What about comprehensive grammars for all?

Toby Young is so concerned by the shortage of good school places, particularly in London, both private and state, that he wants to set up a school of his own.

The news that a record-breaking number of pupils scored an A grade in their A-levels this year may sound like an educational success story, but it won't mean much to those who can't afford independent schools or don't live in the catchment area of one of the country's few remaining grammars. Last year, only 7.7 per cent of comprehensive school candidates received three grade As in their A-levels, compared to 26 per cent of grammar school pupils and 31 per cent in private schools. This year, the performance gap is even wider. For the first time ever, over 50 per cent of A-level papers in private schools were graded A, compared to 20 per cent in comprehensives. The gap between the haves and the have-nots is getting wider and wider.

For those who've opted out of the state system, this will only strengthen their resolve - got to keep on paying the school fees! But what of the rest of us? Is there no way to improve the educational provision for the majority? What will happen to all the bright children - children who could so easily be getting three As at A-level - who are forced to go to bog standard comprehensives because their parents have no alternative?

I have four young children and I know just how easily comprehensives can let some pupils down. I attended two mediocre comps and ended up failing all my O-levels. I needed a disciplined, competitive environment in order to thrive and it wasn't until I switched to a grammar that I managed to get three A-levels and win a place at Oxford.

SCHOOLS FOR FREE

The nearest comprehensive to me in West London has a GCSE pass rate below the national average. Unfortunately, if my children do as badly as I did there is no grammar school to pick up the pieces.

Many people who've have found themselves in this position have simply gone private, but I'm reluctant to do that. As the product of three state schools, I benefited hugely from being educated alongside people from a range of different backgrounds. I now feel part of British society in a way that friends of mine who were educated privately rarely do.

My worry is that if I send my children to an independent school they will be surrounded by people exactly like them. When they emerge into the wider world, they won't think of themselves as part of contemporary Britain, with all its challenges, but of a privileged elite.

Having said that, I also have more mercenary reasons for wanting to educate my children in the state sector. I got into Oxford under a special scheme designed to recruit undergraduates from state schools - I got a conditional offer of three Bs - and I suspect it's still true that the bar is lower for children who haven't had the advantage of a private education. Even if I put these considerations to one side, I'd still be faced with the challenge of securing a place for my children at a good private school. Even in the current economic climate, competition for places at the very best independent schools is ferocious, particularly in London.

No, I want to educate my children in the state sector. But what am I to do? The answer is to start my own state school - and the Conservatives have promised to make it easier for people like me to do that if they win the election. The centerpiece of their education policy will be a commitment to Swedish-style "free schools". Broadly speaking, a free school will be one that is owned and operated by a charitable body but entirely funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Free schools will have more autonomy than existing state schools, particularly when it comes to the curriculum, but they will have a comprehensive intake. Admissions will be first come, first serve.

NON-SELECTIVE

As the Tories are keen to point out, a similar policy has proved very successful in Sweden. Free schools were introduced by one of the country's few conservative governments in 1992 and became an immediate hit. Today, they are an established part of Sweden's education system, with 9 per cent of primary pupils and 17 per cent of upper secondary pupils being educated at free schools.

My plan is to create a "comprehensive grammar", that is, a school which is as close as possible to the grammar I went to - traditional pedagogy, competitive atmosphere, zero tolerance of disruptive behaviour - but with a non-selective intake. Assuming the Conservatives are in power by June of 2010, I should be open for business in September of 2012.

Naively optimistic? That remains to be seen. I already have a model in the form of Marr College, a grant-aided Scottish comprehensive founded in the 1920s. In its heyday, it achieved exam results comparable to that of Scotland's most prestigious selective schools. This, in spite of the fact that it was based in Troon, not one of Scotland's most affluent towns. Its success was down to rigorous setting and its philosophy of challenging all its pupils to push themselves to the limit of their ability.

The prospect of trying to start a new school single-handedly would be daunting, but I've already been deluged with emails from local parents offering to help. It seems I'm not the only parent in Acton wanting to send my children to a school with a comprehensive intake that isn't burdened with a progressive educational agenda. Of course, not everyone is so enthusiastic about free schools. The main objection is that the only people who'll take advantage of the new Conservative policy will be middle class parents who don't want to send their kids to the local comp - people like me.

CREATING A "COMPREHENSIVE GRAMMAR"

As you'd expect, the Tories are anxious to rebut this charge. Michael Gove, the Shadow Education Secretary, recognises that for the policy to succeed over the long term it has to be embraced by the Labour Party, too - which is one reason why free schools will be non-selective. In addition, Gove favours a sliding scale of pupil place funding, whereby the amount a free school receives to educate a particular child will be inversely proportional to his or her parents' income. In this way, he hopes to encourage people like me to find as many places as possible for pupils from under-privileged backgrounds.

This is the most exciting aspect of the policy. One of the reasons social mobility has ground to a halt in Britain is because working class children aren't being pushed as hard as they should be in schools. The great virtue of grammars is that they are able to help children from ordinary backgrounds get a foothold on the careers ladder and I hope "comprehensive grammars" like the one I want to start can do the same.

I have a personal reason for wanting to do this. My late father, Michael Young, was a visionary educationalist who came up with the idea for the Open University. He was a passionate advocate of comprehensive education, being a close colleague of Anthony Crosland, the Labour Education Secretary who was responsible for the massive expansion of comprehensives in the sixties. The downside of this policy was the decimation of Britain's grammar schools which had done so much to help the children of the least well-off.

EDUCATIONAL APARTHEID

My father loathed the old system of educational apartheid, whereby children were divided into haves and have-nots at the age of 11. But it didn't occur to him that so many comprehensives would turn into secondary moderns in all but name. Today, there are two types of comps: the good ones in middle-class suburbs and affluent rural areas, which are comparable to old-fashioned grammars, and the rest, which fail those most in need. In effect, the old division has been preserved, only access to the best state schools is now determined by income rather than ability. My hope is that "comprehensive grammars" can address this problem, honouring my father's inclusive philosophy but without the unhelpful egalitarian baggage.

If anyone reading this would like to help, I'm currently looking for a site in West London and any form of financial help would be welcome. The Conservatives have said that securing sponsorship won't be a precondition of starting a free school, but it certainly can't hurt. It could mean the difference between a stripped-down, no-frills, Easy Jet type of school and one with spacious classrooms and decent playing fields.

Ultimately, the fate of free schools will turn on how many are started in the next few years. For the policy to succeed, enough new schools will have to be set up to make it politically impossible for Labour to oppose them. But will the British prove as enthusiastic as the Swedes? I hope so, if only because I want my school to thrive. I strongly suspect they will.

FIRST ELEVEN MAGAZINE

This article is published in The Autumn 2009 issue of First Eleven Magazine. First Eleven Magazine provides vital news, views and features about all aspects of contemporary education and parenting within the Independent Schools network in the UK. To order your copy and find out more, visit www.elevenmagazine.co.uk

22 October 09