By political editor Paul Francis

Plans to increase the number of places available at grammar schools in west Kent have come under fire.

Kent County Council’s Conservative leadership wants to expand heavily over-subscribed grammar schools in west Kent in a bid to satisfy rising demand for places.

It could involve a reduction in places at grammar schools in east Kent, where there is said to be less demand for places.

But the move has already been drawn some criticism, with the headteacher of one of the county’s leading non-selective schools denouncing it as unethical.

Ian Bauckham, head of the Bennett Memorial Secondary School in Tunbridge Wells, forecast that any plans would face a series of challenges from other schools.

“There is already sufficient capacity to accommodate all the children in the area and it would be quite wrong to expand one school at the expense of others. I am not sure of the legality of what is being proposed. If you take all the schools across west Kent, there are enough places – I am not sure how you can justify expanding grammar schools.”

He added that allowing only some schools to grow while others were also over-subscribed would create “a system that does not benefit anyone. That is not an ethical way to behave.”

And the plans have also been condemned by Thanet South MP Dr Steve Ladyman, a long-standing opponent of selection.

He said: “It seems pretty unfair to me that those who want a grammar place in east Kent should be asked to sacrifice their places for people from Sussex or London. There is growing demand for grammar school places in east Kent – why should they be discriminated against in favour of west Kent?

“I do not believe in selection and believe it should be scrapped but if we are to have it, it needs to be as fair as possible.”

Opposition Lib Dem education spokesman Cllr Martin Vye said: “It will undoubtedly be a hit on these non-grammar schools who are doing so well for the children they educate. It will reduce the 'critical mass' of children of more academically able children that has been a major factor in their success.”

County council leader Cllr Paul Carter has asked education officials to come up with options for increasing the allocation of places at some grammar schools in west Kent.

Mr Carter said: "We have found that grammar schools in the west of the county have been oversubscribed whereas we struggle to fill some places in the east of the county.

"What I'm proposing would involve an expansion in the west with one or two extra forms of entry.

"However, we could keep to around 24 per cent or 25 per cent of pupils going to grammar school by some reduction in the east."

Around 5,113 pupils passed the eleven plus test this year with close to 1,000 who did so coming from outside the county.

Many of those are from authorities that border west Kent, adding to pressure on grammar schools there.