HEADTEACHERS in Worcestershire have reacted with fury over Theresa May's grammar school plans - calling it "madness".

The Prime Minister has delivered a major speech today revealing all schools will get the chance to convert into a grammar under the most radical education reforms for a generation.

She wants to overturn old New Labour legislation which banned any new ones from opening up in 1998, and also allow comprehensives to select a portion of their intake too.

But her first big flagship policy announcement since entering Number 10 has been panned by school heads in the county, who say they will resist any change.

Sean Devlin, from Blessed Edward Oldthorne Catholic College in Battenhall, Worcester said: "I am amazed we are even discussing this.

"I'm not just sceptical, I am dead against it - but what it does do, of course is divert attention away from other things, like fairer funding.

"They say 'if the parents want it', that would be alright if the county council was driving any consultation, but we know so many of our schools are academies."

Neil Morris, the headteacher at Christopher Whitehead Language College in Bromwich Road, St John's, accused Mrs May of "throwing out the baby with the bathwater".

"This tells you what the establishment think of state schools," he said.

"We're are going back to the 1960s and 1970s and that really disappoints me, it's absolute garbage.

"It seems we are prepared to label kids 'failures' aged 11.

"If you've got an underperforming school, sort it out, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater and go for this old fashioned route."

The criticism from headteachers comes after the Conservative leadership at Worcestershire County Council said it would resist any change.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, the cabinet member for children and families, is a longstanding critic and says they are "not the answer" for Worcestershire as nine out of 10 county schools are graded good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Today Mrs May said she wanted to end the unfairness of "selection by house price" by giving bright children in all postcodes and backgrounds the chance to get into a top selective school.

Under the legislation, which faces a tough battle to get past the Commons and House of Lords, any schools converting into grammars will need to reserve some places for pupils from poorer backgrounds.

Other changes include allowing faith schools to select all their pupils according to religious belief.

During an impassioned speech, Mrs May said she wanted Britain to become "the great meritocracy of the world" by introducing a wave of new grammars.

She also said the new generation of grammar schools should be flexible in the age they take pupils, selecting them at 14 and 16 as well as 11.

Existing grammar schools - there are still 163 in Britain - will also benefit from a £50 million yearly funding pot allowing them to expand.

Mrs May set out an agenda to support the "hidden disadvantaged", and children whose parents are "on modest incomes" of under £21,000 a year.

She said: "I want Britain to be the world’s great meritocracy - a country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as their talent and their hard work will allow."

Education Secretary Justine Greening will reveal more details on the legislation next week.