'Welsh education is failing - we should bring back selective schools' argues senior Tory

Martin Shipton

Wales is suffering from a “prolonged educational crisis” and should consider reintroducing selective education in schools, according to a paper published by a newly established centre right think tank.

The paper, written by Dr Ewan Lawry for Prydain - The Welsh Policy Centre, argues that if Wales is to become more prosperous, it needs to have a better educated workforce.

Dr Lawry, who chairs Mid and West Wales Conservatives and sits on the Welsh Party Board, begins by referring to the fact that Welsh pupils’ scores, especially those of the poorest, are far behind those of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the international PISA comparisons for maths, reading and science.

He writes: “One could point to any number of causes: the ongoing social damage of Covid-19 lockdowns, the debunked teaching methods leaving pupils functionally illiterate, the dopamine hit of mindless TikTok scrolling, funding deficiencies, overstretched teachers, the loss of discipline. However, such dire circumstances present a unique opportunity to radically rethink education in Wales, free of shibboleths and sacred cows, and to place the needs and abilities of every pupil at the heart of a meritocratic system of academic selection.”

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Grammar schools

Dr Lawry traces the history of school education in Wales, arguing that the life chances of many thousands of bright working class pupils had been boosted - and social mobility enhanced - by their ability to attend academically focussed grammar schools.

However, the selective system was said to have failed those pupils who didn’t get into grammar schools by creating a “left behind” culture with “sink schools” suffering from an imbalance in resourcing, less able teachers and a lack of social prestige. In common with England and Scotland - though not Northern Ireland - selection was ended, with the final grammar school in Wales closing in 1988.

The change has not, however, argues Dr Lawry, delivered better outcomes. He writes: “The comprehensive system has not produced the promised ‘grammar school education for all’. It has entrenched selection by wealth, becoming, in the words of New Labour’s Andrew Adonis, ‘a force for rigorous segregation’, with the ability to pay fees, buy a house in a certain catchment area, or feigning religious belief as the only ways to access a ‘good’ education. Often, comprehensives seek to recreate the environment and culture of the selective system through streaming but, as sociologist Frank Musgrove pointed out in 1979, ‘the upper classes kept their public schools; the working classes lost theirs’.”

Dr Lawry declares: “It is now the duty of policymakers to ensure that this is put right and that poorer children are empowered to access the educational pathways in which they will flourish.”

He continues: “For less academic pupils, it cannot be denied that the old tripartite system did not live up to the promised parity of esteem in secondary moderns [as the schools for less academically inclined pupils were called]. This left, so the tale usually goes, disappointed ‘also ran’ 11-year olds facing further social ignominy and bad teaching by attending what were often seen as ‘sink schools’.

“Any proposals for a modernised selective system … would inevitably have to challenge this perception since a major part of the proposed system would have to deliver a valuable education for the less academic pupils. “However, it is also worth recognising that the old secondary moderns were in large part unfairly maligned if we are to make real progress in developing a multi-tiered, selective system.

“Turning first to the question of ‘failures’ (a retrospective term applied by opponents of selection), this unevidenced, emotive claim hardly stands up to scrutiny. Most obviously, the millions who passed through the old secondary moderns did so without having lives recognisably scarred by being written off as ‘failures’ (it is unclear who assigned this label). “However, as former Conservative MP Graham Brady points out, we already accept selection for A-levels at 16 and university at 18. Selecting earlier would actually enable a greater tailoring of education at a stage when it can do more good.

“That principle is already accepted with the increasingly common use of streaming within comprehensives, without the disparity in social respect or resourcing. Likewise, when one considers the Dutch practice of streaming throughout secondary school or the German approach [which assigns pupils to four different kinds of schools according to their strengths], the alleged social disparities simply do not feature in any major way.

“Likewise, the suggestion that secondary moderns offered only poor outcomes is not backed up by the evidence. Despite initially not putting pupils through examinations, the number of secondary modern pupils entered for GCEs [which preceded GCSEs] in the 1950s rose sharply, so that, by 1960, 39.4% were entered for GCE papers, with around a third obtaining three or more passes.

“This was far behind the grammar schools, but that is not unexpected in the circumstances and was a significant improvement on the ‘left behind’ horror stories. As one commentator correctly asks, given that the majority of English and Welsh pupils went to secondary moderns from 1944 to 1965, are those cohorts particularly distinguished for their illiteracy, innumeracy, and unemployability? That has been left to succeeding generations of comprehensive school children in Wales.”

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Progress

Dr Lawry goes on to argue that, despite various initiatives, such as the Curriculum for Wales, the Welsh Government has failed to make progress on the scale required. He states: “It is hard to disagree with those who accuse it of ‘going round… in circles’ in education policy. Consistently performing below the OECD average, Wales’s schools have a ‘disadvantage gap’, leaving poorer pupils around 22-23 months behind their better off peers. There has been some improvement in narrowing the attainment gap between poorer and wealthier pupils in recent years (declining from 32% to 28% between 2022 and 2024), but this continues to be the largest in the UK.”

