Comment 23 by Andy1 :

Our schools will continue to be rubbish until selection by ability (grammar schools) is re-introduced. What we have now is selection by catchment area, which of course is effectively selection by wealth and the worst hit are children from poor families who get lumped into the most anarchic schools. Meanwhile, Mr Cameron supports comprehensive schools yet sends his children to London Oratory. Supertficially a state school but of course an entirely atypical one. So able to avoid the chaotic and undisciplined nature of the vast majority of schools whilst able to bask in the socialist virtue of his actions. What an ignoble pretence. Sorry for being off topic but I think going on about church schools rather misses the point that there is a fundamental problem with our education system.

I expect you mean Blair not Cameron...

As a product of a grammar school myself, I am very aware of how they were responsible for huge numbers of working class children progressing to higher education and having careers that were previously dominated by the middle classes. However, if we re-introduce them, you'd still be left with the same schools in poorer areas, which would then be devoid of higher ability pupils. You'd need a clear plan for ensuring that those pupils left behind had access to high quality education and resources.

I don't agree with you that the vast majority of our schools are "chaotic and undisciplined" or "rubbish" either but that's probably a discussion for another thread.