Oh, no.  Please - don’t do it.

That was my reaction when I heard that Theresa May was considering removing the ban on creating new grammar schools.

For nearly three decades we have lived under a sort of grudging impasse whereby Labour hasn’t abolished existing grammar schools and the Conservatives haven’t opened new ones - unless you count the satellite school in Sevenoaks as a new one (which some people do).

It’s not ideal but at least it has stopped the iniquity of the 11-plus spreading and blighting the lives of pupils who live in areas that have turned their backs on selection.

Herein lies the problem.I don’t deny that grammar schools give a good education to the select few who go to them, but what I would point out is that you never hear of politicians campaigning for the return of secondary schools which made second-class citizens out of the 75 per cent of pupils that had to go to them.

It is known that Ms May instinctively favours grammar schools - as does her chief policy adviser, Nick Timothy. As a former head of the New Schools Network, which supports free schools, he believes much could be achieved by bringing back selection through that programme. 

‘It won’t help social mobility’

Yet Ms May earned some brownie points for her heartfelt pledge, on becoming prime minister, to do something for the disadvantaged. Increasing social mobility was, she said, to be one of the major themes of her administration. The trouble is, you don’t achieve that by bringing back grammar schools in whatever shape or form. Just look at the statistics: less than 3 per cent of grammar school pupils are children on free school meals, compared with 20 per cent in the country as a whole. The reason: probably that their parents don’t have the money to afford the extra coaching to get their children through the 11-plus.

I know some grammar schools (notably the King Edward Foundation in Birmingham) are making great strides in improving their accessibility to students from disadvantaged backgrounds by introducing a lower tariff for them in the 11-plus. I applaud that because - being a realist - I know that we are unlikely to ever get to a situation where the existing grammar schools are forced to abandon selection, so we have to make grammar school admissions fair. What I would not applaud, though, is a return to a more selective system.

The likelihood is that Ms May or her education secretary, Justine Greening, will have something definitive to say on the subject by the time of the Conservative Party conference.

Before that, though, let us try and get a coalition together of those who do not believe this is the right solution - which would include Sam Freedman, former policy adviser to Michael Gove; Mr Gove himself and Lord Baker, the former education secretary. (Incidentally, while opposing selection at 11, I do back Lord Baker’s initiative to create a network of university technical colleges for 14 to 19-year-olds to improve the country’s skills set and offer a high-class vocational alternative to pupils. At 14, you have a much better understanding of an individual’s aptitude.)

I know Ms May is currently enjoying a honeymoon period and therefore it may be difficult to raise as much support as necessary from within the Conservative Party to oppose any move to return to selection, but I would say this to potential supporters of such a campaign: it will be much easier to halt this bandwagon before an announcement is made than after.

Richard Garner was education editor of The Independent for 12 years, and has been writing about education for more than three decades

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES on Twitter and like TES on Facebook