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Independent school (UK)
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An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school financed by private sources, predominantly in the form of school fees and charitable endowments; and so not subject to the conditions of "maintained status" imposed by accepting state financing.
In England and Wales the term public school, derived from the few schools reformed by the Public Schools Acts, is colloquially used to refer to what is normally called in other countries a "private" school, although these schools themselves tend to prefer the term "independent school".
There are more than 2,500 independent schools in the UK, educating some 615,000 children, or some seven per cent of children throughout the country.
Most of the larger independent schools are either full or partial boarding schools, although many are now predominantly day schools; by contrast there are only a few dozen state boarding schools.
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Encyclopedia
An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school financed by private sources, predominantly in the form of school fees and charitable endowments; and so not subject to the conditions of "maintained status" imposed by accepting state financing.
In England and Wales the term public school, derived from the few schools reformed by the Public Schools Acts, is colloquially used to refer to what is normally called in other countries a "private" school, although these schools themselves tend to prefer the term "independent school".
There are more than 2,500 independent schools in the UK, educating some 615,000 children, or some seven per cent of children throughout the country.
Most of the larger independent schools are either full or partial boarding schools, although many are now predominantly day schools; by contrast there are only a few dozen state boarding schools. Boarding-school traditions generally give a distinctive character to most UK independent education, even in the case of day-pupils.
Most independent schools, particularly the larger and older institutions, have charitable status. UK independent schools receive approximately £100m tax relief due to charitable status whilst returning £300m of fee assistance in public benefit and relieving the maintained sector (state schools) of £2bn of costs. The Charity Commission is currently formulating tests of public benefit for charitable schools as required by the Charities Act 2006.
Inspection of independent schools in England
The Independent Schools Council (ISC), through seven affiliated organizations, represents 1,289 schools that together educate over 80% of the pupils in the UK independent sector. Those schools in England which are members of the affiliated organizations of the ISC are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate under a framework agreed between ISC, the Government's Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Independent Schools not affiliated to the ISC in England and Independent schools accredited to the ISC in Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland are inspected through the national inspectorates in each country.
Independent schools in Scotland
Independent schools in Scotland educate about 31,000 children. Although many of the Scottish independent schools are members of the ISC they are also represented by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, recognised by the Scottish Parliament as the body representing independent schools in Scotland. Unlike England, all Scottish independent schools are subject to the same regime of inspections by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education as local authority schools and they have to register with the Education and Lifelong Learning Directorate.
The large independent schools in Scotland include Loretto School, Dollar Academy, Strathallan School, Glenalmond College, Merchiston Castle School, Gordonstoun and Fettes College. See List of independent schools in Scotland for a full list, by county, by cost and by academic results.
Historically, in Scotland, it was common for children destined for independent schools (usually sons of the upper classes) to receive their primary education at a local school. This arose because of Scotland's long tradition of public education, which was spearheaded by the Church of Scotland from the seventeenth century, long before such education was common in England. Independent prep schools only became more widespread in Scotland from the late 19th century (usually attached to an existing secondary independent school, though exceptions such as Craigclowan Preparatory School and Cargilfield Preparatory School do exist), though they are still much less prevalent than in England. They are, however, currently gaining in numbers.
Selection and conditions
Independent schools are free to select their pupils, subject only to the general legislation against discrimination. The principal forms of selection are financial and academic, although credit may be given for musical, sporting or other promise. Some schools are more or less formally confined to a particular religion, or may require all pupils to attend services regardless of their personal religion. Nowadays most schools pay little regard to family connections, apart from siblings currently at the school.
Only a small minority of parents can afford school fees averaging over £19,000 per annum for boarding pupils and £9,000 for day pupils, with unpredictable extra costs for uniform, equipment and facilities. Some parents make immense sacrifices to send their children to these schools.Means-tested bursaries to assist the education of the less well-off, a mission which may form the historic basis of the school, are usually awarded by a process which combines academic and other criteria.
Independent schools must be highly competitive, or parents would not choose to pay dearly for education which is available from state schools free of charge. Individual schools offer particular facilities and special attractions: facilities for dyslexia or for gifted children are common , and other abilities, needs, or special interests may be accommodated. The customers' primary criterion will be their children's likely success, often assessed by annual league tables of schools' university, A-level and GCSE results. Thus independent schools are generally academically selective, using the competitive Common Entrance Examination at ages 11-13. Schools often offer scholarships to attract abler pupils, so as to improve their average results; the standard sometimes approaches the GCSE intended for age 16. Poorly performing pupils may be required to leave, and following GCSE results can be replaced in the sixth form by a new tranche of high-performing pupils, which may distort apparent results.
