• I WAS one of the parents who despaired at the lack of grammar schools in central London (Not good enough at the age 11, May 18).

I used to listen to my friends in north London with envy whenever they talked about how hard it was for their children to enter a selective school. I would think “Well, at least they are given a chance.”

It was not conceivable for my son to travel to school in Mill Hill/ Edmonton at such age, and it was not possible for me to take him to and from school every day as I worked.

I wished he had been a girl so that he could have tried one in Golders Green/Finchley, though I do not think I could afford a private tutor from Year 4 onwards to get in, not being able to afford a fee-paying school either.

I recall a man collecting petition signatures against grammars in front of KOKO. I said it was too late for my son and that we needed it a long time ago.

He asked “What if he fails?”. My answer was that he would then go to church school, which he actually did (luckily, we had a faith).

It cannot be bad to give pupils a choice. If they do not want to be judged at 11 they have a choice of not applying to selective schools. Please save bright but poor children in central London like my one.

ATSUKO McCARTHY
Ossulston Street, NW1