This has arisen out of a series of recent articles in the New Statesman, picking up on various politicians' claims to want to break down the 'Berlin Wall' between state & private education.
What do we think?
- Require private schools to sponsor at least one academy, and/or work in partnership with an academy provider, giving access to facilities and staff.
- Allow private schools to convert to state school status through the Free Schools & Academies Programme.
- Make private school charitable status conditional on freely offering 25% of places via random lottery to the most vulnerable children. No academic selection allowed.
- Weaken the link between private schools and top universities by providing the highest GCSE scorer in each state school the opportunity to take a guaranteed interview at their choice of Cambridge, Durham or Oxford.
- Disclosure of private schools’ accounts to give full details of bursaries, charitable activities and their impact.
- Agree to take part in a Cross-Party Commission dedicated to finding the most practical way to fully implement these policies.