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Secondary education

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Ethnic diversity of london independent schools

102 replies

WCC1985 · 05/10/2021 11:05

Does anyone have any idea about the ethnic diversity of the following schools?
Latymer Upper
Hampton
Emmanuel
Kingston Grammar
Whitgift
Bancroft
Caterham
Ipstock Place

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annaseal · 05/10/2021 14:49

Will the schools not represent more or less the ethnic diversity of the community where they are situated? There will be few students who might travel from bit far off places, but I would assume majority will be from an easy commutable distance.

WCC1985 · 05/10/2021 15:36

We will be moving to UK and settle in London shortly, so don't quite know the demographics in different places yet. Any of the above schools can be regarded as not diverse at all?

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puffyisgood · 05/10/2021 15:52

Generally speaking, London private schools aren't at all diverse in terms of socio-economic background, because, relative to average earnings, they're so expensive to get into.

In terms of ethnicity/nationality, they're, I suppose, quite a bit more diverse than the UK as a whole [in terms of students who aren't white British] but [a bit] less less diverse than London as a whole.

And the type of diversity is different - off the top of my head at London private schools there's, relative to London as a whole, a disproportionately high number of white kids from other parts of Western Europe, possibly a slightly disproportionately high number of kids with recent E Asian heritage, definitely a disproportionately low number of black kids, possibly on balance about the same proportion of Kids with S Asian and E European backgrounds?

I don't know most of the schools on your list at all well. Other things being equal, co-ed schools tend on average to be slightly whiter than single sex ones, if this matters to you. e.g. Emmanuel is off the top of my head probably whiter than Whitgift.

WCC1985 · 05/10/2021 16:32

Indeed, I did feel, from pictures/video I googled, that Emmanuel and Kingston Grammar , both co-ed, have very very few non-whites, though not sure if they are all white British or Europeans.

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PeterPomegranate · 05/10/2021 16:35

Round here (NW London) the local population is majority South Asian and the independant schools even more so. My experience is that Asian parents who can afford it are more likely to send their children than white patents who can afford it.

puffyisgood · 05/10/2021 16:48

re: "white British or Europeans" - not sure. Is it that important a consideration? I went to an open evening at Emmanuel a couple of months ago - it was after hours, and most of the kids I saw around were doing I think some kind of of performing arts club [clubs can probably be quite misleading regarding a school's overall ethnic mix, e.g. you might find that a football club, rugby club, chess club, and orchestra all have different blends]... i think most of the accents I heard probably sounded British, but I wouldn't be surprised if many of the kids had at least one parent born elsewhere.

TheExtraGuineaPig · 05/10/2021 19:37

My children are at KGS. I'm not sure of the exact numbers compared to the ethnic make up for Kingston itself but it has a much higher non white population than the primary schools (state) they experienced in a neighbouring borough. I asked my older DC as they are interested in this question - worked out that more than 20% of their form is non white, several more with non British but white backgrounds. The younger DC's class definitely has children of black, East Asian and south Asian heritage but I'm not sure of numbers.

Sonex · 05/10/2021 19:54

I live in Caterham and my children are at Trinity School, which is part of the Whitgift foundation with Whitgift school. My children had places at all three. They have friends at both Whitgift and Caterham. We chose Trinity to a large extent because it, at the time, was by far the most ethnically diverse and still is. Whitgift also was and is, but maybe not quite as much (and a very different feel). Caterham was a very, very white bubble imo, outside of the Chinese and Russian boarders that they always reference. Having said that, I visited recently with my youngest, and I was struck by how much the ethnic mix had improved and it was visibly less uniformly white. Still nowhere near as ethnically diverse as Whitgift and Trinity, but definitely a better balance than when I'd last been there 3/4 years ago. Whitgift is a boys school of course and Caterham co-ed which might be important for you. Trinity is a gain a nice compromise for me as girls join in the sixth form.

Caterham itself is far less diverse than Croydon, of course, despite only being 20 minutes away, and that reflects the London/Surrey demographics really. That's also improving, gradually, I think.

I don't know any of the other schools personally, but Emmanuel strikes me as also very ethnically diverse, like all the South London independent schools really. Kids travel from miles to get to all of them, as well as local people, so the pp is incorrect imo that there is a direct correlation with the ethnic diversity of the area, but South London - more diverse than Surrey will always be true I think.

Sonex · 05/10/2021 19:58

I don't know the full stats but Trinity at least has to be at least 60/40 - 50/50 white/non white and Whitgift seems not dissimilar.

Orangejuicemarathoner · 05/10/2021 20:53

It depends what you mean by diverse - some London schools have very large majorities from one ethnic origin or another. Many are almost all one ethnic origin

Iamsodone · 05/10/2021 22:28

I can confirm that Trinity is very ethnically diverse, they quoted being 43% BAME at the time of the BLM
in addition they have a large bursary (and scholarship) funds which contribute to the social diversity of the school, as said above Whitgift is not very dissimilar.
Emanuel have been having a major push to increase the ethnic and social diversity of the school, quite successfully. It has changed massively in the last 4 years.
It is generally observed that Asian families are more likely to send their children to single sex schools than to Co-Ed ones, at least for the secondary part, so year 7 to year 11. I don’t think it applies thereafter ie from year 12 onward.
Ibstock Place is most likely the least diverse of your list (and most traditional), Hampton and Caterham next up. Cannot comment on Bancroft and LU though.
This is straightforward information that you should be able to obtain from the schools themselves. You will also find some information on the independent school reports, though it may be a few years old.

dreamingofbeaches2022 · 05/10/2021 22:46

LU is pretty diverse and is also probably more economically diverse than many other schools due to its large bursary scheme. I wouldn’t say that there are large numbers of any particular ethnic origin - just a general mix of nationalities and ethnicities.
I’m sure all the schools would provide you with info.

