Grammar Schools in Kent

The Education Chief at Kent County Council has rightly called for more grammar schools to be created in other counties as it emerged that 2,156 out of 11,085 candidates for the Eleven Plus were from outside of the county.

In addition an Independent Schools expert has discovered that 197 children from London are attending North West Kent Grammar schools this year and two grammar schools near Tunbridge Wells are taking 20% of their pupils from neighbouring East Sussex.

Some children are travelling up to 50 miles to attend grammar schools, having a huge impact on their school day.  It also means that children living near these schools are displaced and therefore everyone travels more.

As a former Dartford Grammar school pupil, I have witnessed first-hand the social mobility that grammar schools can provide. They do not suit everyone but they play a vital role in ensuring that we do not have a one size fits all education system.

In Dartford we are lucky to have four excellent grammar schools; Dartford Grammar for Boys, Dartford Grammar for Girls, Wilmington Girls and Wilmington Boys.  In Kent alone there are 27 selective schools which make up a quarter of state funded secondary schools in the county.  These schools usually receive a higher number of applicants than available places, thus illustrating the demand for grammar school places.  It is evident from this that parents like the grammar school system.

In 1998 Labour banned the building of new grammar schools.  The current government have made concessions in allowing existing grammar schools to expand but the solution to the problem surely lies in allowing more grammar schools to open across the country.