Reform to the school system continues
13 September 2016
The opening of new selective schools is just one of the proposals outlined in the government’s new Green Paper.
Schools that Work for Everyone sets out the Education Secretary’s plans for changes to the schools system.
Proposals in the Green Paper consultation include:
- Existing selective schools will be able to expand and new selective schools will be allowed to open. They must, however, support local, non-selective schools.
- Faith schools will be allowed to select up to 100% of pupils based on their faith (currently capped at 50%) but must include different socio-economic backgrounds.
- Independent schools will be expected to support state schools, open new state schools or offer funded places to children whose families can’t afford to pay the fees.
- Universities will be asked to commit to sponsoring or setting up new schools in exchange for the ability to charge higher fees.
Despite this recent focus on selective schools, the government remains committed to the idea of all schools becoming academies as outlined in its
Educational Excellence Everywhere White Paper earlier this year. Education Secretary, Justine Greening confirmed: “Our hope and expectation is that schools will want to steadily take advantage of the benefits that academies can bring, but our focus will be on those schools where we feel standards need to be raised”.