The 11+ examination is a shameful relic of an unfair and discredited system of education which was abandoned in most of Britain half a century ago. In 2022, the time is up for this miserable examination. The 11+ should be abolished.
Our aim is simple and direct. We want the remnants of the discredited secondary school system which dates back to the 1940s to be swept away. Nowhere in England should young children be divided on the basis of some ill-conceived perception of intelligence.
This out-dated and discredited exam divides children into successes and failures before they reach their teenage years. Everyone who has ‘failed’ the 11+ remembers the unhappy day when they and their classmates were divided into the successful few who could go to grammar school and the large number of ‘failures’ who were directed towards less prestigious schools.
The 11+ was abolished in most of the UK over 50 years ago. More than a dozen councils in England managed to resist reform, including Kent, Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Research in those local authority areas shows why the 11+ must be abolished.
- The educational outcomes in the 11+ areas are inferior to most other areas of the country.
- The 11+ causes great stress to children and parents in areas as they face an exam which is so important to their future.
- The 11+ causes unfairness. It greatly favours those children whose parents can afford intensive coaching.
- The 11+ promotes inequality. Many grammar school pupils come from affluent families: just 3% of grammar school pupils are disadvantaged and in receipt of free school meals.
The 11+ is a discredited relic of an educational system based on privilege and embedding inequality. It has no place in the modern world.
So a group of organisations and individuals who oppose the 11+ are forming a Coalition to put pressure on government and policy makers to phase out this unfair test.
Abolishing the 11+ will make Britain into a happier and more equal country.