This story, based on data from the DfE, has been reported on in various forms since June this year, but has now been picked up again by the press, and reposted by various people online, like Restore leader Rupert Lowe.
What though is going on? Why has the proportion of white British students dropped so much? Having experienced grammar-schools both as a pupil and as a teacher, I feel I am well positioned to talk about this subject.
My secondary education was at Lawrence Sheriff in Rugby, a free state grammar for boys. When I left in 2016, the school was 74% white British, today that figure is around 34%.
The same is true for Reading School, where I taught from 2020-23. Data on school applications show the proportion of white British children falling from 49% to 7% in 2024, before recovering slightly to 15% this year.
The Headmaster, Dr Chris Evans, described the demographic change as “spectacular” in a Daily Mail article, and Reading School has been exploring ways to funnel a more diverse range of children towards applying to the school, particularly focusing on areas of socio-economic depravation. This, notably, has included workshops and outreach in primary schools so that children from all backgrounds see that they can apply to the academically rigorous school....<<<Read More>>>...