Independent schools, as compared with maintained schools, are generally characterised by more individual teaching; much better pupil-teacher ratios at around 9:1; longer teaching hours (sometimes including Saturday morning teaching) and homework, though shorter terms; more time for organised sports and extra-curricular activities; more emphasis on traditional academic subjects such as maths, classics and modern languages; a broader education than that prescribed by the national curriculum, to which state school education is in practice limited.
As boarding schools are fully responsible for their pupils throughout term-time, pastoral care is an essential part of independent education, and many independent schools teach their own distinctive ethos, including social aspirations, manners and accents, associated with their own school traditions many pupils send their own children to their schools in their historical and sometimes out-of-date buildings, over successive generations.
Even allowing for the selected pupils, educational achievement is excellent. Independent school pupils are four times more likely to attain an A* at GCSE than their non-selective state sector counterparts and twice as likely to attain an A grade at A level. A much higher proportion go to university; however studies have shown a deterioration in the performance of independent school students at university, compared to state educated students who may have learned to overcome disadvantages. Universities assessing academic potential may show preference for state school applicants with comparable A-level results, and are encouraged to do so by government funding.
Some schools specialise in particular strengths, whether academic, vocational or artistic, although this is not as common as it is in the State sector. Most diversify into sporting, musical, dramatic and art facilities, often with the benefit of generations of past investment.
Independent schools are able to set their own discipline regime, with much greater freedom to exclude children, primarily exercised in the wider interests of the school: the most usual causes being drug-taking, whether at school or away, or an open rejection of the school's values, such as dishonesty or violence. Boarding school rules and discipline apply continually throughout term-time, so pupils may become more used to discipline; and the children's social development generally reflects the affluent families from which they must come.
In England and Wales there are no requirements for teaching staff to have Qualified Teacher Status or to be registered with the General Teaching Council.In Scotland a teaching qualification and registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is mandatory for all teaching positions.
Preparatory schools
In England and Wales a preparatory school, or prep school in current usage, is an independent school designed to prepare a pupil for fee-paying, secondary independent school. The age range is normally eight to eleven or thirteen, although it may include younger pupils as well. An independent school which only caters for under eights is a "pre-prep" and the junior departments of prep schools which cover the first years of schooling are also called "pre-preps".
The Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS) is the prep schools heads association serving the top 500+ independent prep schools in the UK and Worldwide. IAPS is one of seven affiliated associations of the Independent Schools Council.
There are 130,000 pupils in over 500 schools of all types and sizes. Prep schools may be for boys or girls only, or may be co-educational. They may be day schools, boarding schools, weekly boarding, flexi-boarding, or a combination. They fall into the following general categories:
- Wholly independent prep schools, both charitable and proprietary
- Junior schools linked to senior schools
- Choir schools, which educate child choristers of cathedrals and some other large religious institutions; they all accept non-chorister pupils with the exception of Westminster Abbey Choir School; these schools are usually affiliated to Anglican churches, but may occasionally be associated with Catholic ones such as Westminster Cathedral
- Schools offering special educational provision or facilities
- Schools with particular religious affiliations
Public schools
"Public school" is a colloquial description of leading fee-charging independent schools in England and Wales, which are normally members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. In Scotland and Ireland it is not commonly used in this sense for schools in those countries (and indeed in Scotland and Northern Ireland the phrase has long been an alternative name for council schools in the state sector). A public school (in the independent sense) usually teaches children from the ages of 11 or 13 (the latter being the traditional age at which boys moved from prep school to public school, although many now move at 11) to 18, and was traditionally a single-sex boarding school, although most now accept day pupils and are coeducational. The majority date back to the 18th or 19th centuries, but several are over 600 years old. Nine old-established schools were regulated by the Public Schools Act 1868. Today nearly all such schools, no matter what their history, tend to call themselves "independent schools". It is suggested that the term originally referred to a distinction between public institutions open to anybody who paid the fees, and education provided by private tutors. The earliest known reference to a "public school" dates from 1364 when the Bishop of Winchester wrote concerning "the public school" at Kingston, which was then part of his diocese.
