Campaigners seeking to abolish grammar schools in Kent are more confident that a ballot could now be called - after the publication of the number of parents needed to trigger a vote.

For a ballot to be held in Kent on whether selection should continue, campaigners need to gather just under 46,000 parents' names on a petition.

This is much lower than the number expected - making anti-selection campaigners "very optimistic" that they will be able to gather sufficient names.

However, in response, there has been a promise of support for pro-grammar school parents from the Shadow Education Spokesman, John Bercow.

"We want to see excellence in education, and that will not be achieved by closing down some of the best performing schools," he said.

'Encouraged'

So far, only Ripon Grammar School has become the subject of a ballot, and it had been thought unlikely that enough names would be collected to force a vote in an entire local education authority.

Kent has been described as the "big one" for anti-selection campaigners, as it has the largest remaining concentration of grammar schools in England.

Martin Frey, spokesman for the Stop The Eleven Plus (Step) campaign, said: "We are very much encouraged by this threshold figure. It's much lower than we'd expected."

"On top of the Ripon result this makes us all the more committed and confident to go all out for Kent, the big one. The good returns we are getting from our local groups gathering signatures all over Kent, coupled with this easier target, make me very optimistic."

There is a need for a ballot to "end the current period of uncertainty," said Derek Adam, headteacher of Homewood School, Tenterden and representative of the Kent Association of All-Ability Secondary Heads.

"We welcome the news that the threshold number of signatures needed on the grammar school petition is less than expected as it makes a ballot very much more likely."