Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many additional places the grammar school expansion fund will create; and what percentage of those will be reserved for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The department announced an additional £50 million of capital funding supporting the expansion of selective schools for 2018/19. It will not be possible to provide an accurate forecast of the number of additional places to be provided in 2018/19 until the successful applications have been announced. Based on the average per-place cost of previous expansions funded via the Condition Improvement Fund, £50 million could fund up to 4,000 places.

There is no set number of places reserved for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Successful schools will, however, be required to prioritise the admission of children in receipt of the pupil premium, and looked after and previously looked after children.