Independent v State Education

Around 5.9% of all children at school in the UK attend private schools. There are just over 554,000 pupils at UK independent schools. There are 16.9% more pupils in independent schools today than there were in 1990 - 05.09.2023

 

Non British Pupils in Independent Schools - 

(https://www.isc.co.uk/media/uukn4r3i/isc_census_2024_15may24.pdf)

                 Non British Parents Overseas Parents in UK % Parents Overseas % Parents in UK

Hong Kong   7,677          5,075                   2,602                66.1%                      33.9%

China           10,375         5,824                   4,551                56.1%                      43.9%

Japan            1,303              659                      644                50.6%                     49.4%

 

Russia           1,812              940                     872                 51.9%                      48.1%

Ukraine         2,055              750                   1305                 36.5%                      63.5%

Middle East   1,555              776                     779                 49.9%                     50.1%

Nigeria         1,553            758                  795                48.8%                   51.2%

Rest of Africa 1,953          687               1266                35.2%                    64.8%

India              2,028           244               1,784               12.0%                     88.0%

The average cost per child at a UK private school is now £20,480 per annum (£6,827 per term) for day pupils, and £34,790 per annum (£11,597 per term) for boarders. This represents an average fee increase of around 5.1% from last year’s fees, and an acceleration compared to the previous year (2020 to 2021) where fees rose on average at just over 4%.  

https://www.schoolfeeschecker.co.uk/blog/school-fees-2023.php

 

I have to come clean - I was a teacher & head teacher in the State system & would not have sent my daughter to a private school. I believe in the provision of an excellent education for every child & equal opportunity for all, regardless of income & background. The most important reason for my antipathy to fee paying education is that the world is not just made up of the wealthy who can afford it. It is important that children understand that & mix with & relate to a mixed & representative group of their own peers.

 

I would really like to know what parents who do value independent education expect it to provide that makes the investment worthwhile. Obviously high quality academic education, also probably better Arts & Sports facilities & teaching. Better buildings too from what I have seen in several major fee paying schools. But I also think that part of the hidden agenda is the Networking possibilities. Making lifelong friends with other wealthy, powerful & influential people, who will hopefully ease their childrens way through adult life.

 

There are 4 parenting styles - Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive & Uninvolved. There are also Tiger Parents - a form of strict parenting, whereby parents are highly invested in ensuring their children's success. Specifically, tiger parents push their children to attain high levels of academic achievement or success in high-status extracurricular activities such as music or sports. I hope to goodness I was somewhere in the middle of that, not at the extremes.

 

My point is that if parents have invested a lot of money in their childs education, I wonder how much of a return they expect. I wonder if those children feel pressurised to achieve what the parents want. Or whether they are free to live their lives as they want to & make mistakes. 

Not everyone can be academically brilliant or a money generating entrperneur. Not everyone can be a star in the artistic sense. I think we should think very carefully about what we think education is for. Is it's purpose societal or is it individual? Or should it be a balanced mixture of both?

 

Our society is very polarised between the small percentage of very wealthy & the vast majority of people who struggle financially. Unfortunately I think that independent education perpetuates that.