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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think private schools should be banned?

933 replies

BethanyBoobs · 31/03/2014 22:40

Why should someone have a better education just because their parents have money? Why should someone have a better chance of getting into university because their parents paid for their education? It makes me feel uncomfortable that people can buy their kids an upper hand when it comes to education.

I feel the same way about private health care too.

IMO private schools should be banned. Everyone should have the same chances when it comes to their education.

OP posts:

MaryShelley · 04/04/2014 16:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WooWooOwl · 04/04/2014 16:51

It's nothing to do with whether people think their own children are more important than other people's children.

We don't have a responsibility to ensure other people's children have an education or not, they have their own parents to do that and most of us pay tax towards the state ensuring that we have an educated society. If we pay tax, we have done our bit for society, and should be left to educate our children however we see fit.

Cobain · 04/04/2014 17:17

State grammar schools are a good example of how difficult it is to create this utopian level playing field, closing private schools will not rid the country of elite schools, it will instead create more elite state schools.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 04/04/2014 18:04

No man is an island and all that...

Iseesheep · 04/04/2014 18:12

No, but if you put every man on the island it'll sink!

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 04/04/2014 18:15

Gosh.

WooWooOwl · 04/04/2014 18:23

And that will be why those that can afford private school generally pay quite a lot of tax.

GilmoursPillow · 04/04/2014 18:24

My apologies for not reading all 31 pages of this thread an' all that...

I am a British Citizen, as is my DD. We are non-resident and don't pay tax in the UK. We want a UK education for my daughter.

If YOU want to ban private schools and if YOU want to pay for my DD's education, knock yourself out.
However we think it's probably fairer for us to pay for our DD's education. (and yes, we could park her at my Mum's and get her into a state school for free.)

itsbetterthanabox · 04/04/2014 18:27

Iseesheep yes your kids are treated better. Universities favour privately educated kids as do internships.
The majority of the cabinet is made of the privately educated.
Your child's privilege does take away from the rest of society.

wordfactory · 04/04/2014 18:36

Universities don't favour private schooled applicants.

Many are doing whatever they can to widen access.

They simply favour a certain academic skill set. And private schools are rather good at helping their pupils achieve that skill set. However, when state schools help their pupils achieve it, the playing field is level.

itsbetterthanabox · 04/04/2014 18:36

Gilmours I think you doing that would be immoral but it's your choice. I'd rather have a fair, equal education for all and have a few people like yourself abandoning your kids just to use the uk school system. You could just move to the uk if you want a uk education...

itsbetterthanabox · 04/04/2014 18:36

Wordfactory how do you know this?

Iseesheep · 04/04/2014 18:38

Do you usually just select the posts that you want to read and ignore the rest? There are posters on here who have stated time and again that they or brothers etc came through the state system then went to Oxbridge and are successful business men/women.

Even if you think that a university will take a less able independent school leaver over a state school one (which just isn't true), they have quotas to fill which makes sure that there are enough state students to try and put to bed any cries of 'unfair'. And funnily enough, the tables have turned in some cases and less able state school students are pushing out the more able independent school students. That should please you but it buggers up the equality for all a bit.

GilmoursPillow · 04/04/2014 18:41

No we couldn't move to the UK. DH (not a UK citizen) would be out of work for a start (don't really want to be reliant on state handouts when we could stay where we are and pay our own way.) We haven't abandoned her, the schooling where we live is crap and she made the decision to go to boarding school at a private school, and be close to her grandmother. We are no burden on the UK whatsoever so I really don't understand what is immoral about what we are doing.

itsbetterthanabox · 04/04/2014 18:43

Sorry how does the fact that some state school pupils have gone to Oxbridge prove anything? There are still vastly more privately educated kids there.

Impatientismymiddlename · 04/04/2014 18:48

nah, that's why I can't be arsed doing anything other than throwing them into the local comprehensive, obv.

I'm sure that you admitted upthread that you would move house to get a better school if you could afford it and your local comp was dire. You are quite clear on your stance against private school, but seem less concerned about the inequality created by catchments, or have I misunderstood?

racmun · 04/04/2014 18:51

It's just utter nonsense.

We live in an international world, with many job applicants coming from ocerseas who knows what sort of education they've had?

Furthermore as many previous posters said not all private schools are like Eton. If private schools were banned the wealthy who can afford Eton etc would just send their children abroad to elite schools. The state system would really suffer because they'd suddenly have to find places for thousands of children and there wouldn't be any extra money available.

Impatientismymiddlename · 04/04/2014 18:53

Those who say they wouldn't go private as a matter of principle then you are putting principles before your children's best interests if you would turn down the right school for them just because its fee paying.

^^couldn't agree more.

racmun · 04/04/2014 18:57

Op you'd be better of worrying about the unfairness in the state system caused by faith schools and catchment areas with inflated prices than parents who pay twice to make their choice

exexpat · 04/04/2014 19:02

itsbetterthanabox - no, there are not 'vastly more privately educated kids' at Oxford and Cambridge. State school pupils are now in the majority. Last year 63.3 per cent of British students at Cambridge came from state schools.

Fleta · 04/04/2014 19:08

I really don't understand why people would want single sex. This is not Saudi Arabia

and

Academically, maybe. Socially -- not really. Its 21st century, we don't have single sex workplaces and other stuff. Men and women are EQUAL

These comments are utterly bonkers.

I was educated single sex from 9. I socialised with boys when it was appropriate to socialise i.e. out of school. In school we were given such empowerment. There was never any worry about us picking options that were "boy options". If you said you wanted to study something, school provided it for you. We were taught practical skills alongside our education. We were taught equality - that anything we wanted to do we could. We could open doors and challenge stereotypes. We were taught as individuals not as a mass.

As a result I have worked in two VERY male oriented careers. I'm currently the only female at my place of work.

I will give my daughter the world. What she chooses to do with it is of course up to her but I will open every door I can.

grovel · 04/04/2014 19:11

In 2012 almost a third of pupils from the independent sector gained at least three As at A level compared with just over one-in-10 attending Government-funded schools and colleges. Cambridge would appear to be discriminating against private education.

Minifingers · 04/04/2014 19:15

Universities with massively over subscribed and prestigious degrees courses look for students who can offer more than just straight A's at A level. Given that rich 18 year olds are far more likely to have learned to play an instrument, taken part in sport at a high level, experienced international travel and have done work placements for elite organisations (courtesy of mum and dads contacts) it's inevitable they will find themselves standing at the front of the queue for places.

exexpat · 04/04/2014 19:18

grovel - those statistics don't provide any evidence of discrimination against the independent sector, you need to know the actual numbers from each sector getting the grades and the proportion of them who apply to/get places at Oxbridge.

There are far more state pupils than private, so the total number of state pupils with 3 As will almost certainly still outnumber the total number of private school pupils with the same grades.

wordfactory · 04/04/2014 19:19

itsbetterthanabox I work at Oxbridge and am involved in the widening access initiatives.

You're absolutely correct that private schools are extremely over represented at Oxbridge and many of the most selective, well regarded, universities.

The reasons for this are many and complex, but I can assure you that no university that I know of favours privately schooled applicants simply because they attended private school.

It is fair to say that some admissions tutors regard (I would not say favour) certain schools as offering a superlative education. However, this does not make applicnats from those those schools a shoe in. I should also say that not all schools in that category are private.

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