Can you tell if someone is privately educated?

[bye2020]

Without knowing what school they went to?

@Gwenhwyfar

"2- How on earth do you infer that I said it’s better than any other ‘accent’? It’s ‘posher’ and that comes with its own inferences, but pretty sure I never implied it was better."

You used the term well-spoken. That implies you think posh people speak well and others don't.

"you’ve still not confirmed whether you agree/disagree with the OP..."

I think sometimes you can tell and other times you can't.

What a very bizarre response!!

And ‘well spoken’ is a term used to describe ‘posh’. No affiliation to my beliefs whatsoever...

Not sure why keep bringing Latin in to it...

I suffer from reverse snobbery and no, I wish I found it funny or knew how to cure it but I can't help but ignore posh sounding people. It is like I just hear 'blah blah blah, money money money' when they talk. Even if they were saying something great like they just saved a litter of puppies from a fire...I would still be like STFU already. And I love animals!

Vates wow, I should think they’re pleased to be ignored by you - I can’t think of many people, posh or otherwise, who’d want to be friends with such a close minded and prejudiced person.

Yes, often. I can’t spot everyone who’s been privately educated, but I’ve never guessed that someone was privately educated and been wrong.

An RP accent and the use of certain words and phrases is often a pointer, IMO. So is confidence and the tendency to assume leadership in social situations.

[quote bye2020]@SoupDragon I'm here, lots of responses to read through and some interesting points.

For what it's worth, I think you can. I stick out like a sore thumb at the law firm I work for (IMO).[/quote]
In what ways do you think you stick out?

"And ‘well spoken’ is a term used to describe ‘posh’. No affiliation to my beliefs whatsoever..."

Think about it for a while.

"Not sure why keep bringing Latin in to it..."

Someone else was the first to bring up Latin. Not sure why you have a problem with it.

As a poster commented 'they will tell you'

ex has a brother who went to eton. Ex was a bit jealous as brother is more intelligent, Funnier etc. but yeah , he never shut up about it and the fact that he apparently was mates with Harry

@Incrediblytired

I think you can tell if they went somewhere like Eton but not a standard local private school.

This. I don't see a vast difference in lower middle class people like myself who went to standard local private school and those lower middle class people who went to a good state school.

But with the really posh, middle middle or upper class yes there may be certain giveaways, although not always. and often can be subtle. I know a couple of people like that and they are not caricatures of entitled hooray Henry buffoon types at all. Pretty normal big standard humans like most of us.

@lyinginthegutterstaringatstars

As a poster commented 'they will tell you'

ex has a brother who went to eton. Ex was a bit jealous as brother is more intelligent, Funnier etc. but yeah , he never shut up about it and the fact that he apparently was mates with Harry

Maybe that's an Etonian thing or a very posh thing though

[quote Gwenhwyfar]"My inner city deprived state primary teaches the kids Latin- I wouldn't rely on that too much as an indicator."

Of course there are some state schools that teach Latin and people who learn on their own, and older people who were taught it, but IN GENERAL, it does give a clue.

A quick google gave me the following. No link to the original stats unfortunately, but I'm sure you could look them up if you really think the average state school still teaches Latin/Ancient Greek.

"In 2015, it was reported that the last non-selective state (publicly funded) school still teaching Greek A-level was about to drop the subject.

In their final year, only 3 pupils chose the subject.

In 2013, only 367 State schools out of 3,268 taught Latin A-level (though a somewhat larger number taught “Classical Civilisation”.)

So basically, if you want to study Greek and Latin to A-level, then it’s time to get out the cheque-book."

and here:
"As confirmed by a spokesperson from the [Cambridge] Classics department, only “a bit over a thousand” UK students study Latin A-level, with the vast majority of these coming from private schools. "
www.varsity.co.uk/news/18274[/quote]
My DS's state school does Latin GCSE and A level and Classical Civ A level.

@Gwenhwyfar

"The entire point is that knowing Latin doesn't prove you went to private school which is what some people are trying to claim. It's ridiculous."

It's a good indication is the point that people are trying to make.

If someone claims to have gone to an independent or public school and has never studied Latin I would suspect that they were not being truthful

[quote Gwenhwyfar]"My inner city deprived state primary teaches the kids Latin- I wouldn't rely on that too much as an indicator."

Of course there are some state schools that teach Latin and people who learn on their own, and older people who were taught it, but IN GENERAL, it does give a clue.

