Selective education can tackle inequality. Here’s how
From our UK edition
You know the figures: seven per cent of children in the UK attend fee-paying schools but they win 42 per cent of Oxbridge places and 70 per cent of jobs in private equity banking; they also make up 30 per cent of places in the cabinet. This is a significant decrease from previous cabinets - 50 per cent of David Cameron’s, 70 per cent of Sir John Major’s and 90 per cent of Margaret Thatcher’s were privately educated - but it is still worryingly high. Grammar schools are suggested by some as a solution, but they have a poor record of improving social mobility. Children with educated, comparatively wealthy parents are better placed to get over the hurdles of 11+ tests and catchment areas. This means clever children from poor homes are all too often frozen out.
