To wonder whether Boris and his cronies give Eton a bad name.

[Dustballs]

I wonder whether schools like this will be affected negatively as a result?

That's fair enough - I gather that he was very put out that he didn't get one, though!

TBH you're just making a wally of yourself at this point. Actually, with your appealing to courses like tree surgeon at Chepstow and cheese furtling at Southampton I wouldn't have said it was the person you were arguing with who looked like the wally.

Yes, I shouldn't think he likes not getting exactly what he wants. Perhaps now he's 'king of the world' he can grant himself a retrospective re-mark?

No not at all

Their history and results and having schooled a number of PM‘a and other world leaders and senior people in governments will always make sure there have a huge amount of parents who wish to send their children there from all over the world

For many that Boris Johnson went there adds to the appeal

This was highlighted in stark reality during the complete mess of the exams scandal in August - private school, get the grades predicted, state school get the grades our algorithm gives you.

I wasn't aware of this. Were private schools allowed predicted grades straight from the start? Why was that allowed? How was there allowed to be such a difference? What reason was given?

Rachel Johnson shared a telling anecdote on a tv programme. She and her siblings were brought up to be highly competitive. When Jo Johnson achieved the First that neither she nor Boris had managed she phoned to ask ‘Have you heard the awful news about Jo?’
Boris does not believe rules apply to him, this was noticed and commented upon by staff at Eton so presumably the majority of his fellow pupils did accept rules.

Sorry, but that's a misrepresentation of the grades fiasco and has led to lots of unfair anti-private school feeling. There were two main factors. First, was that subjects with only a very small cohort of students were not subjected to the algorithm, because smaller numbers meant too little statistical validity. This tended to happen more at private schools with smaller numbers doing more niche subjects (but eg maths at Eton would have been unaffected). Second, the algorithm looked at previous years' results, so a school with excellent results year after year would tend not to be marked down, whereas a star student at a historically low achieving school might suffer. Yes, it should have been foreseen that these factors would favour certain kinds of schools and students, but that's totally different from implying that some Tory MP (or whoever) sat down and deliberately thought 'right, let's design a system that makes sure Rufus at Eton gets straight As'.

who is Eton

DS is at college with an old Etonian. The poor kid cringes with embarrassment whenever Johnson is mentioned in connection with the school.

I don't think it will discourage people from sending their sons there. Johnson is not at all typical of their ex-pupils.

who is Eton

Wasn't he the nerdy one in Ghostbusters?

Now I'm confused, and I don't know if bctf123 is taking the pee or not.

I went to school near Eton, as teenagers we 'd come across them in town occasionally get chatting. It's left me with a life long loathing of them !
They don't deserve 'charitable' status.
My SIL, private school maths teacher, said the parents always expect inflated grades from the school, they pay that's what they get. Blame for poor achievement is then shifted from school to exam board or the child.

I find the generalisation of those having attended a public school as being entitled, jumped-up and incompetent quite shocking. Imagine the response to a thread saying that all those attending an inner city comprehensive school must be gun-toting, drug-dealing, poorly educated criminals.

As in all walks of life you will find good and bad irrespective of background and upbringing.

As if, OP. Boz and co are typical products thereof and that's what parents are paying for. Its not about academic excellence, its about networking and future contacts.

It was an Etonian who first mentioned the 'Stupid Tax' to me, such tax about to pay for the new school swimming pool. That's a lottery ticket to plebs like you and me.

When you send your child to an establishment like Eton you are paying (a lot) for their future successes and without any doubt for them to avoid mixing with the 'plebs' you'd find in any normal school.

20 of our prime ministers went to Eton. That is not a true reflection on society as a whole at all, it shows a rigged old boys network.

Private/public schooling has created a two tier society where it is deemed acceptable to pay for privileged access to 'better' education.

@Moutarde
John Major went to a state school. He left at 16. Managed to be PM.

[quote SheepandCow]@Moutarde
John Major went to a state school. He left at 16. Managed to be PM.[/quote]
And your point is?

[quote SheepandCow]@Moutarde
John Major went to a state school. He left at 16. Managed to be PM.[/quote]
And?

What is your point?

@Eskers
My point is becoming Prime Minister is not a rigged old boys network.
John Major (state educated, left at 16), Margaret Thatcher (female, state educated), Theresa May (female), Gordon Brown (state educated).

There have been 55 prime ministers of the UK, including Johnson.

20 of them went to Eton.

There are currently 4,188 secondary schools in the UK.

Care to reword your statement?

Ok. I'll reword it.
In modern times, becoming PM is not a rigged old boys network.

We're not living in the past. We have universal suffrage. At one time we didn't. Things change.

Eton is a ticket into a network. It doesn't entirely define the personalities or ethics of those who attend.

Imagine the response to a thread saying that all those attending an inner city comprehensive school must be gun-toting, drug-dealing, poorly educated criminals.

There are people on MN who do seem to think that.