Should private schools be abolished?

[JoshLymanIsHotterThanSam]

Link.

I found this an interesting article. I did not realise that we now have one of the worst social mobility records in developed countries. I find this concerning. I am a fan of the grammar school system having been educated in one myself and having a DC who attends one. I have little experience of private schools though. If I'm honest if I had the money I wouldn't hesitate to use a private school, but that is down to the fact that I realise that it gives a leg up to the students attending, however I realise that this should not be the case.

Should we abolish private schools in the interest of fairness?

@OldScrappyAndHungry

Finland has no private schools and an infinitely better education system.

Finland was able to start from scratch in 1918. The UK did not have that luxury.

@shallIswim

Contextual offers. Sigh. Neither of my high(est) performing all A*s in GCSE and A level kids had contextual offers. Not a single one among the ten separate universities they applied for, for two very different degrees. They are not handed out like sweeties you know. Friends who sent privately used to say 'oh yours will be ok - they'll get contextual offers. Our teachers/head tells us this happens a lot in state sector.' Well not IME! And believe me my DC's school was an underperformer. It really is a myth that contextual a are common or standard. And they certainly don't happen for Oxbridge.

There's no mystery about them Bristol publishes a list of schools that will get contextual offers Some universities use home postcode, some school.

Not all state schools are eligible if they are in leafy MC areas.

And the Bristol list is very long!

If your school wasn't deemed under performing or it's in a more affluent areas you wouldn't have got one

I said they should and went to both comprehensive and private. Am in a profession dominated by elite private school men. You did say ‘some’, sorry. I loved mine. Just don’t think they should exist.

Oops that was in reply to an older message.

@Bryonyshcmyony our comp wasn't leafy. Very low income and low aspiration rural. There were some contextual offers - I recall one to Bristol and another for UEA. This was in a year (2014) when universities were clamouring for students and bums on seats. There were also lots of weird offers stipulating if a student made university X their first choice they'd lower a grade. This happened to all students - private and state. I suspect these past couple of weird years there's been nothing if this sort.
But my DC had not one helpful offer!

[quote shallIswim]@Bryonyshcmyony our comp wasn't leafy. Very low income and low aspiration rural. There were some contextual offers - I recall one to Bristol and another for UEA. This was in a year (2014) when universities were clamouring for students and bums on seats. There were also lots of weird offers stipulating if a student made university X their first choice they'd lower a grade. This happened to all students - private and state. I suspect these past couple of weird years there's been nothing if this sort.
But my DC had not one helpful offer![/quote]
That's annoying!

@Bryonyshcmyony

And the Bristol list is very long!

If your school wasn't deemed under performing or it's in a more affluent areas you wouldn't have got one

Interesting to see an actual list

I looked for closest school which is on there and one thought more attractive which isn’t

I work in a state school and IMHO a major driver of the academic attainment of the DC is how much value their parents place on education, and how stable their home lives are. We have local DC who do badly because they get no encouragement at home, and have to cope with endless domestic disruption, and immigrant DC from Eastern Europe who arrive with a dozen words of English, but knuckle down and learn because they feel safe, secure and encouraged at home.

Levelling up I think has to begin with those families, and with DC whose needs are not met well in most classrooms (dyslexia etc). More money would be useful, but I'd rather that came from Amazon paying a sensible level of tax than taking choice out of the system.

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman completely agree, but nobody really wants to talk about the impact of parents on educational outcomes.

@theworldisfullofgs really? I read about this practically every day! I thought it was commonly discussed.

@ufucoffee

I think some of the people saying private schools should be abolished have no experience of private schools.

Uh.....dya think?

Most of the population have no experience of private schools.

Of course people have experience of private schools!
Maybe not directly, but they do.
And I wouldn’t be so sure that posters on this thread who are anti private education have no personal experience of it themselves.
Check your arrogance.

MN is not representative of the UK population

No it’s not.
Private education affects everybody.

I agree it does

Leveling up I think has to begin with those families, and with DC whose needs are not met well in most classrooms (dyslexia etc).

^ yes as I said repeatedly before and training for sen - proper senco easier access to ed pych - proper ehcp given out not having to fight years for it - these are dc who are disengaged because they are being excluded by schools .

This will make the difference - a massive difference - most people in prison are illiterate and think of the crime wave they created to get there.

Abolishing private schools and having Timothy sat next to Jaydon will not boost Jaydons learning ethic or cure his dyslexia.

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman completely agree, but nobody really wants to talk about the impact of parents on educational outcomes.

^^ no because it doesnt fit with their political narrative.

People talk about the impact of parents on educational outcomes all the time. This thread is a perfect example of it.

Agree with Grumpy. Anecdotally in our wider friendship group I see zero difference in experience or outcome between state and private if parents are confident, tertiary educated themselves very supportive of education and push and facilitate sports and music. We both state educated and are solicitors so unless the state option is dire which it isn’t here I’m really not persuaded the massive outlay for private school is worth it. That’s just my opinion though.

@RickOShay

Of course people have experience of private schools! Maybe not directly, but they do. And I wouldn’t be so sure that posters on this thread who are anti private education have no personal experience of it themselves. Check your arrogance.

In what way would someone have experience of private schools other than directly? The first I experienced someone from private school was at uni. And their sense of superiority was palpable.

up I think has to begin with those families, and with DC whose needs are not met well in most classrooms (dyslexia etc)

I couldnt agree more, however my son is a prime example, lowest set for English, 5 other students in the class, now of the other parents went to parents evening, none helped with homework, no extra curriculum, disengaged children discharged parents.

I was the exception - he’s teachers was phenomenal and pushed, I pushed, DS beat the odds and walked away with a Pass grade for his exam - I couldn’t be more proud.

It can and does make a difference.

If private schools were abolished those families would be first on the queue for the best state schools as they would be able to afford to move to facilitate that. This would make the state school system even more unfair. In our town the best school catchment are really expensive so social mobility is already a major issue.

I wonder if more politicians sent their kids to comprehensives - not grammars or hybrid versions - whether there'd be more focus on how the cast majority of children are educated in this country. People who send private often talk about 'leafy' areas and grammars and their inaccessibility. But the plain fact is most kids go to an ordinary loca comp which is neither leafy or aspirational and has a high percentage of children on FSMs.
If politicos saw the sharp end instead of taking refuge because they have that privilege I think we'd all be better off. There's be will and money to make the experience of the majority of pupils waaaaay better.