This English usage of the word "public" contrasts with the expectations of many English speakers from around the world. Outside the British Isles people usually refer to fee-paying schools as private schools or independent schools; many would assume that the word "public" should imply public financial support. Indeed, in many countries "public school" is the commonplace name for any government-maintained school where instruction is provided free of charge and attendance may be compulsory up to certain age. In England such a maintained school would commonly be called a state school, a local authority school, or a foundation or community school.
Usage in Scotland has its own particular nuances: there is a tendency to avoid the phrase "public school" altogether, and to speak of "state schools" or "council schools" on the one hand and "private" or "independent schools" on the other. However, contrary to practice in England, the phrase "public school" is used in official documents (and still sometimes colloquially) to refer to Scottish state-funded schools. When the term is applied informally to independent schools located in Scotland some interpret the usage as an Anglicism or a parody of English usage.
The English usage dates to an era before the development of widespread national state-sponsored education in England and Wales, although Scotland had early universal provision of education through the Church of Scotland dating from the mid 16th century, and the system of education in Scotland remains separate and different from the system covering England and Wales. Some schools (often called "grammar schools") were sponsored by towns or villages or by guilds, others by cathedrals for their choir. "Private schools" were owned and operated by their headmasters, usually clergymen, for their own profit, and often in their own houses. "Public schools" often drew pupils from across the country to board; in the 19th century golden era of public schools, when there were many middle-class expatriates in the service of the British Empire, pupils were often sent back to public schools specifically so as to be brought up in England.
Boys from upper-class families typically began their education with home tutoring or at a local private school (which would today be called a pre-prep school) until they had learned to read and write; and then went off to board at a preparatory school), and then a public school once old enough.
The term in England can be traced to the Middle Ages, an era when most education was accomplished by chaplains or monasteries. The landed classes educated their children in their households, with a visiting or resident clergyman — that is, privately, away from the hurly-burly of the towns. Public schools were charities that often started by offering free education to a few pupils. As time passed, such schools expanded to include many fee-paying students alongside the few charitable scholars. From the 17th century and the Age of Enlightenment, it increasingly became the fashion to send boys to mix with their contemporaries, that is, to be educated publicly. By the late 19th century, public schools were characterized not so much by the way the schools were governed or the pupils educated as by a very specific ethos of student life often celebrated or parodied in the novels of the day, the best-known of which is probably Tom Brown's Schooldays.
Differing definitions
The head teachers of major British independent boys' and mixed schools belong to the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), and a common but disputed definition of a public school is any school whose head teacher is a member of the HMC. It is debatable as to whether any girls' school can be considered to be a public school.
A more exclusive "league" that defines the public schools would be the Eton Group , the Haileybury Group and the Rugby Group with a fewer number of schools.
Public schools are often categorised as either "major" or "minor" public schools, but there are no official criteria and the inclusion of a school in one or the other group is purely subjective (although a select few would be included in any list of "major" schools). Thus, in E W Hornung's book Raffles Further Adventures (1901), the following exchange takes place: "'Varsity man?" "No." "Public school?" "Yes." "Which one?" I told him, and he sighed relief. "At last! You're the very first I've not had to argue with as to what is and what is not a public school." A similar exchange takes place in Murder must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers: '"What' would you call a public school, then?" "Eton...and Harrow" "Rugby?" "No no, that's a railway junction!"'
Prior to the Clarendon Commission, a Royal Commission that investigated the public school system in England between 1861 and 1864, there was no clear definition of a public school. The commission investigated nine long-established schools: two day schools (Merchant Taylors', London and St Paul's) and seven boarding schools (Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster and Winchester). The Commission's report of many abuses that had grown up in the charitable foundations formed the basis of the Public Schools Act 1868.
Another way of determining the major public schools is to distinguish them by the players allowed to play in the Butterfly Cricket Club which was founded by an old Rugbeian. Only players who came from what were and are considered the major public schools were allowed to play. The schools included Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Marlborough, Oakham, Rugby, Westminster and Winchester. However, this omits Shrewsbury which is more famous and "major" than Oakham. Indeed, there is some fluidity in this area. Schools which had enjoyed the reputation of being major public schools at one time or another can become less fashionable while those which at one time were considered minor might find themselves more popular.
However, the common perception of public schools is that they pre-date the 20th century and were established as boys-only schools even if they are now coeducational, with distinctive traditions and high academic performance.
Some suggest that only particularly old independent schools should be afforded the dignity of "public school" (see Lists of independent schools in the UK below).
The terms of reference of the influential Fleming Committee on Public Schools, which was appointed by the President of the Board of Education in 1942 and reported in 1944, defined as a public school any school which was a member of either the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference or the Association of Governing Bodies of Public Schools.
