HEADTEACHERS were accused of ducking important questions on disparity in 11 Plus pass rates after being quizzed by education chiefs.

The most recent set of exam results, from September, were discussed by members of Buckinghamshire County Council's Education, Skills and Children's Services Select Committee at County Hall this afternoon.

Overall, a quarter of pupils in the county passed the test - but with 46 per cent of pupils from outside the county who applied for a place at a Bucks school passing, the overall qualification rate for a place at a grammar school was 33 per cent.

In the Chiltern district 42 per cent of children qualified for a place at a grammar school, while in Aylesbury Vale the figure was just 17 per cent.

The campaign group Local, Equal and Excellent said the selective school system stopped children from less well-off backgrounds and ethnic minorities from obtaining a place at grammar school.

Aylesbury High School headteacher Alan Rosen, one of the heads who spoke at the meeting, said later the figures could not be fairly compared on a like-for-like basis.

But committee member Robin Stuchbury spoke of his concerns at how wide ranging the pass rates were across the county and called for a clearer breakdown of the data to be released.

The Labour member for Buckingham West said: "It's all in the detail. We need individual pass rates on gender, economic and social background, ethnicity, to see nobody's disadvantaged.

"It may quell some of the concerns and may buy you more equity with the community.

"The data needs to be produced - it would help us."

Mr Rosen replied: "We are keen to engage. We would be willing to work with people to meet the needs of the children. It's a cautious yes [to releasing the data]."

Rebecca Hickman from LEE said after today's meeting: "The grammar school heads managed to avoid answering any of the difficult questions. They at no point attempted to address the specifics of the data because they know that it reveals real problems.

"In 2014, the 11 Plus pass rate for children on free school meals in Bucks was four per cent while the pass rate for children from private schools was 65 per cent. In both 2014 and 2015, the pass rate for children from Bucks' most affluent district was over twice the pass rate of children from the least affluent district. Only one in ten children in Aylesbury’s primary schools passes. These are not statistical blips, they are the stark facts.

"The reality is that the 11 Plus exam is testing for social background, not ability. The selective system doesn’t enable social mobility – it stops it dead in its tracks. How many more children from less advantaged homes and from Pakistani and African Caribbean backgrounds must lose out, before the grammar schools and BCC act to address the unjust effects of selection?"

Mr Rosen told the Bucks Free Press after the meeting: "The percentages which were compared with each other are not capable of being compared.

"One group is an opt out group and one is an opt in group. Pupils are enrolled into the test unless the parent says, 'I don't want my child to take the test'. The private schools are deciding which students take the test - they are naturally going to be choosing those most able to do the test.

"In Bucks schools we have a much more representative group compared to the private schools, which will have a restricted subset of students taking the test."

Headteachers admitted they were concerned at the disparity in figures but were hopeful a revamped test - believed to be harder to coach children into passing - would help alleviate that.

Burnham Grammar School head Andy Gillespie said: "It is a concern - we want every student to fulfil their potential.

"We are passionate about the best outcomes for children. The 13 grammar schools [in Bucks] have resolved to work together to make sure there's a co-ordinated scheme to have one test that's as easy and stress free for pupils as possible."

He added: "We are not going to say it's a perfect test but it was quite refreshing to hear from our primary colleagues it was a big improvement on the previous test, and they felt the test changes had been very positive."

Mr Rosen said: "Part of the redesign is to vary the questions from year to year so it will be rare for the same questions to come up again and again, to make it less predictable.

"There's a lot of work going on in raising aspirations and encouraging people to take the test and perhaps qualify [for a grammar school place].

"We don't want primary schools to be focusing unduly on the selection test. We want them to be concentrating on the curriculum and education.

"We would like every child to be taught well - that will help raise standards across the board - but for those that might qualify for grammar schools, we don't want them to run coaching sessions. It's not their job."