Should schools select by ability?

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The UK Education Secretary has just approved the first new Grammar School for 50 years, by reviving the notion that children should be selected for secondary school on the basis of a pass/fail test taken at the age of 11 that will profoundly affect their future lives. For those not familiar with the UK education system, it was reformed back in the 1960s/70s so that (in most areas) children were not divided into different schools on the basis of ability but all went to the same "comprehensive" school. Within that school they would mix freely with other children of all backgrounds and abilities and thus gain a social as well as an academic education. They might be educated in different groups within the school, but this would be done on a subject-by-subject basis - a child who was very good at maths but not so bright at history would therefore get the sort of teaching that was best suited to their abilities in those subjects. Prior to that reform, all children took the "11 plus" and either went to a "grammar" or "secondary modern" school. The grammar schools concentrated on academic subjects, with the aim of getting as many pupils as possible to University. The secondary moderns taught the basics of the academic subjects but also included more practical subjects. The assumption in making the divide was that a child who was good at one academic subject would be good at all of them - this meant that a kid who was brilliant at languages but slipped up in the 11-plus due to poor maths ability would not get the language teaching that would help them to develop that ability and go on to study it at University. I always felt that this was a pernicious system and was delighted when the switch to comprehensive education was made. I do not say this as someone who suffered from the old system, because I passed the 11-plus, went to a grammar school, and then to university. However, I never mixed again with many of the kids I had known at primary school level, and I never learned any of the practical skills of woodwork, metalwork, etc, that were taught at the secondary modern. I therefore regard the current move to revive the grammar schools as a deeply regressive step that should be roundly condemned.