Public Schools Yearbook
The Public Schools Yearbook published in 1889 named the following 25 boarding schools, all in England:
Origins of independent schools
Some public schools are particularly old, such as The King's School, Canterbury (founded c.600), Sherborne School (founded c.710, refounded 1550 by Edward VI), Warwick School (founded c.914), The King's School, Ely (founded c.970), Bedford School (granted Letters Patent by Edward VI in 1552, though the original school is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1085) Westminster (founded 1179 if not before), High School of Dundee (founded 1239), Stamford School (re-endowed in 1532, but in existence as far back as 1309), Bablake School (founded 1344), Eton (1440), and Winchester (1382), this last of which has maintained the longest unbroken history of any school in England. These were often established for male scholars from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds; however, English law has always regarded education as a charitable end in itself, irrespective of poverty. For instance, the Queen's Scholarships founded at Westminster in 1560, are for "the sons of decay'd gentlemen".
The transformation of free charitable foundations into institutions which sometimes charge fees came about readily: the foundation would only afford minimal facilities, so that further fees might be charged to lodge, clothe and otherwise maintain the scholars, to the private profit of the trustees or headmaster; and also facilities already provided by the charitable foundation for a few scholars could profitably be extended to further paying pupils. (Some schools still keep their foundation scholars in a separate house from other pupils.) After a time, such fees would eclipse the original charitable income, and the original endowment would naturally become a minor part of the capital benefactions enjoyed by the school. Nowadays there is remarkably little difference between the fees of an ancient public school with magnificent facilities, grounds and endowments, and those of many minor public schools with little capital: effectively the capital and income from former benefactors finance superior facilities, which attract better staff and wealthy parents who may be generous in their turn.
However, some schools do demand significantly higher fees than others, the most expensive being: Eton, Tonbridge School, Bradfield, Winchester, Charterhouse, Forest School, Cranleigh, Harrow, Stowe, Gordonstoun, Fettes College, Cheltenham Ladies College, Cheltenham College, Dean Close, Bedales, Rugby, Badminton School, and St John's School, Leatherhead.
The educational reforms of the 19th century were particularly important under first Arnold at Rugby, and then Butler and later Kennedy at Shrewsbury, the former emphasising team spirit and muscular Christianity and the latter the importance of scholarship and competitive examinations. Most public schools developed significantly during the 18th and 19th centuries, and came to play an important role in the development of the Victorian social elite. Under a number of forward-looking headmasters leading public schools created a curriculum based heavily on classics and physical activity for boys and young men of the upper and upper middle classes.
They were schools for the gentlemanly elite of Victorian politics, armed forces and colonial government. Often successful businessmen would send their sons to a public school as a mark of participation in the elite. Much of the discipline was in the hands of senior pupils (usually known as prefects), which was not just a means to reduce staffing costs, but was also seen as vital preparation for those pupils' later rôles in public or military service. More recently heads of public schools have been emphasising that senior pupils now play a much reduced role in disciplining.
To an extent, the public school system influenced the school systems of the British empire, and recognisably "public" schools can be found in many Commonwealth countries.
Associations with the ruling class
The role of public schools in preparing pupils for the gentlemanly elite in the period before World War II meant that such education, particularly in its classical focus and social mannerism, became a mark of the ruling class. For three hundred years, the officers and senior administrators of the "empire upon which the sun never set" invariably sent their sons back home to boarding schools for education as English gentlemen, often for uninterrupted periods of a year or more at a time.
The 19th century public school ethos promoted ideas of service to Crown and Empire, understood by the broader public in familiar sentiments such as "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" and "the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton". Ex-pupils often had a nostalgic affection for their old schools and a public school tie could be useful in a career, so an "old boy network" of former pupils became important.
The English public school model influenced the nineteenth century development of Scottish private schools, but a tradition of the gentry sharing primary education with their tenants kept Scotland comparatively egalitarian.
Acceptance of social elitism was set back by the two World Wars, but despite portrayals of the products of public schools as "silly asses" and "toffs" the old "system" at its most pervasive continued well into the 1960s, reflected in contemporary popular fiction such as Len Deighton's The IPCRESS File, with its sub-text of tension between the grammar school educated protagonist and the public school background of his superiors and posh but inept colleague. Postwar social change has however gradually been reflected across Britain's educational system, while at the same time fears of problems with state education have pushed any parents who can afford the fees or qualify for bursaries towards public schools, which now prefer to be known as independent schools.
