

The prime minister set out her vision for a “great meritocracy” on Friday, arguing that social mobility could be better achieved by more grammars and forcing private schools to help the state sector in return for keeping their tax breaks. Announcing the most substantial shakeup of the education system for decades, May insisted that it was not a return to the “binary system” of old because there would be efforts to make sure that all schools are successful.

However, the plans quickly came under attack from a group of rebel Tories, Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, trade unions, teaching organisations and the chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, who argued against dividing children by academic ability at age 11.

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Nicky Morgan, education secretary under David Cameron until July, branded the plans “wrong”, arguing that they were at best a distraction and at worst “risk actively undermining six years of progressive education reform”.

May will undoubtedly have a battle to get the proposals through the House of Lords, where the Conservatives have no majority, as opposition peers will have few qualms about blocking a proposal that was not in the Tory election manifesto.

But it also became clear on Friday that she could have trouble passing the proposals in the House of Commons as well, where her government has a working majority of 17. No 10 will have to call in sceptical Tory MPs for meetings on Monday.



May would probably have a clear Conservative majority in the Commons against Labour and the Lib Dems if the SNP kept to its convention by abstaining on the legislation because it relates to England only. However, Carol Monaghan, the SNP education spokesman in Westminster, would not rule out taking part in the vote, saying the party was “fundamentally opposed to any system that encourages educational inequality and selection”.

“We will closely examine any proposals brought to the House of Commons to identify any potential impact on Scotland’s budget, but if and when that happens, Theresa May will have to spend some time persuading her own backbenchers that is the right way forward given the widespread concern already being expressed,” she said.

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said his party would “form alliances in order to try to block this proposal” in both the Commons and the Lords.



The opposition from a small but growing band of Conservative backbenchers means May is already coming under pressure to scale back the proposals, which would see parents or other groups able to open a selective free school or existing state-funded schools create new grammars or convert.

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There are at least seven Conservative MPs who have publicly signalled that they are not yet convinced of the case for expansion of grammars: Morgan, Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston, Ben Howlett, Mark Pritchard, Robin Walker and Neil Carmichael.

The scale of any revolt is likely to depend on how much political capital May is willing to expend on placating the rebels and whether other potential high-profile opponents of grammars such as Michael Gove, George Osborne and even Cameron get involved in the debate.



Morgan made clear her disquiet in a Facebook post, saying that she welcomed the aims of creating a more meritocratic society and encouraging greater collaboration between universities, state schools and the private sector. But, she added: “I believe that an increase in pupil segregation on the basis of academic selection would be at best a distraction from crucial reforms to raise standards and narrow the attainment gap, and at worse risks actively undermining six years of progressive education reform.

“Instead of pursuing greater selection, I would urge the government to build on the reforms of the last government and to reaffirm the focus outlined in the Educational Excellence Everywhere white paper on tackling areas of entrenched academic underperformance.”

Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools, warned on Friday that the UK could “fail as a nation” if there was a system where only the top 15%-20% of pupils get a superior education.

Lindsey Macmillan, an expert on social mobility and education at University College London, questioned whether May’s goal of a meritocratic society could be achieved by the return of grammars. “Selection by ability increases educational and earnings inequality far more than selection by house prices,” Macmillan said. “While top earners from grammar areas earn 10% more than those from similar comprehensive areas, low earners from grammar areas earn 35% less than low earners from similar comprehensive areas.”

However, Sir Peter Lampl, the founder and chair of the Sutton Trust, which campaigns to improve social mobility, gave May’s plans a cautious welcome if current flaws in selection at 11 could be addressed as she promised. “The government should ensure that existing grammar schools get it right before opening more grammar schools,” Lampl said.

May’s speech also included details of a requirement for universities in England to open or sponsor a state school in order to charge higher tuition fees – a decision that left many in the university sector baffled. Oxford University has previously ruled out creating a school, arguing that it could be too popular with parents and so very difficult to get into, although Cambridge University has set up a primary school in the north-west of the city.

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But Maddalaine Ansell, the chief executive of the University Alliance, which represents the sector, warned: “We should also remember the key debate here is about selection in the secondary system – if implemented, this might well make the task of widening access to higher education much harder, and the case for allowing it is unconvincing.”

May defended the plans for more grammar schools by highlighting potential measures to mitigate the risk that children from poorer backgrounds are relegated to “sink schools” as selection is expanded.

Options in a paper expected to be published on Monday will include forcing new selective schools to take a minimum proportion of pupils from lower-income households, requiring them to establish non-selective free schools or requiring them to sponsor an existing underperforming academy.

However, she declined to say how many grammars she would ideally like to see and ducked a question about whether the government would be producing evidence from academics or Whitehall officials showing that the policy would improve educational attainment for all.