Fierce competition has spawned high-priced school districts.
It is understood that according to the quality of education, British secondary schools are divided into public schools, private schools, public schools and other levels. Grammar school belongs to the category of public schools, but it represents the highest level of public schools in Britain, and its teaching quality, student quality and school's influence in society can even be comparable to excellent private schools. English grammar school is considered as a "key middle school" similar to China, because it is very difficult to take exams and is very strict in selecting students. The entrance examination for grammar schools is held in the sixth grade of primary school. The age of sixth grade students is usually 1 1, so the grammar school exam is also called "1 1+". Those who can't pass the exam, or those who can't pass the exam, will be enrolled in ordinary middle schools nearby according to their school districts. Compared with private schools, students in grammar schools don't have to pay expensive tuition and fees. Therefore, grammar school is considered as an effective way for ordinary family children to change their fate through hard study.
The competition in elite grammar schools is extremely fierce. According to the data published on 20 15, the best grammar schools in England have 12 students competing for each quota. Allen Jones, president of the British Federation of Girls' Schools, said that parents in Britain had to move to a school district near a good public grammar school for their children to go to school and strengthen extra-curricular tutoring for their children, which led to more and more serious "social isolation". He said that many grammar schools are more difficult to enter than private schools, and many middle-class parents have to bear excessive housing prices in order to buy school districts.
Grammar schools first appeared in Britain in the16th century. At first, they were aristocratic schools, learning Latin and ancient classics. 1944 during the reform of the education bill, they became public education and began to receive excellent students free of charge. In 1950s and 1960s, the British Labor Party and egalitarian educators began to oppose the establishment of grammar schools, arguing that such schools "aggravated class division and privileges of the middle class". 1965, the British government announced that it would gradually replace the original grammar school by establishing a new comprehensive school, and the grammar school was put into the "cold palace". 1998, Blair, the former leader of the British Labor Party and then Prime Minister, announced that it was forbidden to open new grammar schools. According to statistics, there are more than 3,000 ordinary middle schools in Britain, only 163 grammar school is left.
Theresa May said that it was out of date to ban the selection of students for grammar schools and schools, and many people were still lost in the debate on whether grammar schools had an impact on social class mobility in the 1950s and 1960s.