Employers hate private schools?

[5329871e]

In the fortunate position of choosing between one of the best private schools in the country, vs one of the best non-selective state schools in the country. Private school is affordable with sacrifices, which we’re happy to make, and it has all the expected advantages of better funding and selective intake, but the state school is also lovely.

To avoid this thread being bogged down by all the nuances of our choice, I’ll keep the question simple:

DH is convinced that employers dislike privately educated applicants. All things being equal, they’ll pick the state educated person. In other words, job applicants are disadvantaged by a private education.

Is this true? If so, how much better does a privately educated applicant have to be, for you to pick them?

I love how people think private school kids are 'hand held and spoon fed'. One child didn't do much work and did crap at exams, my other one works extremely hard. If you don't put in the work it doesn't matter where you went to school, and you have to work hard to get top grades no matter where - I don't think my daughter is working any less hard than her state school equivalent. And unless you are talking about an 'inadequate' school, it's not true to assume all state schools offer a poor education, which seems to be the assumption here, and there are plenty of private schools who aren't that great either.
If your choice is between two of the best schools in the country, I don't know why you wouldn't choose the state school. I went private only because all the state schools in the area were not good, and during the last two years this was made even more evident.

I really hope that you actually just enjoy having your children and allow them to be their own person, regardless of how they 'perform' as adults. You are overly preoccupied with achievements and outcomes and goals. Jesus. Let them be. You will be in danger of alienating them in years to come if they somehow fail you. You don't own them. You nurture them to be the happiest and best human beings that they can be. Not mini me.

@jeepersdeepers - same here. My kids will work damn hard whether they’re in state or private. Hence questioning which choice to make.

I actually feel quite sorry for them. All the pressure you're going to put on them, life is so much more than this

I guess oxford or cambridge on one's cv implies private

Not sure about employers but harder to get into top uni’s if from a private school

@Darbs76

Not sure about employers but harder to get into top uni’s if from a private school

Evidence?

In addition, the big city firm I work for is bending over backwards with access schemes and the like and is keen to recruit people from more diverse backgrounds

Girasol do the applicants from more diverse backgrounds have to have a university degree?

Massively depends on the employer. But I can say for the big finance companies in the city I work for, all things being equal (they never are) then the state school would win. But there is no such thing, there’ll be an answer or mark extra here and there from interviews.

But I do see big elite firms trying to hire more state as part of their diversity policy.

That being said, my last big consulting firm has 100% private intake for 2021

As an employer in my industry within the creative industries, the school isn't relevant, it's the ability to want to do the job and make a career of it. Having said that, entitled (aka lazy) candidates, whether privately schooled or Oxbridge or otherwise, who think the world owes them a living / it's an easy ride of a career they are entitled to won't make it through our selection process because they are no use to us as a business in a very difficult and highly competitive industry.

My children are privately educated, however, because it is the best opportunities we can give them, for them as they now are as kids. Just local private schools but places with high pastoral care and a strong emphasis on co-curricular activities including creative pursuits.

@Andante57 at EY they didn’t but you would be a school leaver regardless of age.

The qualification you aim to achieve is what makes university the necessity as they stipulate it as a requirement

@LondonQueen

Who puts their school on their CV? How would they know unless you specifically stated. If so I wouldn't hire them either as it makes them seem like a pretentious twat.

Most applications ask for the institution you attended to gain the results.

Azpil thank you.

I think the benefit of private school more than outweighs the little bit of levelling up some universities/employers may try to apply to even up the playing field.
But if its a top state school you'll get alot of what you get from private anyway. I'd save my money and send my child to state school.
The real disadvantages at state school are not in going to a top school.

Some amazing points have been made here which make me proud.

I had this argument with an ex friend who didn’t believe there was an unfair advantage for those who went to public school. He said they’re just simply smarter.

He said “I got 10 A and I had 15 people max in a class” and I responded “well I got 12 A and had at least 30” so just shows I’m smarter right?!

I think the main point is there is absolutely nothing special about your child going to a random independent school and getting straight As.

If your kid goes to the shit comp and gets those straight As though? Amazing.

I do respect the top tier independent schools though. For example if you went to Eton on a scholarship - you are obviously outstandingly bright and probably will get great results.

But in my last job I interviewed an Oxford grad who also was on Uni Challenge. He was so smart and I passed his interview with flying colours. He failed miserably on the exam in the next stage. It’s just so subjective.

I have never put a school on my CV, or not since going for jobs during sixth form. In any graduate job you just list your universities and those grades.

