To wonder if you are against private schools…

[Unsrr]

Why is this? As in against their existence?

I was brought up in a reasonably poor area and my education was not good. I sometimes went to the nearest private school for swimming lessons and remember being in awe of it. We have one dc now age 7 and can’t afford private but there is maybe a chance we could for secondary. I wouldn’t give it a second thought if we could make it work.

I have never felt private schools should disappear because surely that’s what we should be aspiring to? An education that is excellent (yes I know not all private schools are good and lots of state schools are better), isn’t that what we should aim for?

I feel sad that this country has now made it harder to access this education. What is the reason people are against private schools existing at all? I don’t think it can be jealousy, I think many people are genuinely opposed to it from an ideological perspective and I can’t understand it at all. Just interested really as there’s been so much talk about schools recently.

Great post, and the answer is.....a resounding NO....because these people don't want to pay for these things, they just expect the state to provide these for them, and these types of people want everyone else to be wallowing in the same shit.

@SleeplessInWherever i don’t think my child could potentially fail because someone else’s child is at a better school. I worry my child could fail because the state sector is not good enough.

It's bizarre that some people can't see that a well-educated population benefits everyone, not just the parents of the children who receive the education.

State education isn't just a favour to parents, it's an economic necessity.

I was sent to one out of necessity, it was either that or have my secondary education interrupted every 2 years(and it could have been midway through A'levels or GCSE's, we went wherever my Dad got posted). It was the same for a lot of forces brats.

I find the notion that it's only for the rich and privileged so short sighted. There are many many reasons children get sent to private schools.

Devoting more time to maths and English sounds like a good thing.

But you can choose....you can choose to sit back and figure out what sort of area you want to work in, study in your spare time to help get into that area, work on your communication skills and appearance, which will ensure yourself the best chance of success to then earn the sort of money you want to earn to pay for private schooling! Or sacrifice time with your family and take on extra work to pay for private schooling. And not have multiple children so you can afford it. You have so many choices! It just takes a combination of time, drive, intelligence and obviously also some good luck.

The entitlement of people is shocking.

Maybe the OP was looking for a discussion and for explanations of the nuances in the issues of of private v state. I'm quite sure that she did realise the simple statement above by herself.

Why do people so often subscribe to the worst or silliest interpretation of someone else's actions?

Agreed, it is failing - for lots of different reasons.

One of them is chronic underfunding, which will at least apparently be addressed by money coming from the private sector and into the state sector.

Private education parents can then leave their kids in the schools they believe to be better, and hopefully those in state get a better deal too.

Personally I’ve got no issue with those in the better financial positions (as in, can afford private education) putting that money in.

The thing is state education is near universal. It's 5.9% in independent schools now. This is actually fewer than some countries people have mentioned below as not using independent schools.
Wales has less in private school than Finland. I appreciate that it's uneven so edingburgh and surrey have much higher numbers.

Obviously education is for everyone's benefit, but I remain unconvinced banning private schools or indeed just taxing the users will materially benefit my son at state school.

Everything???? Love, nurturing,kindness,stability, these are some of the things that money can't buy

This!

It’s so desperately unfair that children from poverty will undoubtedly receive a lesser standard of education than the middle/upper classes (where they already enjoy so many more privileges).

Surely every single child deserves the same standard of education irrespective of £?

Stability is often partly down to money. And tho love, nurturing and kindness aren' down to money specifically, if people are stressed because they don't have money or have to work two jobs to make the money they need they often don't have the brain space to show it as much as someone who isn't worried where the next meal is coming from.

What do you mean by the teacher element having been removed?

I'd have less of a problem with private schools if all onward destinations were contextual offers; Eton? 3 A stars, please. St Bogwoods? ABB.

There are only so many uni places.

Furthermore, private school networks entrench privilege. Other parents at the school can offer internships to your son and vice versa. Even in the NHS, where I worked, the HR hassle of work experience caused them to shut the scheme down; yet somehow the offspring of consultants from the 2 top public schools locally managed to get each others kids in.

I know you cannot totally erase such unfairnesses from society, but you can limit the overt exercise of it.

You accessing private healthcare doesn't deprive an NHS patient of care.

The enhanced academic grades your privately educated child gets may well deprive a poorer but possibly more able child of a university place.

They are not comparable.

I see a few holes in this argument. Wearing Boden clothes and eating Waitrose food doesn't confer the kind of huge networks and privilege that private school does, doesn't completely separate you from other clothes and junk food, and some Boden items and Waitrose food are vastly more accessible to vastly more people than private school is. You can get items on sale from those retailers. There are no sales on school fees!

As for people working several jobs...we all have the same number of hours in the day. If someone is working "several" jobs - i.e. three or more - then they are obviously not full-time at each.

Most people could have a full-time job and a part-time one on top and still not be able to afford private school. The fees are excessive these days. It's not like 50 years ago when you could send a child or two to private school on one teacher's salary. What you say perpetuates the lie that most people could send their children to private school if only they worked harder! It's just not true.

Universities downgrade entrance requirements.

I disagree that state education is subpar. Having worked in a variety of state schools, I have repeatedly found the teaching to be excellent. Of course there'll be kids who don't listen and mess about but if you want to learn you can.
I went to rough state schools myself with kids messing about in class and still it worked out perfectly fine. The average NT child can do just fine in a state school.

Well there are Labour party members who would support that.

I don’t know anyone who could afford to move closer to a state school. I know a couple that are very close to becoming billionaires that sent all their kids to state schools because they don’t feel private schools are good morally. Even though they could afford too

Everything???? Love, nurturing,kindness,stability, these are some of the things that money can't buy

Money doesn't buy everything, but it sure helps lots of things. I'm currently working two jobs and my children are feeling the impact. I'm very stressed and much less available than I used to be. If I had more money and only needed just the one job, that wouldn't be the case. So I'm afraid yes, the life any child is largely predicated on family money.

Aside from that - private schools aren't the reason that lots of state schools aren't good. The reason for that is chronic underfunding and under resourcing over a sustained period of time. Neither of which has anything, at all, to do with private schools.

My children don’t go to private school - I said I could afford it. I choose not to use it.

But accessing private health care does have an impact too - it means privileged people can opt out and not advocate for a better system so NHS patients end up with systems which aren’t great and have significant waits but there’s less of a demand for change.

Aside from that - private schools aren't the reason that lots of state schools aren't good

That's the real issue 4% of parents will be paying VAT. The schools will charge VAT but will now be able to claim back all the VAT on equipment, food, fuel, repairs and maintenance, wi fi, etc, etc, which they currently can't.

The VAT from those 4% won't cure the problems in the state sector. It's driven by spite, envy and class hatred.

Exactly if you (general you, not you in particular) are of such refined moral sensibilities that you won't use private education you shouldn't be touching private healthcare with a barge pole.

The VAT from those 4% won't cure the problems in the state sector. It's driven by spite, envy and class hatred.

I think it's 7% but, either way, that 7% can't solve the problems of 93%. Why people with millions who send their kids to state schools aren't being asked to cough up to fund the education they are actually using, is beyond me.