Do bright children do just as well in state school as private?

[Alelujah]

My friend's academically able DS has just started Private school (Year 10). They do 1 hour and forty minutes of homework every night and are assessed weekly in exam conditions to prepare them to deal with the stress of exams. The school has selective entry and teachers only have able students to cater for. There is no classroom disruption at all as the students and parents are heavily invested in the education process.

Meanwhile my DD in her Comp finds that many lessons disrupted by students who don't want to be there. They don't get much homework to support learning. Teachers probably don't ask them to do much as they know it wouldn't be done by a large number of students. They have to be realistic.

I can't help thinking that the commonly stated opinion that a bright child will do as well in any school is utter bollocks! It looks like children in private schools are massively advantaged.

Aintnothing, agreed.

I think it is dreadfully naive to say that a bright child will do well anywhere. Well yes, they probably will do well in a failing comp anyway but most likely would do a lot better in a school with small classes, a plethora of resources and more income.

DD has to do work experience in a few months time which parents have to organize themselves. We are not however allowed to contact organizations directly, we must use our own contacts to get them a place where they want. I would hazard a guess that children in private schools are more likely to have more contacts in the corporate world than those in a deprived comp.

Most kids will, on average, do better at private than at state. With £10-£15k per child per year compared to £5 it's a no brainer

but a few excellent state schools are better than a few poor private ones

some kids will thrive in a big/small school and so if sent to a private school that is too big/small for them they won't do well

private schools often don't do well with SEN

So yes, on average of course having more resources and no disruptive kids is going to mean that most kids are more likely to reach their potential