Can you tell if someone is privately educated?

[bye2020]

Without knowing what school they went to?

They'll tell you 9 times out of 10

@Madeupwithit very good

They will mention their school a fair few times so you don't have to guess!

@Madeupwithit

They'll tell you 9 times out of 10

😂😂😂😂😂

Not always. I would jump to that conclusion though when I meet stereotypical posh people. I say that as someone who went to private school myself, but I don’t think it is obvious if you met me.

Generally.

Everyone who has found out that I did has been utterly disbelieving and thinks I’m joking. It isn’t something that comes up much.

Well unless you ask them how do you know if you’re right?

In my experience you can't tell.

I don’t think you can tell at all

A few of my friends have children at private school. Some of them (not all) have a veneer of confidence (arrogance) about them

No, I can't, unless I know the person reasonably well and can guess based on other things.

I think I was married before my dh discussed his schooling 🙄 he went to one of the top academic schools and I went to a tough Scottish sink school but it wasn’t a topic of conversation until about 5/6 years later

Yes generally think I can

Some you can, some you can't. I would imagine Poppy from this year's bake off did. She has that confidence about her (but it wouldn't just be the schooling, it'd be her whole upbringing).

My husband went to a posh boarding school and I don't think most people nowadays would tell (especially with the West Country twang he has acquired!)

No

Not really.

I work in a hospital, so with a full range of educational backgrounds. Obviously it hugely depends on how pompous the person is, however the one person I would have guessed to be privately educated (perfect manners, hugely intelligent) was actually a refugee from Eritrea. Turns out she’d only come to the U.K. at 15.

Yes generally I can.

In a work place I suspect you can’t if your all doing similar roles..

Yes there’s a certain confidence. My brother went to a private school.

DH was privately educated. He didn't realise himself until he was an adult. All he knew was he went to school.

No. About 50% of my friends and colleagues did, I don't think I can tell unless we discuss it. I could presume that the posher ones did but that would be based purely on their 'poshness' which is more to do with birth than their education. DH is privately educated, he does not sound or act pish though and I think most people on meeting him would presume he attended a rough comp.

I think there tends to be a similar accent, glossy hair and an air of entitlement.

Sometimes I can even guess which school thet went to. But often can't tell at all.

Really varies. If you live in an area and don't have the area's accent that can often be a giveaway you were privately educated but it's not foolproof. Again, depends on the area if there are grammar schools/ good state schools or not. I came from an incredibly poor area with very poor standards at local secondary schools and my parents made sure I always always integrated with people from all backgrounds so my accent doesn't set me apart but my academic background does as it was extremely difficult to get into my career if you weren't privately educated.