To not know anybody who went to private school

[ItHasTheJuice]

As in none of my family including wider family, DH, DH’s family, none of my friends went to private school.

Sometimes feel like I must be an anomaly reading mumsnet

Tell me I’m not alone!

I know loads, and I don't consider myself rubbing shoulders with the rich.
I think because I grew up and also moved to a grammar school that makes a difference, people whose children don't pass the test pay for private.
Of all my close friends/colleagues children well over half go private. They either failed the test, are in private primary to get through the test, or are on scholarships

Grammar school area

I grew up in the US and went to private school, but I think it's not such a big deal in the US. Lived in the UK for 20 years, I've met/known a handful of privately educated people. I have to admit I was pretty surprised when I met a relatively normal guy who went to Eton. He was not posh and hated it.

I do, and I also know several people whose children are/were at private schools.

Thanks to the 11+, I got a place at a private school. I recently found out that my boss also passed her 11+ and went to a school run by the same trust as mine.

And we both grew up on dead rough council estates and found it a total culture shock!

I know a couple of people whom I suspect went to public school although they've never said and I've never asked. I know one who definitely went to boarding school and it took a long time for him to be a good parent - he also had a nanny at home though!

My DH's 2 siblings both went to public school but DH did not - although it was offered. Neither of his siblings have ever been grateful for their privileged education - in fact the exact opposite. Neither of them have done any better in life than DH - in fact at one family gathering DBIL openly said he thought DH had done the best out of the 3 of them!

Loads. Half one side of my family. I would have done if I hadn’t got into the Grammar School. Lots of my friends and many of my colleagues.

It really depends a lot of the kind of sector you work in and the friends you have. If you mostly socialise with old school friends then of course they went to the same school as you!

I know plenty of privately educated people due to the sector I work in. Dp is privately educated

I know two boys we played with as kids, both did really well after leaving university.

Two boys of a friend also went to private school. Both work in finance in London.

Also know of one who went to boarding school. Did ok but he was never well liked by colleagues, had virtually no friends and fell out with family.

Don't know of a single female who was privately educated.

I went to private school, as did my husband (in the US). I only really mention it on here in regards to the subject, but it’s not something I reference unless directly asked.

It's MN that's the anomaly, not you. MN is not at all representative of the UK as a whole, there are far more well off, London/SE based people, so probably a higher percentage who were privately educated, or their DC are.

I thought I didn't know anyone who was privately educated, then I remembered that a colleague's DS is.

She's very much of the 'helicopter parent to a little prince' school of parenting and she's in the office next door so I can hear all the calls directing him to do X, Y or Z.

I did.

But I got a full scholarship so my parents didn't have to pay anything. I wouldn't have gone otherwise.

I hated it and didn't find my tribe until Sixth Form, by which time it was too late.

I dont know anyone either TBH.I think its something like 7% of children though ,so not a very high percentage!

Some pockets of the country have a much higher % of private education. Edinburgh, Bristol etc. Perhaps you are in an area where the state schools are fine? The private schools in some places are plugging massive gaps in state provision.

None of my family or DHs did, but I went to Durham so almost everyone I know from then did.

I don't conceal where I went to school, I'm just struggling to see when as an adult it would be relevant in conversation.

As it happens people do assume I went to private school anyway due to my accent - which is nothing to do with the school and much more to do with a parent who learned English as a foreign language.

They also assume I was massively privileged as a child and my parents were rich when that couldn't be more wrong.

Just meet people as individuals and don't bring a load of assumptions with you.

I'm as working class as they come and had met various private school educated people by 18, and loads of private and public school educated people by the time I was 21.

I was a bit of a social person, as in I was constantly in pubs and clubs - and also I trained in a profession that was very middle class. But yeah, certainly in the 80s it wasn't uncommon at all to know people who had been to private/public schools.

Maybe as the wealth divide has increased, so has the physical divide.

Although the statistics are 7% nationally, places like Edinburgh must skew the stats somewhat. I imagine there are more cities like it, but it's well known in Scotland for the number of private schools. Like the quoted pp, if you're in Edinburgh you'll know loads of folk from private school so presumably in some places you'll have the opposite experience.

I don’t know many well. None of my family or close friends have been privately educated.

I have someone I’d call a friendly acquaintance who kids are privately educated and dd1 has a couple of friends at dance who are (one of them being lady I mentioned’s daughter).

I do work in a hospital though, so lots of the doctors were privately educated. However I’m AHP and there’s only one or two that I know of who went to private school in my actual team.

it’s nice if you can easily afford it, but certainly no big deal. Not around here anyway where the state schools are fine and no huge competition for places. Also not an 11+ area so the secondary’s cater for all abilities. Mumsnet is not really representative when it comes to schooling.

My parents had no money to speak of but one of my siblings went to private school on an assisted place. My parents wanted the same for all of us but I had terrible reverse snob feelings about private school. I knew nobody else growing up who was privately educated. Met DH, a public school boarder and we work in finance so PE colleagues are everywhere. Our kids are PE.

I didn't until I went it university.

But - I grew up in a county with grammar schools. And didn't

Now raising my own children in a county without state grammars and very disappointing results at the local state schools suddenly private schooling is starting to look appealing.

But I know if/when mine or DH family hear this there's going to be quite the judgement!

I went to a private school but I’m pretty sure none of my friends know that because as an adult I rarely have school related conversations! I had been with my partner over 9 months before he knew and that was only as a result of a random conversation about listening to the radio in school lunch breaks!

I've been a solicitor in the City and the vast majority of my colleagues were privately educated with their own kids in private schools. My own daughter has been privately educated since reception (now in Year 8 at an independent). Not sure I made the right decision to be honest.

I know one person and they went because a parent was a teacher snd they lived onsite it was a boarding school. It is like a foreign language to me when I read about fee paying education.

I don't have any in my circle, but at work I'm sure many of our GPs went to private school, most of them are sending their DCs to private schools.

I didn't know anyone who worked in an office until I was 20, I thought that was posh.