Goingcrazy101 · 07/10/2021 12:47

Yes agree with others . Trinity is very diverse. Both my boys are there now. We love the school. Lots of bursaries and scholarships offered so kids from different backgrounds not just super rich kids. Many local kids are offered full bursaries or scholarships.

WCC1985 · 07/10/2021 15:12

What about UCS and Highgate and KCS?

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LondonGirl83 · 07/10/2021 15:34

The ISCi reports often mention the demographics of the schools in the description.

London private schools are pretty diverse. Across the Uk the BAME population of independent schools is circa 1/3rd. It’s often more Asian than black but that’s also true of the Uk population.

The Dulwich schools and Croydon schools are all pretty diverse as are the north London schools.

rattusrattus20 · 09/10/2021 15:16

See above for the comment (which I agree with) about individual clubs & societies maybe not reflecting a school's overall ethnic mix, but here's a recent picture of the Emanuel school (a couple of hundred metres from Clapham Junction station, the Winstanley Estate, etc) netball team.

twitter.com/EMS_Sport/status/1446824132482588672?t=b_648BZw0d2YXfUJl8-dvA&s=19

AyeAyeMister · 09/10/2021 15:44

[quote rattusrattus20]See above for the comment (which I agree with) about individual clubs & societies maybe not reflecting a school's overall ethnic mix, but here's a recent picture of the Emanuel school (a couple of hundred metres from Clapham Junction station, the Winstanley Estate, etc) netball team.

twitter.com/EMS_Sport/status/1446824132482588672?t=b_648BZw0d2YXfUJl8-dvA&s=19[/quote]
That doesn't look like any London school I know!

WCC1985 · 09/10/2021 17:42

[quote rattusrattus20]See above for the comment (which I agree with) about individual clubs & societies maybe not reflecting a school's overall ethnic mix, but here's a recent picture of the Emanuel school (a couple of hundred metres from Clapham Junction station, the Winstanley Estate, etc) netball team.

twitter.com/EMS_Sport/status/1446824132482588672?t=b_648BZw0d2YXfUJl8-dvA&s=19[/quote]
That's what I saw from image/video when I searched online. Similar for Kingston Grammar, so a bit surprised at the 20% ethnic minority ratio as mentioned by one above.

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WCC1985 · 09/10/2021 17:47

I know this is a sensitive issue, but would the near all white schools be the results of parents choosing those schools for this very reason (and for those ethnic minority not choosing it), or because of the locality of the school? I guess it must be both but is the former a strong reason for some parents? I know in some parts of London it is more white (eg. SW?) but still the percentage seems so out much more out of line.

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AnotherNewt · 09/10/2021 17:57

I dont think there's a good source of statistics on BAME students in independent schools.

ISI report of numbers of EAL students, which isn't a terribly good proxy for BAME, but which does give a different measure of diversity.

Taking Emanuel as an example (as a pic has been linked above) there are 924 pupils (they start at 10+ so that's years 6-13) 134 are EAL

IME (which is a bit random) single sex schools attract more BANE pupils - the difference between eg JAGS and Alleyns is often noted

rattusrattus20 · 09/10/2021 18:40

@WCC1985

I know this is a sensitive issue, but would the near all white schools be the results of parents choosing those schools for this very reason (and for those ethnic minority not choosing it), or because of the locality of the school? I guess it must be both but is the former a strong reason for some parents? I know in some parts of London it is more white (eg. SW?) but still the percentage seems so out much more out of line.
I really doubt (m)any Emanuel parents prefer a (nearly) all white school, most imo would reasonably strongly prefer an element of diversity (though might draw a line at 'majority minority', especially majority one single minority).

Brutally, what it boils down to is:

  1. hardly any black families can afford it; and
  2. those South Asian families who can afford it disproportionately prefer single sex schools.

£20-odd grand per year per child co-ed schools in SW/central ish London are a pretty niche proposition, and what the niche looks like is overwhelmingly white.

Spaceman1 · 09/10/2021 18:46

If you are seeking ethnic diversity don't send your children to a private school.

rattusrattus20 · 09/10/2021 18:47

I should probably add a possible third factor, namely that this is a sports photo - if you were to look at photos from one of the Sutton boys' grammars, in some year groups, based on the look of some of the sports teams you might think the school was all white, based on the look of some of the say chess/music type clubs you might think the school was all Asian.

SquirmOfEels · 09/10/2021 19:08

The Wandsworth borough netball team for the London Youth Games was also all white girls.

Perhaps Wandsworth as a whole might not be for you, as the proportion BAME is quite low for London (but the 'white, other' category is large)

Clymene · 09/10/2021 19:13

@Spaceman1

If you are seeking ethnic diversity don't send your children to a private school.
Yep.

London is ethnically diverse but most of the wealth is white. The only kids I know in ethnically diverse schools are in state ones, not private