Setting out proposals for a new schools education system, Dr Lawry writes:

“Such a system would not be a mere reversion to the past … but would be shaped by experience both in the UK and internationally. In the first place, it must be recognised that the Dutch streaming system is attractive for enabling a degree of continuity with the current use of streaming within comprehensives … That would further remove the requirement for building separate institutions to accommodate each stream, which would be particularly difficult in rural areas, and enable the social mixing prized in the comprehensive system outside of the classroom.

“On the other hand, the importance of a culture requisite to the aims and approach of each stream would be better homed in separate facilities, while the dire state of Welsh education demands a significant shock to the attitudes that lead to the persistence with a failing system.”

He therefore makes these proposals:

* For the bulk of Wales, given rurality and budgetary pressures, compulsory streaming should be implemented from the age of 13, with the following three streams:

1 The ‘grammar’ stream would prepare the most academically able for university, with a largely theoretical focus (the sciences, humanities, English, Welsh, computer science, classical or modern foreign languages, social studies, art, additional optional subjects (eg music, drama) appropriate to each child’s abilities, interests, and ambitions). Within this, there would be opportunities to specialise in various subjects (eg the sciences, languages, humanities) as the pupil progresses, with the intention of preparing them for further study in those areas.

2 The ‘technical’ stream would place greater emphasis on practical learning in a branching pipeline to skilled employment and apprenticeships in, for instance, agricultural management, the sciences, engineering, and software development. This would be combined with a general theoretical education, but in a more limited way than in the grammar stream to enable a focus on engaging industry to assist with the development of a skills-based curriculum in each area.

3 The ‘general’ stream would focus on vocational training, as well as prioritising reading, writing, mathematics, and computer science, for less academically inclined pupils. The intention would be to develop a trained workforce able to carry out the essential tasks that keep the economy and society functioning (eg food handling and preparation, construction, bookkeeping). Again, employers would be engaged to help to devise a curriculum tailored to provide a clear pipeline to employment and apprenticeships, with the opportunity for pupils to choose the routes that align with their interests and abilities.

* Admission to each would be based on an aptitude test at the end of primary school, combined with ongoing assessment and reporting by teachers. This would be managed by using primary schools as feeders, with the secondary school making the final decision. There should be opportunities for retesting, to enable greater fluidity to move between pathways (and within them) as appropriate, as well as utilising admission interviews for those just below thresholds.

* In urban areas, due to the population size and greater availability of potential facilities, it may be appropriate to base each stream in a separate institution, to enable the development of distinct cultures fitting to each. In this instance, there would be a grammar school, a technical school, and a general school. Where possible, this same approach should be taken in rural areas and it should be the ultimate aim to secure funding to develop separate facilities across Wales.

* A learning culture appropriate to each stream is essential, and something widely commended about the old grammar schools, but which can only be developed by staff actively leaning into the expected outcome of each stream, setting high expectations and standards across all streams, and encouraging every pupil to maximise their potential through the appropriate pathways. Such a culture would also grow organically due to the different subjects being studied, the exams being taken, and expected outcomes.

* Teachers would necessarily have to be qualified to teach in the stream to which they are assigned, to provide the best, tailored education. This might be thought to risk a creaming off of the most able by the grammar stream, but there would be no discrepancy in pay and teacher training would need to be geared to providing for each stream.

* All would emerge with a general education, complemented by skills in particular areas best suited to them, and appropriate qualifications. This would, by necessity, not imply a uniform examination process, but the devising of testing and qualifications appropriate to the stream. For instance, those in the grammar stream would look towards academic qualifications such as GCSEs and A-levels, whereas those in the general stream would be put through for certificates and awards relating to the vocational root they have chosen.

• Resourcing parity should be written into legislation. Inspections of schools would seek to assess them based on the aims of each stream, rather than comparing between streams, or judging a school to have ‘failed’ because, by needing to cater to a larger number in one stream than another, it does not obtain more qualifications in the other streams.

Meritocratic education system

Dr Lawry states: “These proposals will form the basis of the meritocratic education system to prepare Wales’ population to play a full part in the global economy. From the current low point, which punishes thousands of schoolchildren every year and for the rest of their lives, the agenda can be seized to plot out a radical, transformative path.

“There is no reason that Welsh education cannot retake its once highly respected place, with Welsh children going on to dominate the professions and set the standard for the rest of the UK.”

The paper makes no mention specifically of Welsh medium education, but a spokesman for Prydain agreed that consideration would have to be given to their role in a new system as the idea was fleshed out further.

Producing the Meritocracy - The Case for Selective Education in Wales can be accessed here.