To be annoyed that private schools have charity funding.

[Olympiathequeen]

They are not charities, they are businesses.

They do little or nothing for the local community.

They benefit by about £750 mil. They part fund bursaries for around half that amount.

Leaving them with a tidy little £300+ million profit at the expense of the taxpayers.

That money is desperately needed for public schools.

WTAF is the government doing?

If you're that well educated don't deliberately misunderstand what I said in order to suit your own arguments.

I said "my local comprehensive" not "every"...

Do you know each and every pupil, past, present and future at your local comp then?

One potential issue with the overrepresentation of privately educated people in the Cabinet or Professions. They are looking at the world through the lens of their own experience, which in most cases is very different from that experienced by most of the population. I went to a very ordinary Comprehensive and my DC go to private schools. Their day to day experience is different to mine and I do have to work to keep them grounded.

"I would be very unhappy (as would you undoubtedly) to have someone from my local average comprehensive as chancellor / foreign sec etc."

Wow. I don't think I'll reply-I'll just add that to my list of hideous things people have to say about state schools. I have quite a collection.

Iamadaft
You say you work in university admissions.
With such a loathing of privately educated students - vile, thick as shit etc. - do you try to prevent such ghastly individuals from being offered places at the university where you work?

I don't loathe people who were privately educated.

I think private education is vile, yes - the system itself. And I do think it produces some spectacularly mediocre students who have simply been taught the right things to say.

But no, we offer places based on academic merit and personal statements - most of the time I don't see what school they have gone to.

I work at a top tier university - most of our students were privately educated.

Iamadaft - I didn't know there was a university where the majority of students were privately educated.
That must be very annoying for you, do your colleagues share your dislike of private education?

Dapple

I've given my reasons for disliking private education, which are valid, and similar to many others on this thread.

If you don't like it you're welcome to provide an opinion of your own - that's what the thread is for.

In answer to your questions - apologies as I had intended to type many, not most (on my phone) and yes, many of my colleagues do feel the same way.

I think there is a world of difference between the likes of Eton Harrow,etc and your small local private school.
I would imagine that the former does give you amazing contacts and just saying you've been to a school such as Eton set you apart. It shouldn't but fact is it does. I expect that thr people.sending their children to Eton would not be affected by a 20% rise.

I think smaller more local private schools don't necessarily give you those kind of contacts and.are probably used by hard working parents who feel.that the state option is unacceptable for whatever reason. These are the kind of schools which could close if fees were suddenly increased.

You will never get equality fpr all.chikdren if one of your parents for example is a physics professor I suspect they are a lot more helpful with homework than an uneducated minimum wage worker.

For most children the equality starts at home amd.it will never.be eradicated regardless of what school they go to!!

I say this as someone who has just moved dd from private school for financial reasons.

It would be very foolish to deny that private education can put a polish on some very unpromising people. And that some schools do produce a level of self confidence that can turn to arrogance. It would be equally foolish to deny that private education produces many well educated, civilised, humane individuals with much to offer the world.

Thank you for that sensible post bert.

It's rubbish to think they are not costing state anything and saving state school funding.

Private schools get free CCFs with free staff, free uniform, free facilities, free trips. State school CCFs pay.
State trains the teachers for private schools and carries on funding training throughout career.
State bursaries for military families are stopping but not for a good few years.
That's before considering charitable funding. Most were set up to educate the poor but taken over by the rich. Most are subsidised by large foundation funding that was intended for the poor.

OP should I be annoyed that my tax money is funding your children in state education?

If private schools didn't exist, the burden on the state education system would be even more stretched than it is now.

Or maybe the government might consider putting more money into ensuring all children, irrespective of parental wealth, were given a decent education?

I suspect many government ministers would care a whole lot more about the state of state education if their precious darlings didn't have the option of Westminster or City of London etc.

But then I am in favour of higher taxes to fund things like better quality state education. So.

I can see the ethical arguments against private education, but I can see the economic ones in favour.

And there is also an argument that the existence of private schools pushes up the results from state schools. It's all in this article from the Guardian.

I've no idea if it's been disproved since.

Crumbs
My DS CCF isn't free in his private school - we paid an upfront charge and pay towards trips. Not only that, it is shared with a local state school.

ChazsBriiliantAttitude your school is fleecing you! Government policy is free to private and paid for by state.

Shame no one told the private schools. Yes the uniform is free. However the schools do charge.

Re CCF Government policy isn't free for private and paid for state. Following the government CEP (cadet expansion plan in 2014) new units were set up, there was initially a plan to start charging existing units to fund new units - this proposal was abandoned. New units may pay be charged - but this is not a state vs. private decision, there are bursaries available mostly for units in deprived areas.

Now the reality is that most units before 2014 were in private schools but not all. But a blanket statement that it is government policy to fund one sector over another is not true. There is a funding difference because of when units were established.

There are likely to be charges for CCF in private schools as the MOD pay some but not all costs. Private schools need to provide and fund there own real estate, there are costs of hiring a co-ordinator plus covering teachers that are volunteering with the CCF. Schools are likely to pass this on to parents.

The military CEA allowance doesn't cover the entire cost of boarding (it is 90% of allowable fees or whatever the current ceiling whichever is lower).

It's not a private school allowance as such, it's a boarding allowance and there are many military families in state boarding schools. Indeed there's been quite a push to get more in them (high in the admissions criteria for boarding). But there aren't enough state boarding places. And no-one is being as inhumane as to say 'you may only choose these schools even though the ethos and boarding pastoral care may not be a match for your DC and it's nowhere near the grandparents and aunts and uncles etc'

CEA is probably cheaper per child than the cost of the education service in Germany.

Change is coming, because of the changes to deployments. Not because boarding was in any way a perk.

Wasn't the biggest expansion of CCF in recent years was under Brown and entirely in state schools?

The VFM of the fees charged to parents (which does happen in private schools too) is exceptional, when you look at the activities they run.

I would be very unhappy (as would you undoubtedly) to have someone from my local average comprehensive as chancellor / foreign sec etc.