A new expansion programme will see the creation of thousands of places at grammar schools in the UK.
These schools have proven controversial because they only accept children on the basis of ability tests (the 11-plus, which kids take at the ages of 10 or 11).
Education Secretary Damian Hinds has lauded the move, as it will 'give parents greater choice'.
Grammar schools will have to increase the number of disadvantaged pupils they admit, which could be achieved by possibly lowering the entrance requirements, the BBC reports.
These wholly selective schools have been invited to bid for cash from the £50m expansion fund, and under the new plan they would be allowed to grow larger and have spin-off sites.
Teachers' union leaders are not happy about this allocation of funding, though.
"The grammar school corpse has climbed out of its coffin once again despite evidence of the damage that selective education causes," Kevin Courtney, leader of the National Education Union, told the BBC.
Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner feels similarly, saying, "The continued obsession with grammar schools will do nothing for the vast majority of children, and it is absurd for ministers to push ahead with plans to expand them when the evidence is clear that they do nothing to improve social mobility."
Jim Skinner, chief executive of the Grammar School Heads' Association, has welcomed the expansion programme.
"We are very pleased that, like other good and outstanding schools, selective schools now have access to a fund to allow them to expand their premises," he stated.
"This is particularly important at a time when there are increasing numbers of pupils reaching secondary age and such a high demand for selective school places."
Faith schools were also acknowledged in the new plans. Funds will be given to local authorities so that 'voluntary-aided' faith schools can be opened, though it will be no easier for faith groups to open free schools than it has been in the past.
Councils are being invited to open these schools in partnership with faith groups, as they have done previously. Faith schools are allowed to recruit all of their students from a particular religious group.
What do you think of the expansion programme? How do you feel about grammar schools?
