The Queen’s Speech: Grammar schools plan scrapped

Plans to create a new wave of grammar schools in England has not been included in the government’s plans for legislation.

According to the BBC, The Queen’s Speech says that the government will “look at all options” for new schools, but there are no signs of the legislation needed to remove the current ban on expanding selection.

In addition to this, controversial plans to replace free school lunches for infants with free breakfast was not included in the speech.

This plan was originally outlined in the Conservative manifesto and was believed to be the biggest source of extra funding promised for schools.

The scrapping of free meals for all infants was meant to save about £650 million, which would have been the majority of an extra £1 billion per year to boost school budgets.

The government plans no longer include the expansion of selective education in England for the next two years, with re-written plans now being labelled as “every child to go to a good or outstanding school”.

However, it recognises that any proposals will depend upon being able to “command a majority”.

The government also say that it is going ahead with changes to how budgets are allocated to individual schools through a new National Funding Formula.

The BBC has also reported that there are plans for so-called “T-levels” for technical qualifications.