Two secondary schools have decided to drop the word "grammar" from their titles.

The move by the former Beckfoot and Nab Wood Grammar schools will put right a historical inaccuracy - they have never been proper grammar schools and were only given the title because of a 25-year-old political squabble. From this month, they will be known simply as Beckfoot School and Nab Wood School.

Beckfoot head teacher David Horn said it was something he had wanted to do since he had arrived three years ago.

"We are not a grammar school and I would never want to be the head of one," he said. "I don't believe in selective education. Beckfoot is the most comprehensive school I have ever worked in. We have had pupils who have gone on to Oxford and Cambridge, and we also have kids who do very well to achieve two G grades at GCSE."

He said the "grammar" title had made it difficult to recruit staff committed to the comprehensive ideal as it gave the wrong impression. The decision by the governors had been unanimous.

Nab Wood head teacher Helen Lynch gave similar reasons for its name change and said it would represent a new start following the reorganisation.

"We are proud to be one of the new secondary schools, and we wanted to send out a signal to all staff, students ands parents that we are not the same school that closed in July," she added.

Beckfoot and Nab Wood acquired the "grammar" school tag almost by accident around 1974 when Bingley Grammar School won the fight to retain the word after it went comprehensive. Because there was a fear other schools would suffer by comparison, it was decided that every secondary in the Shipley constituency should also take the title "grammar".