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Education and Skills Bill

I appreciate how disciplined our Select Committee Chairman is, but we are dealing with a group of amending provisions, which allows me to talk more widely and to tempt the hon. Gentleman into doing the same. Paragraphs 200 and 201 were not at all generous about the Government's policy of selection by aptitude. Let me remind Members who may not have a copy of the report precisely what they said:"““Given the well established links between social class and attainment and the Government's stated commitment to social inclusion and equity, the integrity of the Government's commitment to aptitude testing is hard to defend without clear evidence of its educational benefit. We have not been made aware of any such educational benefits. Nor have we been made aware of any means by which aptitude can be assessed without reference to ability.””" The conclusion was:"““Aptitude tests are an additional and unnecessary complication in the schools admissions process. Moreover, the resources invested by schools in running these tests are significant both financially and in terms of staff time.””" It is particularly interesting to look at the evidence recently commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which I commend particularly for its paper on secondary school admissions.