A quick google gave me the following. No link to the original stats unfortunately, but I'm sure you could look them up if you really think the average state school still teaches Latin/Ancient Greek.

"In 2015, it was reported that the last non-selective state (publicly funded) school still teaching Greek A-level was about to drop the subject.

In their final year, only 3 pupils chose the subject.

In 2013, only 367 State schools out of 3,268 taught Latin A-level (though a somewhat larger number taught “Classical Civilisation”.)

So basically, if you want to study Greek and Latin to A-level, then it’s time to get out the cheque-book."

and here:
"As confirmed by a spokesperson from the [Cambridge] Classics department, only “a bit over a thousand” UK students study Latin A-level, with the vast majority of these coming from private schools. "
www.varsity.co.uk/news/18274[/quote]
I was responding to a post which said,

'A basic background in Latin is also a giveaway.'

I'd argue that one doesn't need to study Latin to A level in order to have a basic background in it. Not offered at A-level doesn't mean not taught, particularly at primary level.

@OxfordwillsaveusbyFebruary

In my private school we were given a choice to do either Latin or German starting in year 8. Some chose German, others Latin. So yes, it is possible to be privately educated and not have studied Latin

But @NewyearNewme2021 you were offered it! That was the point of the errr point about Latin entering the fldiscussuon.

But I’ll ask again, to those that say they can tell, how?
How would you tell the difference between my 16yr old DD who attends a highly selective, high achieving grammar and her local friends who attend the highly selective, high achieving private day school a few miles away? My DD was offered a place at both and we opted for the grammar as the results were almost as high, she could walk there and it was free.

...Also keeping in mind that both DD and these other girls already live in a highly desirable, affluent area.

When they talk about a north/south divide or blokes in particular have a breakdown about being abandoned by their parents... Genuinely heartbreaking when you hear it.

@NellyJames Dr Challoners?

@Gwenhwyfar

"And ‘well spoken’ is a term used to describe ‘posh’. No affiliation to my beliefs whatsoever..."

Think about it for a while.

"Not sure why keep bringing Latin in to it..."

Someone else was the first to bring up Latin. Not sure why you have a problem with it.

I will apologise that I said your response was bizarre. I thought you meant you weren’t prepared to say whether you agreed with OP or not.

I realise that way my error and that you do believe sometimes you can tell, sometimes you can’t.

The other part of my post still stands though. I don’t need to think about anything. Posh, well spoken, RP all generally mean a similar sounding way of speaking. It’s an observation.

Dd has gone “Up North” for university. She gets teased for being southern and posh, and people she meets apparently assume she went to private school. She really didn’t. She went to the local comp.

Apart from the people I went to school with no one outside family knows I went to a private school.

I think people would think less of me if they knew that and I dont think that’s an exaggeration!

I notice that none of us who went to our school put it on Facebook- all trying to hide it I imagine!

It was as far from an Eton type school as a ‘sink’ school is from a state one with only £1million houses in catchment!

1/5 were there on the old assisted places scheme so a large minority of low income families. Plenty of my classmates lived in council houses and never went abroad on holiday.

It felt very ‘Normal’ at the time. There was bad behaviour- drug taking, underage sex, wild parties, expulsions, fighting, bullying, suicides, just like any other school.

The class sizes were quite big- 28 typical. Just small classes in unpopular subjects like technology which had only 10. But I think that’s the same all over?

The buildings and facilities were old and run down- nothing as fancy as the new build state schools now.

But I don’t think anyone would believe it wasn’t that good a place so I just hide it.

No one has ever guessed.

@bye2020, no. We live in Hale in Trafford. My daughter is at AGGS and friends’ girls are at Withington Girls.
See below A levels

AGGS-91% A*-B A levels 2019
WGS- 93% A*-B A levels 2019
Dr Challoner- 84.3% A*-B A levels 2019
Marlborough College- 78%

@NellyJames wow, that's interesting and some very impressive results. Best of luck to your daughter - sounds like a very intelligent young lady.

@bye2020, thank you. Yes, she’s bright. We’re actually southerners (lived in Chesham so not that far from Dr Ch) but moved up here for DH’s work. We’re lucky in Trafford as the schools are excellent both state and private. For the boys there’s Altrincham Boys Grammar for state or Manchester Grammar for private. The local comps are all very good.