tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/state-schools-16329/articlesState schools – The Conversation2023-09-14T16:15:21Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2113702023-09-14T16:15:21Z2023-09-14T16:15:21ZShould you send your child to an academy or a council-run school? Why Ofsted results don’t mean much<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545739/original/file-20230831-21-n7bhi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4984%2C3325&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-elementary-school-pupils-on-climbing-284502623">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Helping your child choose a new school is a daunting process. You have to take into account catchment areas, how your child will travel to school, and where their friends are going. You may be looking at Ofsted results, exam performance or even the universities that pupils from particular schools go to. </p>
<p>What’s more, there are different types of state school – and you might be wondering if your child would be better off at an academy or a locally controlled, council-run comprehensive school. </p>
<p>There are also a few free, grammar, secondary-modern, specialist, foundation, or university-led schools, which might play into your choice. This (needless) variety of schools applies particularly to the secondary age group in England, but the split between academies and locally controlled schools applies also to the primary sector.</p>
<h2>Academy or council-run?</h2>
<p>Locally run schools are able to work with the local authority and to cooperate between themselves to provide experts to deal with learning challenges or disability. Roaming teachers serve more than one school for rarer topics such as musical instrument tuition. </p>
<p>Academies, on the other hand, have meant different things across different government administrations. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/may/26/what-is-an-academy">academies</a> were first established in 2002 there were only meant to be a few of them. They were designed to be a way to turn failing schools around, through new buildings, new management, new curriculum, and standalone independence. They were answerable directly to central government and so were not part of their local authority. And they were given additional initial and recurrent funding. </p>
<p>Then existing schools, including private ones, were allowed to choose to become academies, even when not deemed to be failing. These were often not disadvantaged schools, and the reason for the scheme became confused. Then came several pushes to make all schools into academies, whether they wanted it or not.</p>
<p>The reason for all of these changes by a Conservative government may have been to remove more schools from Labour local authority control. Another reason given was that the independence of academies was a benefit. </p>
<p>But it was soon learned that schools cannot operate alone. Instead of moving them back to local authority control, the decision was made to group them in chains or <a href="https://www.gov.uk/types-of-school/academies">academy trusts</a>. There is no evidence that the often scattered schools in such chains are better off than they would have been as local cooperative communities.</p>
<h2>Ofsted results</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/analysis-ofsted-inspection-outcomes-school-type-2023">recent report</a> has suggested that schools in England classified as academies had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/aug/03/council-maintained-schools-in-england-outperforming-academies-in-ofsted-ratings">somewhat worse</a> Ofsted inspection grades than schools still controlled by their local authorities. Ofsted is the government-appointed body used to inspect and judge the quality of schools. </p>
<p>This might suggest that parents should look to choose local council-run schools ahead of academies. But a <a href="https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2023/08/are-la-schools-more-likely-to-get-top-ofsted-ratings-than-academies/">re-analysis</a> of the same Ofsted data suggests that the difference between academies and locally controlled schools is much less clear-cut than in the initial report. </p>
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<img alt="Pupils playing musical instruments" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545742/original/file-20230831-23-porohz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545742/original/file-20230831-23-porohz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545742/original/file-20230831-23-porohz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545742/original/file-20230831-23-porohz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545742/original/file-20230831-23-porohz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545742/original/file-20230831-23-porohz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545742/original/file-20230831-23-porohz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">School results depend more on pupil intake than the schools themselves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teen-student-playing-saxophone-her-school-585788390">DGLimages/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Either way, Ofsted grades are not trustworthy or reliable estimates of school quality. They are far too strongly influenced by the nature of the pupils attending each school. </p>
<p>On average, but only on average, schools find it more challenging to deal with pupils who have additional learning needs or a disability, are low-attaining, come from poor homes, have separated parents, live in state care or are otherwise heavily disadvantaged.</p>
<p>Ofsted does not seem to take these factors into account sufficiently. This means that good Ofsted scores are not fairly spread but are far more likely for suburban, girls-only, selective schools with no long-term poor pupils, for example. Perhaps <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/education-policy">70% of the variation</a> in Ofsted grades can be explained by these factors. </p>