Labour Party leaders Clement Attlee, Hugh Gaitskell , Michael Foot and Tony Blair were educated at independent schools. The current Conservative leader, David Cameron was educated at Eton, whilst his Shadow Chancellor George Osborne attended St Paul's School. Both candidates in the recent election for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats went to the same independent school, Westminster School.
In 2003, 84.5% of senior Judges in England and Wales were educated at independent schools, as surveyed in 2003 by law firm SJ Berwin LLP. This is especially significant considering that just 7% of all British children are educated at independent schools.
Oldest independent schools in the UK
- For a fuller listing of public and other independent schools in Britain, see the List of independent schools in the United Kingdom.
- See also the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom.
Amongst the oldest independent schools in the UK are (chronologically):
- Cor Tewdws (College of Theodosius), Llantwit Major (446 - closed down in reign of Henry VIII)
- The King's School, Canterbury (597)
- The King's School, Rochester (604)
- St Peter's School, York (627)
- Royal Grammar School Worcester (685) (first conclusive evidence - 1291) - RGS Worcester and The Alice Ottley School
- Sherborne School (early 8th century)
- Wells Cathedral School (909)
- Warwick School (914?)
- St Albans School (948)
- The King's School, Ely (970)
- Bedford School (earliest record 1085, granted Letters patent 1552)
- Norwich School, Norwich (1096)
- High School of Glasgow (1124)
- Bristol Cathedral School (1140)
- Westminster School (1179)
- High School of Dundee (1239)
- Abingdon School (1256) (possibly as old as (1100))
- Ipswich School (1299)
- Hull Grammar School (1330)
- Bablake School (1344)
- New College School (1379)
- Wisbech Grammar School (1379)
- Winchester College (1382)
- Hereford Cathedral School (1384)
- Oswestry School (1407)
- Durham School (1414)
- Sevenoaks School (1432)
- Eton College (1440)
- City of London School (1442)
- St Dunstan's College (earlier than (1446))
- Magdalen College School, Oxford (1480)
- Stockport Grammar School (1487)
- Loughborough Grammar School (1495)
- Giggleswick School (1499)
- St Paul's School (1509)
- Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn (1509)
- Royal Grammar School, Guildford (1509)
- Wolverhampton Grammar School (1512)
- Nottingham High School (1513)
- Pocklington School (1514)
- Manchester Grammar School (1515)
- Bolton School (1516)
- King's School, Bruton (1519)
- Royal Grammar School, Newcastle (1525)
- Sedbergh School (1525)
- The College of Richard Collyer (1532)
- Bristol Grammar School (1532)
- Stamford School (1532)
- Berkhamsted Collegiate School (1541)
- Christ College, Brecon (1541)
- The King's School, Gloucester (1541) (dates back to the (11th century))
- The King's School, Worcester (1541)
- The King's School, Chester (1541)
- Dauntsey's School (1542)
- King Henry VIII School (1545)
- Bradford Grammar School (1548)
- Kirkham Grammar School (1549)
- King Edward's School, Birmingham (1552)
- King Edward's School, Bath (1552)
- Shrewsbury School (1552)
- Leeds Grammar School (1552)
- Bromsgrove School (1553)
- Christ's Hospital (1553)
- King Edward's School, Witley (1553)
- Tonbridge School (1553)
- King Edward VI School, Southampton (1553)
- Gresham's School (1555)
- Oundle School (1556)
- Hampton School (1556)
- Brentwood School (1557)
- Repton School (1557)
- Solihull School (1560)
- Kingston Grammar School (1561)
- Merchant Taylors' School (1561)
- Elizabeth College, Guernsey (1563)
- Felsted School (1564)
- Highgate School (1565)
- Bedford Modern School (1566)
- Rugby School (1567)
- Colfe's School (1568) (refounded (1652))
- St Edmund's College (1568)
- Bury Grammar School (1570)
- Harrow (1572)
- Sutton Valence School (1576)
- Woodbridge School (1577)
- St. Bees School (1583)
- Oakham School (1584)
- Uppingham School (1584)
- Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (1590)
- Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Wakefield (1591)
- Stonyhurst College (1593)
- Emanuel School (1594)
- Wellingborough School (1595)
- Whitgift School (1596)
- Trinity School of John Whitgift (1596)
- Aldenham School (1597)
- Kimbolton School (1600)
- Blundell's School (1604)
- Downside School (1606)
- Charterhouse School (1611)
- Batley Grammar School (1612)
- Monmouth School (1614)
- Haberdashers' Aske's School (1614)
- Douai School (1615)
- Perse School (1615)
- Foyle College (1617) (founded as: The Free School)
- Dulwich College (1619) (founded as: The College of "God's Gift")
- Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby (1620)
- Latymer Upper School (1624)
- George Heriot's School (1628)
- Chigwell School (1629)
- Exeter School (1633)
- Red Maids' School (1634)
- Hutchesons' Grammar School (1641)
- Reading Blue Coat School (1646)
- Adams' Grammar School (1656)
- The Maynard School (1658) (all girls)
- The Royal Hospital School (1694)
original research
Criticisms
It is not a requirement in the independent sector, as opposed to the state sector, to be a qualified teacher to teach in schools.
