System works, why destroy it?

The Latymer School in Enfield is one of the most over-subscribed in London.

Each year 1,800 hopefuls sit the academic tests that allocate its 180 places.

But as one of London's remaining 19 grammar schools, today's report has focused attention on its future.

Headteacher Michael Cooper said: "I don't understand why people want to destroy something that works.

"I believe in good schools and I don't think there would be public support for destroying them.

"If we did not exist our pupils would be spread so thinly around the other secondary schools in Enfield and elsewhere that the effect on each would be minimal." He acknowledged that just under 300 of his 1,300 pupils have English as an additional language, and the proportion receiving free meals is low.

He said: "In areas of north London the only way to achieve a social mix in school populations would be by bussing them in.

"I don't think there would be support for that."