HC Deb 08 November 1988 vol 140 c124W
32. Mr. Barry Porter

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what guidance he has given to local education authorities regarding priority admission for local pupils to grammar schools which have set an entry standard and are now subject to more open enrolment as a result of the Education Act 1988.

Mr. Butcher

The Department's circular No. 11/188, offering guidance on the admission of pupils to county and voluntary schools, issued to all local education authorities and others concerned on 20 October. Under the provisions of the Education Reform Act, local education authorities and school governors will still be able to operate whatever selection arrangements seem appropriate for deciding which pupils are suitable for a grammar school education, but they will not be able to set an admissions limit for those pupils which is below a school's assessed capacity. If the school does not have the capacity to admit all the eligible applicants, priority may be decided in accordance with any reasonable criteria, published beforehand. Such criteria might, for example, give priority to applicants living nearest to the school.