Letters
Rachel Wolf, Education Adviser to former Prime Minister David Cameron
letters@prospect-magazine.co.uk
Old school
Alan Johnson describes, eloquently, the problems of the old grammar school system (“Schools and hard knocks,” October). That system became deeply unpopular with middle-class parents, who were unwilling for any of their children to go to secondary moderns. The abolition of grammars allowed academies and free schools to emerge, which in places like London have delivered truly high quality, non-selective education for all.
But this hasn’t happened everywhere. There are too many places around the country, like Knowsley, where very bright children are failed and have been for decades. For them, a small number of selective schools could be transformative. So while a return to a full grammar system would be bad, they have a place.