New study boosts grammar schools

Grammar schools are outperforming comprehensives - even setting aside the social advantages of their pupils, according to figures published today.

A report by a Government watchdog confounds critics who claim selective schools only dominate league tables because of their pupils' backgrounds.

The findings, in a report published by the National Audit Office, also make embarrassing reading for Education Secretary

Charles Clarke, who raised fresh questions about the future of England's remaining 164 grammars earlier this year.

Mr Clarke urged education authorities to examine whether grammar schools undermined neighbouring schools by "creaming off " the brightest pupils.

But today's report, based on research by the National Foundation for Education Research, which analysed last year's exam results for more than a million pupils, showed that grammar schools had no adverse effect on the performance of neighbouring schools.

And it showed that pupils at grammars were, on average, eight months ahead of other state-school pupils in terms of academic achievement.

The report, published ahead of the Government's official school league tables of exam results, examined how much difference was made to schools' performance by external factors, such as the proportion of pupils without English as a first language.

But even when results were weighted to favour disadvantaged schools, grammars still did better than the average.

The study showed the grammarschool effect was even more marked for pupils from poorer backgrounds, reinforcing the view of grammars as "ladders out of poverty".