Party's line... and the reality

Officially, Labour is opposed to pupil selection and has resisted calls to expand the number of grammar schools.

After it won power in 1997, the party passed legislation enabling parents who live in authorities which still have grammar schools to hold ballots on their abolition.

But the process is so complex that campaigners have not got a single grammar to turn comprehensive.

Meanwhile, the number of children educated in grammar schools has continued to rise. Since 1997, 22,000 extra places have been created in wholly selective schools

The only restriction Labour has placed on partially selective schools is to stop them choosing more than half their intake using an 11-plus-style entrance exam. The rest are selected using such criteria as whether they have siblings at the school and distance from home.