Private schools 'break rules against coaching children to pass 11-plus grammar school entry exam'

'Prep schools and expensive tutors leave poorer children at a disadvantage'

Private primary schools are breaking the rules and coaching children for the 11-plus grammar school entrance exam, an investigation has found.

Kent County Council has a ban on coaching for the test in all schools – both state and independent – to ensure children are not given an unfair advantage over their peers.

But a reporter for BBC South East’s Inside Out – who visited 10 independent prep schools in Kent undercover – found that nine were tutoring children for the tests despite the council’s ban.

It comes after the government announced a £50m fund for grammar school expansion – despite criticism that selection favours children from wealthier families who can afford tuition for the test.

The 11-plus – referred to locally as the Kent Test or Medway Test – is being held on Thursday.

In a series of recordings with private school teachers, one said: “It’s ridiculous they say you can’t be tutored for it... we prepare children for the Kent Test – 100 per cent.”

Others were open about giving children examples of past papers, and mock tests “structured in a very similar way” to the Kent Test.

Roger Gough, Kent County Council’s (KCC) cabinet member for children, young people and education, said that there is no “official definition of coaching”.

He added: “However, the council does highlight to schools that staff must not retain or copy materials provided for single use in earlier years in order to drill children in formats and question types and how to approach them.

“It should be apparent that this is not an appropriate approach to a process which seeks to identify the most suitable type of educational placement for children leaving primary school by assessing their ability.”

Neil Roskilly, CEO of the Independent Schools Association, has called for the ban on coaching to be removed as he says it is “unfair” as parents are forced to seek expensive private tutoring outside school.

On tutoring for the test in private prep schools in Kent, he told The Independent: “I suspect there are lots of state schools doing that as well – in terms of preparing children just like they do for the KS2 tests.

“What Kent needs to do is make it a level playing field and allow state schools and independent schools to prepare children for the test – just like state schools and independent schools do for any form of public examination. Why should that be any different?”

When asked by the BBC if it was time to get rid of the ban on coaching within schools, Paul Carter, leader of KCC, said: “That’s my view. Why shouldn’t local schools, alongside the private schools, be able to coach their children to pass the 11+?”

Joanne Bartley, of anti-selection campaign group Comprehensive Future, said: “[He] seems to have admitted there is a major flaw with their 11-plus school system. A few years ago the council suggested the 11-plus was ‘tutor proof’, yet now they appear to accept test coaching works.

“This means that prep schools and expensive tutors will make a difference, and this benefits wealthy children and leaves poorer children at a disadvantage.

“Yet their solution to this problem is awful, it means that primary schools will effectively have to become exam passing factories to compete with test tutors.”