Kent’s grammar schools will be able to expand and build annexes under a government scheme to improve the number of poorer, brighter children getting access to them.

The government has announced plans for a £200m fund for selective schools, but they will only qualify for the extra money to expand where it will help boost the number of disadvantaged children getting places.

The scheme is likely to prove controversial and has already revived the debate about selection.

Education secretary Damian Hinds said schools would need to show how expansion would help improve opportunities for those from poorer backgrounds.

Some £50m will be available under the scheme from next year.

The Department for Education said there would be a “very high bar” for such expansions.

Mr Hinds said: “By creating new schools where they are needed most and helping all great schools to grow, we can give parents greater choice in looking at schools that are right for their family and give children of all backgrounds access to a world-class education.”

The plans have already come under fire from anti selection campaigners and opposition parties.

Angela Rayner, Labour shadow education secretary, said: “The continued obsession with grammar schools will do nothing for the vast majority of children. It is absurd for ministers to push ahead with plans to expand them when the evidence is clear they do nothing to improve social mobility.”

Kent became the first authority in decades to expand a grammar school with the opening of an annexe in Sevenoaks which is being run by the Weald of Kent Girls Grammar School.

Three schools have already approached the Department for Education concerning expansions. Among them is Barton Court Grammar School in Canterbury, which has expressed interest in opening and annexe in Herne Bay.

A number of other grammars have introduced admissions arrangements which give a small number of places to those who pass the eleven plus with lower pass marks.

KCC has sought to improve access to grammar schools through introducing a test that it has claimed is more tutor proof and to counter the widespread private tuition centres offering to help children pass the exam.

However, figures suggest that there remains a wide gap in the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds getting grammar school places in Kent.

On average about 3% of children on free school meals are at grammar schools.

And an investigation into grammar schools and social mobility by county councillors found 57% of high ability children in receipt of Pupil Premium in Kent attend a grammar, compared to 79% of similar ability children not eligible for Pupil Premium.