The number of grammar schools applying to open annexes via a £50 million government fund is likely to be “one or none”, according to the leader of the Grammar School Heads’ Association.

The country’s 163 grammar schools have until 19 July to bid for a slice of the government’s Selective Schools Expansion Fund - announced last month by education secretary Damian Hinds.

The fund represents a watered-down version of prime minister Theresa May’s plans for a new generation of grammar schools, which were dashed by last year’s general election result.

Opening a new grammar school is currently illegal, but the new money allows grammars to expand on-site or by building an annexe.

The decision to allocate £50 million to grammar schools has attracted strong criticism from teaching unions, and anti-selection campaigners fear it could allow new grammar schools to be created by stealth.

But it appears that few grammars will seek to use the money to open annexes.

Jim Skinner, chief executive of the Grammar Schools Heads’ Association, told Tes: “If you are looking at this year, I would have thought the number of annexes would be one or none.”

Improving access for disadvantaged pupils

Mr Skinner, whose organisation represents 150 of the country’s 163 grammar schools, expects that the vast majority of applications will simply opt to expand within their existing school grounds.

The £50 million is open to “good” or “outstanding” schools and is expected to fund up to 4,000 new selective places - though building an annexe would prove a far more costly option.

Schools applying to the fund must show “ambitious and deliverable” proposals to increase access for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

However, some of the schools’ consultations on their plans, seen by Tes, contain few details on how this will be achieved.

With a window of just 10 weeks, applicants have had little time to put their bids together.

Any proposal requires a minimum four-week public consultation period, which means that all prospective bids should be in the public domain by the close of next week.

Those interested in opening an annexe must have “identified a suitable site before an application is submitted” and prove that the two sites will be integrated, according to the guidance.

At the time of writing, Tes was aware of fewer than 10 schools looking to expand - all on-site.

Anti-selection campaigners, meanwhile, are watching closely. Two petitions have been launched in response to expansion plans at Kendrick School in Reading and John Hampden Grammar School in Buckinghamshire.

This is an edited article from the 15 June edition of Tes. Subscribers can read the full article here. To subscribe, click here.  This week’s Tes magazine is available in all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here.