Ofsted Chief: Why We Shouldn't Have New Grammar Schools

7 September 2016, 09:26 | Updated: 7 September 2016, 11:27

The head of Ofsted made a passionate plea to Theresa May not to open any new grammar schools.

The Prime Minister is set to greenlight the creation of new selective schools.

But Sir Michael Wilshaw told LBC that if you create a new grammar school, you create a new Secondary Modern and that will drag levels down.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC, he said: "Expansion of grammar schools would be a retrograde step.

"We need more than the top 10 or 20% of youngsters to do well in our economy and in our society.

"It is becoming an increasingly complex, digital economy and we can't go back 50 years when just the top 10 or 20% did well."