Private or State? Many people in Britain believe that private schools throughout the country are giving unfair advantages to children. State schools are often seen as substandard, in comparison, due to private school children having more opportunities and seeming to go further in life. However, children who went to state school still do just as well in life, getting into top universities and then achieving good jobs. How unfair are private schools really and is it really worth the money to attend one?
The main difference between state and private schools is the fees. State schools don’t cost any money to attend and all children aged 4 to 18 in the UK are entitled to a place. Private schools can be more selective as there are tests pupils have to do before being selected and the average family can’t afford the considerable fees. Due to this difference, state schools are viewed as being more diverse, giving children the opportunity to learn from others and creating less of a class divide within the school.
An advantage of going to a private school however is the smaller class sizes. With more funding these schools are able to employ more teachers and be more selective with the children they let in due to the entry tests. This can be better for children as they are able to get more attention from their teachers and are less likely to struggle in class. Some people argue that due to excessive tuition fees families would be better off putting their child in state school and paying for private tuition to be able to save money. The growth of social media and online resources means that children can get tutored online from anywhere in the country making it more accessible for everyone.
One issue with private schools is where they are located, most families want to send their child to their local school. For some people, they are fortunate that the local state school is good or outstanding according to Ofsted or known for getting amazing GCSE and A-level results. These are mainly in the South of England and more specifically in the areas surrounding London such as: Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire. This results in children from affluent areas getting to go to the best state schools and the children who can afford to go to private school can either board or live nearby. However, children who don’t live in the richest areas don’t get the same opportunities and can be seen as being left behind.
Despite there being less of a preference from universities to let private school children in in recent years, privately-educated children can be seen to still have an advantage as they are able to acquire better grades. With more attention, extra-curricular activities, amazing facilities and longer days, children from private school are still more likely to get better grades. This results in them still having an advantage over children coming from state schools. An example of this can be seen at the University of Exeter. This could just be a preference from prospective students but around a third of the students at Exeter come from private schools when only about 6% of children in the UK went to private school. This shows that there are still some advantages for private school children, but it can be hard to find accurate statistics due to each area in the UK and each individual child being different.
A Sutton Trust study shows that people who came from private school backgrounds are far more likely succeed in creative industries, more specifically music and acting. Their study discovered that out of the 6-7% of students that went to private school, 43% of Britain’s best classical musicians and 35% of BAFTA-nominated actors are alumni of private schools. This statistic is a clear example that with more facilities and better opportunities private schools can give a better advantage in life. However, there is evidence that you can get just as good grades by going to state school. There are state schools out there that have very high success rates in grades, a huge number of children getting Oxbridge offers and recent studies show that children from state schools now are doing better in science, maths and English than two decades ago.
This debate is going to be forever ongoing as there is no right or wrong answer. People who attended state schools are likely to favour them, while those who attended private schools are going to instead prefer private schools. There is no clear way of making the school system fair for everyone so how do we navigate this moving forward? Do we increase the funding for state schools? But where would the government find this extra money? Do we abolish private schools to make sure everyone gets off on the same foot? But shouldn’t families who can afford it have the right to pay for it if they want? The answer isn’t obvious so there will be a class divide amongst the education system for a while to come.