AIBU to question rising private school fees amid declining GCSE results

Aw you're so sweet @Sidedoors . Bizarre how you're so obsessed with private schools. And you have the old Labour disease of using the term 'State v Private' - when you know state schools are very different. A grammar in Surrey cannot be compared to a shit hole comp in Blackburn.

All the private schools I know are doing very well, results superb, students very happy. You'll never understand because you can't afford it. C'est la vie.

Isn't it a temporary glitch? After vat/cost of living schools prioritised keeping existing students even if it means more discounts for more of them.

I don't think it is the same ratio for newly accepted students.

A natural experiment in one US state has proven, that parent's interest in education is more of a factor than the school - they allowed students to apply for non-catchment schools and draw from all applicants; the children who applied to the more academic schools did better than those who didn't - no matter whether they got the place or not.

Seems that private schools were a way towards the education/grades goal for a part of the parents, who are now (with vat, cost of living, stagnating wages) making different choices (getting to the best possible state plus tutoring, ...)
Private schools as academic path are the first choice for smaller percentage of families (money no problem) now then before, while the number of families who chose them for SEN/pastoral purposes, not for the grades, is declining slower (as they have less choice, they can't just enrich the state school experience to get the same result).

The priority isn’t necessarily “top marks” but school would be remiss to not point them out to prospective parents!

Unless I am reading it incorrectly this data shows that if you send your child to a private school they are more than twice as likely to get top grades? To be honest that’s way more than I expected.
I would love Labour to raise the standards of state education, give everyone a better chance at a future they deserve. Unfortunately the last education secretary didnt have a vision for how to do that except by overly concerning herself with the small percentage of students in private school. Fingers crossed the focus will move to improving state schools now.

As I always say there are tiers in terms private schools, the top 25 ones always deliver top results.

From the article you linked to showing a 'fall' in top grades at independent schools - it's a tiny change from previous years. Going from 49% of private school pupils getting a 7 or higher to 48.4% achieving that is hardly news. That's not going to be statistically significant or a meaningful change on any level.

The young people who just received their grades have been in education for approximately 10 yrs. Attributing their success to a policy put in place less than 2 yrs ago is silly.
Maybe the higher achievement is due to independent students who switched in the last 2 yrs bolstering up the state sector?
There’s too many variables honestly to draw conclusions, just within the state sector all schools and all student bodies are not the same.

What evidence “suggests exams are getting easier”? In my subject, 60% is assessed through NEA (non-examined assessment AKA coursework). This year, the Appraisal paper, the remaining 40% of GCSE Music, needed 75/96 to get a 9. Previous years, pre and post Covid have always been around 68-72 out of 96. A number of my students got 73, 72 etc and in previous years this would have been a 9. This year they got 8.
I don’t know what point you are trying to make. 2 years in power for Labour cannot possibly make much difference to GCSE grades. This cohort endured the so-called reforms of Gove which will take years to unravel. Gove wanted to force all students through the same narrow “doorway” of assessment and we know that this has not worked for loads of students. Y6 students should know what a fronted adverbial is; I had no clue until a y5 teacher explained it to me. I had gone through a degree and PGCE without knowing, but a y6 who doesn’t know is somehow failing.
i was educated at a private school (on a 100% scholarship). They now charge c£20k per year. The state school that I have just left after more than 20 years receives approximately £5.5k per pupil. My old school should get 3x better results as it gets 3x more income. Newsflash: results there are marginally better but where I worked gets great results too.
It’s too simplistic to throw out these assertions. You need facts to back them up and I know for certain that results are not yet set in stone as there are re-marks and reviews in progress.

I don't agree that exams have become easier.
Have you seen any gcse papers recently?

I know I have forgotten things in the 30 years since I did GCSEs, but didn't know where to start with some of the year 10 higher maths mock paper my DC sat. In Wales they cover enough syllabus for maths and numeracy to be a double award.

Not sure how I would do on the new WJEC English either (double award including both lang and lit).

I wasn't straight A student but got 3xA, 3xB( inc maths) and 3xC in gcse. I got A and 2xC in A levels and a 2.1 in my degree.

I hear this a lot, yet private schools’ marketing would suggest otherwise. Sure they talk about facilities ans friendships, but grades are always in the mix, often at the top.
i think they know what their prospective parents’ priorities are!

What’s the ‘internal benefits culture’? Do you mean fees going towards bursaries? At a lot of schools the bursary pot is an entirely separate pot of money funded by donations from alumni, fundraising etc.

That chart you linked showing that grammar schools outperform both independent and other state. It just proves that grades are about brains, not money spent. Grammar schools have some of the worst funding in the country per pupil.

Here too.

My DCs’ school is very academically selective, as are many other independent schools locally. This year 90% of their Y11 students got a 9 in maths, and 92% in English Lit. If the state schools are narrowing the gap then that’s fantastic. All things considered, even with VAT on fees we are still happy with the choices we have made.

Some independent schools aren’t academically selective and are chosen for pastoral reasons.