IME most graduate employers have a tendency to choose privately educated applicants, often because they come over more confidently, have more 'polish' in some cases, will also be more likely to have attended prestigious universities, have similar hobbies and so 'fit' into professional organisations. Some organisations are (thankfully) starting to make special efforts to look beyond surface appearance and look for potential.

@Captainj1

I think work at a place that recruits large numbers of graduates and school leavers. We interview blind - all we know about the applicant before we conduct the interview is their name. They have to have met the application criteria/passed initial screening and psychometric tests to get to that point of course. And if all other things are equal in terms of how well they interview. we do look for diversity characteristics (in their widest sense including, most recently, neurodiversity). The screening does make use of contextualised academic data, so it evaluates academic results in the context of the educational institutions at which the results were gained (eg BBB at a state school in a deprived area would be considered a better achievement than BBB in a private school or selective grammar).

@Captainj1, sincere apologies for a bit of a thread hijack, OP, but I’m interested in this as my DD1 is registered blind, is former LAC is ASD/ADHD, and she is FSM BUT she attends a super-selective grammar school; would she genuinely be counted as being privileged on the basis of having attended a grammar school?

Bullshit.

I (lawyer) literally was offered both a job and a training contract based on my private education (confirmed by my boss).

In my world it’s been an advantage.

OP people who have benefited from private school experience want the same for their children. It's not about the grades. It's about the experience. I believe the school you go to influences your character, outlook, ambition and gives your opportunities. Granted there are some fabulous state schools around but for example in the private schools my kids attend - if you excel in something, anything, there is scope and opportunity for your to excel. I definitely think private school graduates have an air of confidence about them- even if they are talking BS they do it well...... I was grammar schools educated, my husband is private school educated. We both have professional jobs. He thinks I would have aspired to do better and been more ambitious had I gone to a private school ...... I think he may be right

FWIW, I think a private education can be summarised as follows;

1. You will get more or less the grades you are destined for, private doesn't make you more intelligent, maybe a grade here or there. You won't fundamentally make the child successful.

2. Small class sizes/fewer pupils per teacher is THE big plus. It means every kid gets to speak regularly, be it school play, poetry contest, or debating. There is a degree more confidence as a result - they are not competing with 30 odd others for the teachers attention. They can be heard, can question. One of mine is in a class of 10 for one of their GCSE's meaning they are getting bags of individual attention.

3. You have a pretty much "engaged" audience of parents, which means more engaged and motivated kids - it doesn't mean no bad behaviour or bullying, that can happen anywhere. Absenteeism seems to more be about the kids being in west end plays (yes really!) or skiing for the season (yes really!, and you still have to pay for the term they are away)

Lastly I disagree with your husband, I have never looked at someones school as a judgement of employment and I have employed pleanty of people. I actually think doors close due to a state education, you definitely see much more networking and camaraderie in the private sector. I've had to build my business networks from colleagues and post education...I see privately educated colleagues also have many of their school contacts too.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26773830

@5329871e

It isn't true than the privately educated outperform their state peers at university. It is common sense that children who have been spoon fed may struggle more at university than children who have not.

My son's state school gets better results at A level than Eton and last year 41 went to Oxbridge.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9256577/Eton-College-loses-HALF-Oxbridge-offers-universities-try-boost-intake-state-schools.html

Anecdotally, we have friends doing the rounds of posh London day school. Some school are advising parents that Oxbridge is now 8x harder to get into than in their day and that they ought to start thinking about US universities.

BTW the stat quoted upthread about 7% being in private changes at sixth form to about 20%.

Oneday "I love how people think private school kids are 'hand held and spoon fed'"

I work at one, as a child attended a household name school (as did my brother and husband) and have had two at private school so yes, your "it is so hard at private school" rings hollow. Try being one of 33 in a failing school with a severely autistic child in your class who regularly derails lessons before you bleat about how hard it is in the private sector.

That’s far from my experience. I didn’t go to one, but have noticed most of my superiors did. The fact that unis have to make exceptions for poorer schools to get their students in screams that this debate is pointless. You could probably find loads of stats to suggest that privately schooled kids do better in life. If I could afford to send my children I would.

@PelvicFloorTrauma

My son's state school gets better results at A level than Eton and last year 41 went to Oxbridge.

Genuinely curious to know which state school beats 99% A*-C grades at A Level.

I’d also be interested to know which state school send 41 kids to oxbridge in a single year. That’s a huge amount to send to oxbridge. Although if they have grades that are superior to Eton I’m not too shocked!

there are a couple of state schools which send that many kids, or more, to Oxbridge. the classic example is the one in Cambridge that all the academics' kids go to. another is Brampton manor in East London, which is super-super selective at age 16.