Labour MP criticises ‘shameful’ number of poor pupils in London grammars
Labour MP Lucy Powell has criticised London’s grammar schools for educating a ‘shamefully low’ number of pupils from poor backgrounds.
Powell, a former Shadow Education Secretary, released figures that show just 2.3 per cent of pupils that attend grammar schools in the capital are eligible for free school meals, compared to 19.2 per cent for children at all state funded secondary schools.
Enfield was found to have the largest gap, followed by Redbridge, Barnet, Bexley, Bromley, Sutton and Kingston.
Powell has said that selective education ‘creates barriers for disadvantaged children’ and has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to rethink proposals to allow more grammar schools to open.
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