The former classics-based curriculum was also criticised for not providing skills in sciences or engineering. It was Martin Wiener's opposition to this tendency which inspired his 1981 book English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit: 1850-1980. It became a huge influence on the Thatcher government's opposition to old-school gentlemanly Toryism. This has now been turned on its head. Independent schools provide a disproportionately high number of science, modern foreign language and maths undergraduates.
Some parents complain that their rights and their children’s are compromised by vague and one-sided contracts which allow Heads to use discretionary powers unfairly, such as in expulsion on non-disciplinary matters. They believe independent schools have not embraced the principles of natural justice as adopted by the state sector, and private law as applied to Higher Education.
The exclusivity of independent schools has attracted political antagonism ever since the First World War. Many of the best-known independent schools are extremely expensive (Tonbridge School in Kent charges almost £30k per annum, about one and a half times the average income in the UK), despite being based, in many cases, on charitable foundations originally established up to a thousand years ago to provide free education for the talented poor. Going some way to countering the charge of exclusivity, a large number (c. one third) of independent school pupils have assistance with fees. The Thatcher government introduced the Assisted Places Scheme in England and Wales in 1980, whereby the state paid the school fees for those students capable of gaining a place but unable to afford the fees. This was essentially a response to the decision of the previous Labour government in the mid-1970s to remove government funding of direct-grant grammar schools, most of which then became private schools; some Assisted Places students went to the former direct-grant schools such as Manchester Grammar School. The scheme was terminated by the Labour government in 1997, and since then the private sector has moved to increase its own means-tested bursaries.
Generally political attacks on private schools have been opposed by concern that there should be no totalitarian state control of education, and undoubtedly by influential "Old Boys" (former pupils) who tend to be fiercely protective of their Old Schools. A major area of debate in recent years has centred around the continuing charitable status of independent schools, which allows them not to charge VAT on school fees. Following the enactment of the Charities Bill, which was passed by the House of Lords in November 2006, charitable status is based on an organisation providing a "public benefit" as judged by the Charity Commission. Pending the Charity Commission publishing its definitive guidance on "public benefit" at the end of 2008, there remains an incentive for independent schools to share their sporting, musical and other facilities with the public or local state schools, and supplement their charitable endowments with an increased number of subsidised scholarships and bursaries.
In 2005, students at fee-paying schools made up 43.9% of those selected for places at Oxford University and 38% of those granted places at Cambridge University, although such students made up only 7% of the school population. Independent schools are to some extent selective and may give a better education to their more motivated students than some non-fee-paying schools. Research carried out by the University of Warwick in 2002 suggested that a student educated at an independent school has an 8% lower chance of getting a first or an upper second degree than a state school pupil who enters university with the same A-level grades. Defenders of fee-paying schools highlight the fact that the abolition of such schools or the reduction in private school numbers (as would likely result from the removal of charitable status and VAT exemption) would constitute a "levelling-down" of standards and would therefore lead to a worsening of educational standards overall. The response from opponents of independent schools is that the benefit which would then accrue to children and schools currently outside the fee-paying sector as a result of the abolition of fee-paying schools (via peer-group effects and increased levels of parental concern and scrutiny of the way schools are run) would more than offset the disbenefit to children removed from the fee-paying sector. The Labour Government has brought financial pressure to bear on the universities to admit a higher proportion of state school applicants than would be obtained simply by reference to their A-level grades and interview performance, on the basis that applicants are academically crammed by an independent school education, and receive an undue advantage from the interview system.
See also
External links
- By Geraldine Hackett and Tom Baird in The Times
- By Ben Locker and William Dornan in The Times
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