A REPORT out today has said the new tutor proof 11+ exam has not helped children from more disadvantaged homes get grammar school places.

The CEM exam was introduced last year at Buckinghamshire's 13 grammar schools to try and tackle the issue of private coaching and to test a wider range of abilities.

Parents and pupils were told the exam questions would be more difficult to coach and would make the process fairer.

But local campaign group, Local, Equal, Excellent, put in Freedom of Information requests which it says show the exam has made the situation worse, not better.

The report, which was written by resident Rebecca Hickman, shows both less Bucks state and private pupils passed the test, but that the gap between private and state school pupils widened.

The figures show 948 out of 4,811 of state school pupils passed for 2014 entry, compared to 1,058 out of 4,521 in 2013.

Bucks private school pass rates show 307 out of 438 passed this year compared to 335 out of 474 the year before.

This means that this year 19.7 per cent of Bucks state schools passed the 11+, while 70.1 per cent of private school pupils passed compared to 23.4 per cent and 70.7 per cent respectively last year.

Ms Hickman said: "Far from increasing social mobility, Bucks' selective system is simply reinforcing existing patterns of disadvantage.

"The vast tutoring industry has been unaffected by the new exam, and the evidence shows that children from better-off homes still come out on top.

"It is a system of winners and losers that has created one of the biggest attainment gaps in the country – with the children who most need our help losing the most."

Ms Hickman, along with Dr Katy Simmons and Derek Berry put together the statistics following FOI requests.

Local, Equal, Excellent, is now calling for the exam to be abandoned until and unless an alternative can be developed which does not select on the basis of a family’s ability to afford tutoring or any other home attribute.

Dr Simmons, chair of governors at Cressex Community School, said: "The evidence so far suggests that the new exam has been little more than an expensive exercise in spin. Until it is demonstrated that it is fair to all it should be withdrawn."

The data also shows the number of non-Bucks children who sat the 11+ exam rose from 2,443 to 3,161 of which 1,013 and 1,242 passed respectively.

This pushed up the standardised pass mark, the campaign group said, and meant less grammar school places went to county pupils.

The number of successful appeals also increased by 54 per cent in a single year, which the campaign group believes shows the new exam has not been effective.

Officially the 11+ exam statistics are due to be collected as a snapshot on Friday.

Analysis on the data will then take place, and an explanatory narrative written which will be released at the end of September.