Comprehensive Future

Time's Up for the Test in Kent has been questioning Reform's expenditure on 11-plus testing. The council promised to make savings and cut council tax, but is spending half a million a year on a flawed and unnecessary test.

Reform in Kent could cut costs overnight – so why is it still paying for the 11-plus? | Time's Up For The Test The new Reform-led Kent County Council entered office promising to “reduce waste and cut your taxes”. So why is it wasting half a million on the unnecessary 11-plus?

Why are we still dividing 10-year-olds into “winners” and “failures”?
This powerful article tells Jack’s story. He “failed” the 11+ at 10 and again at 18… yet went on to get three A A-levels* and a First from Cambridge.

Jack’s experience exposes the truth: the 11+ isn’t a measure of ability. It measures tutoring, inequality, and who’s been ‘drilled’ to take a test.

He’s now part of our Time’s Up For The Test campaign because he saw first-hand how selection damages children. His friends who didn’t “pass” were left believing they weren’t clever. At age ten.

The article shows the wider picture too:
• grammar schools taking tiny numbers of disadvantaged children
• state-funded schools behaving like private schools with overseas branches
• selective sixth forms displacing pupils for the sake of league tables
• relentless tutoring costs shutting out ordinary families

All of this worsens inequality, and it starts with the 11+.

If we want a fair education system, we must end academic selection.

Should grammar schools be abolished? Would it be an attack on working-class aspirations, given that not many working-class kids actually go there?

The Times “best schools” tables are out and grammar schools win because the list simply reflects who selects their intake. If a school chooses its pupils, it chooses its outcomes. Inclusive schools deserve better than rankings that can never recognise their work.

Best schools 2025: Secondary The Parent Power league tables from The Times and Sunday Times provide the definitive ranking of Britain’s top grammar and comprehensive schools as well as articles on everything from exam pressures to smartphones

The founder of one of the country’s most prominent tutoring companies criticises 11-plus test as "too easy to be gamed." He points out "they drive preparation with no enduring educational value." Why are we still putting children through these flawed exams?

Training for the 11-plus may be making your child less intelligent, experts warn Selective tests in their current form produce ‘exam bots with no genuine love of learning’

Buckinghamshire Council’s modelling for the High Needs Block proposal showed something deeply worrying: non-selective schools — the schools with the most diverse and high-need intakes — would have absorbed almost the entire funding reduction, while grammar schools saw no cut at all.

The proposal has now been paused, but the issues it exposed have not gone away.

We’re sharing a powerful letter from CF steering group member Derek Berry, calling for a fairer, more honest review of secondary education in the county.

Read the full letter here:

Bucks’ Non-Selective Schools Deserve Fair Funding — Not Another Hit – Comprehensive Future Buckinghamshire Council recently consulted on a proposal to transfer 0.5% of the Schools Block into the High Needs Block to fund early ... Read more

What Class Divide have achieved in Brighton & Hove deserves praise. A group of parents and local residents refused to accept a system where the school you attend depends on the house you can afford. Through storytelling, petitions, community organising and sheer persistence, they secured admissions reforms that will open up opportunities for children in some of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Their campaign shows school admissions sometimes reinforce inequality, but when admissions are made fairer, children gain real choices — and real chances.

Read more :

Inclusion through admissions: How a community brought about change in Brighton and Hove - The Sutton Trust Grassroots efforts to create fairer school admissions for all pupils in Brighton and Hove.

Last week, Comprehensive Future hosted a powerful event in the Palace of Westminster, bringing together school leaders who live with the consequences of the 11-plus every day.

They spoke about children as young as 10 calling themselves “failures,” parents apologising when one sibling doesn’t pass, and villages divided by separate school buses for grammar and comprehensive pupils.

Their insights were compelling — and a reminder of why change is urgently needed.

Read the full event write-up here:

Educators Against the 11-Plus: What Educators Know, What Policymakers Ignore – Comprehensive Future Comprehensive Future hosted a powerful panel discussion in Westminster last week, bringing together school leaders who live with the everyday consequences of ... Read more

We’re delighted to welcome three new patrons to Comprehensive Future: Lord Mike Watson, Baroness Natalie Bennett, and Professor Peter Mandler.

Each brings a strong commitment to fairness in education and a wealth of experience across policy, politics and research. Their support strengthens our mission to end the 11-plus and build a fully inclusive comprehensive system.

Read more about our new patrons here:

Comprehensive Future welcomes three distinguished new patrons – Comprehensive Future We are delighted to announce that Comprehensive Future has invited three distinguished figures to become our new patrons: Lord Mike Watson of ... Read more

Grammar school Parents’ Associations are finding unusual ways to raise funds. In the past, we exposed how they sold ‘mock’ 11-plus tests to parents. One PTA is now involved with a private school in Dubai to generate income. In both cases, their charitable status helps the grammars avoid potential legal issues around commercial activity.

State grammar becomes first to open fee-paying branch in Dubai Historic Queen Elizabeth's School (QES) in north London will become the first state funded school in the UK to open a school overseas when it launches next August.

Researchers have tried to measure how school admissions affect access to “good” schools, and found a big gap between rich and poor families.

Whether or not you agree that exam results make a school “good,” the findings highlight how postcode and policy still shape opportunity.

We’ve shared our thoughts on what this means for fair admissions.

New research confirms unfainess in school admissions – and suggests a fix – Comprehensive Future New research shows wealthy families are far more likely to secure places at top schools. A major study from the University of Bristol ... Read more

📢 Educators Against the 11-plus: What Educators Know, What Policy Makers Ignore. Join us at the Houses of Parliament on Nov 19th for a powerful discussion with Dr Katy Simmons, Steve Witherden MP, and Wayne Norrie.

🎟️ Free tickets:

Comprehensive Future AGM 2025 Join CF for our Annual General Meeting and panel event on the theme of, 'Educators against the 11-plus.'

Grammar schools top the new look league tables. If schools are compared purely on the results of children they actively filtered in, it’s no surprise they win. Inclusive schools, working with a broader mix of learners, simply cannot compete. If we only judge on bare exam results we miss the schools making a real difference for children.

Grammars top league tables as attainment replaces progress 8 Progress 8 cannot be calculated this year and next due to Covid SATs cancellations