Private / Public Schools and Brexit

[jellycat1]

I read the Education boards a lot as we are planning to put our two sons through the pre-prep/prep/public school route. We haven't decided exactly where, but it will either be day Prep in SW London - so on the crazy 7/8+ bus, or a Surrey / Berkshire area day/boarding prep to 13.
My question is to current parents - what is your sense of the effect, if any, of Brexit on the demand for places at the selectives / super selectives? Do you think it may soften demand a bit or have no noticeable effect? We are overseas currently and all my friends' kids are older, so I feel a bit in the dark about it all - but then aren't we all...! Sigh...!
I know nobody has the answer right now but just interested in your thoughts really and what you hear in your schools.
TIA.

I’m not trying to put minds at ease of those who use state ed I am answering your original OP.
I’m a died in the wool European and think that Brexit is a total disaster but I have to say that softening of demand for places at super selectives/ selectives in the UK is not high up on my list of the cons or pros. Frankly I think there are much more serious issues and concerns than this if the issues exists at all.

". . . long term I think it might have an impact because I think UK PLC as a non member of the EU will become increasingly insignificant."

For all your knowledge about UK private schools, HG, but you're not listening . . .

Long term, the EU will become absolutely insignificant because they would be consigned to history!

"Long term, the EU will become absolutely insignificant because they would be consigned to history!"

Thank you Priti, we all bow before our Asian overlords. That will be all for now.

Fear not London
in the world of Peternas Etonians will ride to the rescue

Yup sadly youre probably right peteneras I’ve frequently said on here that we ignore China and India and others at our peril but I personally don’t think leaving the EU puts UK PLC in a stronger position against the rise of these giants.
My dad used to say that we will be the Africa of the mid 21 st century although of course wasn’t taking global warming into consideration.

Nobody is ignoring Asia, not least the UK, the EU, and most recently the US :)

London you say that but a few years ago I went to a lecture by the head of some government quango responsible for promoting UK PLC he didn’t believe the rise of China and others represented any threat to the UK economy neither did many of his audience. Many muttered outdated stereotypes about the Chinese and thought the fact that they couldn’t speak English would keep them producers of cheap toys clothes and Iphones for the affluent West.

@happygardening haha, funny - OK perhaps we are a bit behind the curve as usual, just one data point though! :)

Needmoresleep although the French might see the drawbacks to their education most will still stick to the established route of HE including les grandes écoles as it is very difficult to access French careeers without French qualifications. Some international minded or expat French may well take the risk of an Anglo Saxon education but they know that means usually international careers. Personally I think less French will take the risk to select a UK degree after Brexit, at least initially.

Wincollparent, what proportion of French students attend Les grandes ecoles? I thought it was relatively small. And that they were quite expensive. Will they be able to pick up the slack of those students currently educated in the UK who might now remain in France?

My guess is that at tertiary level a lot will depend on what British Universities choose to charge students from the EU. For whatever reason many middle class French don't seem a high option of many of their own Universities. I can think of only one of the many French we have known in London who chose to return to France for her degree, and even then it was because she failed to get a place at one of her preferred Universities. Most chose to 'risk' a UK degree. Others headed for Canada or the US.

Anecdotally, I have yet to meet an UK-educated French person.

LondonMum
You should hang around South Ken more - the Lycee has been there since I was a kid

Hang around LSE, Imperial, UCL or Edinburgh. A British education is very a la mode.

Though obviously this might change...

Anecdotally I’ve met some UK educated French child.

I suspect domestic UK demand for places in boarding schools will rise considerably as British parents take jobs abroad but children are stuck into the British secondary track.

My cousin and his wife have three teens who would not be able to transfer into any other school system and if my cousin's job moves him out of the UK after Brexit their only option will be boarding school.

They are planning to send their youngest two children to IB schools because they hate the idea of boarding.

Needmoresleep I said including les grandes écoles. Any French qualification is a much safer bet for a job and life in France (which are generally all very dependent on French qualifications) than a U.K. degree.

Very small numbers of French are educated in the UK. Not only is it riskier but it is also much more expensive for them. UK views for French liking a UK degree are slanted by the wealthy 'international' French they are familiar with in London or Paris.

Wincoll I am surprised. Small sample but French in both the Cambridge women's and men's boat crews (to some real French media excitement.) DD was at a West London indi where roughly 15% of her year group were French/British bilingual. 4 Lycees now in London. And genuinely quite a good number at UK, especially London and Scottish Universities. Interestingly EU applications to British Universities seem to have held up over the last cycle. EU or not, but parents seem to see advantage in kids having international exposure. (And regular posts on the Student Room and Higher Education threads from French wanting to study in the UK. Moderators regularly have to remind posters on LSE threads that they need to post in English.)

DD came across so many French in her London extracurricular that she became quite comfortable conversing in French. Not a bad thing. London is, after all, supposed to be France's sixth largest City.

Needmoresleep some numbers from l'Étudiant and other sources including le Monde.

20,000 French register for UK universities every year, a third of those are Erasmus. Compares with about 9000 going to Switzerland.
2015 2.55 million students registered to start higher education in France (will be higher now as continues to increase).
About 80, 000 start prepa for les Grandes Écoles, 17% of those will be in private sector.

As you can see a UK degree is the choice of a minority for all the reasons I gave previously.

We have seen zero impact on private schools, and do not expect one in the future. The best schools are more demanding that ever.

You may sigh over brexit, living overseas you are clearly out of touch with more things than just schools. Best advice is don't come back unless you are willing to support the country through the changes we are making for our children's future.

Correction to my previous post 1.55 million registered students in France.
20,000 French at UK universities (including Erasmus) are also total numbers rather than new entrants.
To put all this further into context total number taking the Bac last
Year were 719,000 of which 379,000 were the Bac générale (academic version).

Wow^.
You do realise that Brexit hasn't happened yet, Rocketgirl?
As the reality hits home it is going to take more than pedaling faster or crossing ever more fingers and toes to keep Wing-And-A-Prayer-UK flying.

The best advice was not to gamble with your children's future or the future of other people's children, but that ship seems to have sailed.

rocketgirl22
Thus the world keeps spinning and plus ça change.The arrogance of the ignorant. Tut tut tut.