Former education secretary Nicky Morgan has expressed concerns about her successor’s backing for university technical colleges as an alternative for children who do not get into grammar schools.

Last month, Justine Greening told TES that the technical schools were a “good option” for students more suited to a “technical education-based route”.

Although Ms Greening denied that she was advocating a return to dividing pupils into academic and vocational routes, Joanne Harper, principal of UTC Reading, said she was wary of UTCs being labelled as schools for “the less academic”.

In an interview, Ms Morgan said: “My worry with [university technical colleges] and my worry with the whole grammar school thing is: do you think that every child deserves an excellent academic education?

“My answer to that question is ‘yes’, which is why you don’t divide them into grammar school kids and technical college kids. I would hesitate to say that those who don’t get into grammar schools, their automatic path then is university technical colleges.”

The former education secretary, who was sacked by Theresa May, said she questioned the prime minister’s decision to prioritise the expansion of grammar schools as her first domestic announcement.

‘Not what education needs right now’

“I think we’re on the verge of doing something really inspirational with the English education system, raising standards right the way across the board, building a strong, consistent education system. That’s what I wanted to do through my White Paper published in March 2016”, she said.

The Education for All Bill, which came out of the White Paper, was scrapped last month, although elements of it may still be taken forward by the government.

Ms Morgan added: “My worry is that you have refocused the Department for Education - or the announcements have been focused - away from delivering excellent education for all to thinking about how you introduce proposals in the Green Paper, and that is not what the English education system needs at this time.”

She also called on the government to move forward “soon” with the process of introducing a national funding formula for schools - highlighting the preparations for this as her proudest achievement as education secretary.

She said: “We were on the verge of really trying to get to grips with the funding formula. That was something that people in the education system were absolutely crying out for.

“We got the first stage out. I very much hope and expect that the government will be publishing the second stage of that consultation soon. I’m very sorry that I didn’t get the chance to finish that particular reform off.”

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