May confirms she wants 'an element of selection' in the education system

Theresa May has spoken out about possible plans to lift the ban on opening new grammar schools in England, saying she want to bring 'an element of selection' back into the education system.

Speaking to the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs, May reportedly defended the idea of selection by saying: “We have already got selection haven't we - it's called selection by house price.”

The Prime Minister went on to assure sceptical Conservatives that new grammar schools would not be imposed everywhere, but be allowed to be opened where there was a desire for them.

May’s comments were followed up by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who voiced his support for grammar schools on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Fallon said that parents deserved a ‘proper choice of good schools’ and suggested a mix of academies, free schools and grammar schools widened the choice for parents in his Sevenoaks constituency.

Addressing the criticism that those who do not pass the 11-plus are left behind by a grammar school system, Fallon argued that non-academic children should have ‘proper alternatives that are equally outstanding’.