Researchers wanted to know who benefited from grammar schools

Researchers say where schools select by ability, bright pupils from better-off families are twice as likely to get places than their poorer counterparts.

But the research from Bristol University says that where poorer pupils get into grammar schools, they gain significant advantages.

The study examined 19 areas in England which still used selection.

The research by the university's Centre for Market and Public Organisation has examined the experiences of selective education on pupils from different social backgrounds.

'Social divide'

It showed that grammar school places were gained by 32% of academically-strong pupils from poorer families (based on those who qualified for free school meals).

Selection does work in favour of bright pupils from poor backgrounds if they can get into the grammar schools in the first place Selective Education: Who Benefits from Grammar Schools?

In comparison, 60% of better-off pupils with the same academic ability gained places in schools that used selection.

The study, produced by Adele Atkinson and Paul Gregg, found that in these selective areas only 6% of poorer pupils gained places in grammar schools - compared to 26% of the rest of the school population.

This social divide in the allocation of places could be exacerbated by individual grammar schools running their own admissions systems, which, researchers say, could advantage wealthier applicants.

"It is distinctly possible that the under-representation of poorer children in grammar schools stems from each grammar school operating separate admissions policies and sometimes can set or choose their own entrance tests," say the researchers.

"This places more onus on parents to apply to the grammar school and prepare children for the tests, a process that fell to primary schools when admissions were more standard.

"It is possible that this more pro-active parent choice approach is leading to a gulf in access between affluent and poor children," say the authors of Selective Education: Who Benefits from Grammar Schools?.

'Exceptionally well'

But the research also cautioned that the impact of the selective system on overall achievement is often "overstated" by both those in favour and those opposed to grammar schools.

The study found little difference in average attainment between selective and non-selective areas.

The research also highlighted that "the small minority of poor pupils who make it into grammar schools do exceptionally well".

The researchers calculate this benefit as being worth pushing up eight GCSEs from a grade C to a grade B.

"So selection does work in favour of bright pupils from poor backgrounds if they can get into the grammar schools in the first place.

"But even among the very able poorer children, only a small minority make it," say the researchers.