MPs will quiz schools mininster Nick Gibb on the evidence behind the government’s plans to expand the number of grammar schools and extend selective education in England.
The Commons Education Select Committee has announced it is to hold a one-off session, called an “evidence check”, on Tuesday, November 8, to get “underneath the rhetoric” of the controversial policy.
Last month, prime minister Theresa May announced that her government would dramatically expand the number of grammars in bid to help the families that are “just getting by”.
The move has been strongly opposed by academics, unions Labour, the Lib Dems and even prominent members of the Conservative party.
Neil Carmichael, the education committee’s chair, said the evidence checks were used to take a closer look at the research behind high-profile policies.
“Since the government announced its Green Paper proposing an extension to selective education, the air has been thick with the sound of claims and counter-claims on the benefits and disadvantages of grammar schools,” the Conservative MP said.
“As a Committee, it’s important we try to get underneath the rhetoric and examine the evidence. This session gives us a valuable opportunity to hear the cases for and against grammar schools, and their effects on academic attainment, social mobility, and on the education system as a whole.”
The witnesses giving evidence include Rebecca Allen, reader in education, University College London, and director of Education Datalab; Professor David Jesson, professor of economics, University of York; Luke Sibieta, programme director, Institute for Fiscal Studies; and Professor Anna Vignoles, professor of education, University of Cambridge.
Providing evidence on behalf of the Department for Education will be Nick Gibb, minister for school standards and Dr Tim Leunig, chief scientific adviser at the DfE.
The announcement of the evidence check comes as the thinktank ResPublica recommended that grammar schools should be placed in areas with high numbers of “poor, working class white children”, such as Knowsley.
