Her new school transfer plan, which will be officially unveiled tomorrow, will include provision for post-primary transfer tests.

Despite her repeated strong criticism of selection, Ms Ruane's confidential paper, which has been seen by the Telegraph and is dated yesterday, suggests that grammars should be allowed to select 50% of their pupils based on their academic ability in 2010, 30% for their intake in September 2011 and 20% in 2012. In September 2013 she says that all admissions should be on the basis of non-academic criteria.

Thirty grammar schools have already announced their intention to set their own entrance tests after the 11-plus is scrapped later this year.

Ms Ruane said that academic admission would be based on a new test set by local exam body CCEA. Her paper admits that her plan requires cross-party Assembly support to become reality — however, it is highly likely that it will be rejected by the DUP and Ulster Unionists.

UUP education spokesman Basil McCrea said: "If reports of the Minister's proposal are true, I would welcome the idea that CCEA would set the tests, as schools setting their own tests would be fraught with difficulties.

"There is absolutely no agreement to phase out the use of academic selection so I can only assume that her paper is a negotiating ploy."

DUP education spokesman Sammy Wilson said that "under no circumstances" would his party agree to anything which saw academic selection being taken off the statute books.

"Why would we do that when it was agreed at St Andrews that selection would remain unless there was cross-party support to ban it?" he said.