<p>If Ofsted grades do not tell us whether academies or local schools are better, perhaps we should look at exam results. The same problem arises here. School exam outcomes are largely the result of their pupil intake. </p>
<h2>Differences between pupils</h2>
<p>Schools that take high-attaining pupils at age 11 get good exam results when those pupils are aged 16. Schools that take heavily disadvantaged pupils tend to get lower results. So the early academies based on the most disadvantaged schools in the country had lower-than-average results. </p>
<p>Once the disadvantage requirement was dropped, and private schools also became academies, the situation changed. Note that this did not mean that academies had improved educationally – merely that their pupil intake had changed. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244018825171">best estimates</a>, taking prior attainment and all relevant school and pupil characteristics into account, suggest that there are no systematic differences between school types. There is no evidence that either academies or local schools produce better results with equivalent pupils. </p>
<p>As more and different kinds of schools became academies, they became less disadvantaged than many local schools. Now some areas with more academies, especially those that have more recently converted to become academies, take more advantaged pupils. This means that the intakes of council-run schools <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.2015.1045446">become more disadvantaged</a>.</p>
<p>This kind of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Making-Schools-Better-for-Disadvantaged-Students-The-International-Implications/Gorard-See-Siddiqui/p/book/9781032262499?utm_source=individuals&utm_medium=shared_link&utm_campaign=B029454_te1_1au_7pp_d876_october2022inproduction">social segregation</a> is undesirable for a national school system. It damages average attainment, pupil prospects, and social cohesion.</p>
<p>So there is no particular educational reason for a family to choose either type of school for their child. But the system would be improved at a stroke if only academies or only local schools existed. All in all, the evolution of the academy programme appears to have done more harm than good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Gorard has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to investigate the impact of schooling. </span></em></p>There is no evidence that either academies or local schools produce better results with equivalent pupils.Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education and Public Policy, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981532023-01-24T18:00:03Z2023-01-24T18:00:03ZThe cost of school uniforms is a barrier to education – but there are ways to level the playing field<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505994/original/file-20230124-19-r5t4em.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6009%2C4000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year’s perennial back-to-school uniform discussion happens during a cost of living crisis. And we already know that the upfront and maintenance costs of school uniforms are a stress for families on lower incomes, in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40841-016-0046-z">New Zealand</a> and globally across <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335659989_The_influence_of_poverty_on_children's_school_experiences_pupils'_perspectives">rich</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057925.2019.1579637?journalCode=ccom20">poor</a> countries alike.</p>
<p>The Human Rights Commission even publishes <a href="https://www.hrc.co.nz/news/new-rights-based-school-uniform-guidelines/">school uniform guidelines</a>, setting out how school policies can help pupils’ physical and mental health. And while cost is outside the guidelines’ scope, the commission acknowledges this is a common problem and it encourages schools to make uniforms accessible.</p>
<p>This is important, as uniform cost has been shown to reduce attendance and enrolment among pupils from lower income families. In other words, uniform affordability is an important factor in people accessing their <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0038/latest/LMS171365.html">right to state-funded education</a>. </p>
<p>Given uniforms in themselves have no direct link to academic performance, there is a high price to pay for their being an obstacle to learning. However, there are things governments, schools and communities can do to improve this situation.</p>
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<span class="caption">School uniforms were originally intended to disguise socioeconomic difference.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Uniform as ‘social camouflage’</h2>
<p>It’s acknowledged across the political spectrum that education lifts people out of poverty, improves lives and boosts the economy. Indeed, the desire to remove the most outward signs of socioeconomic difference was a key reason school uniforms were adopted in the first place. </p>
<p>A well designed uniform should be comfortable, appealing and inclusive, easy to wear and allow physical activity. It can and should take away the pressure to wear expensive labels (sometimes called “social camouflage”), and remove distractions in class.</p>
<p>But if it’s unaffordable, many low-income students are no better off. Garments that were originally introduced to remove barriers can end up actually getting in the way of the right to a (theoretically) free education.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/once-a-form-of-social-camouflage-school-uniforms-have-become-impractical-and-unfair-why-its-time-for-a-makeover-175320">Once a form of ‘social camouflage’, school uniforms have become impractical and unfair. Why it’s time for a makeover</a>
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<p>Government policy that bolsters existing initiatives would help, starting with a requirement for all schools to have a uniform policy. A nationwide overview of uniform costs, rules and dress codes could form the basis of a resource for schools to help develop best practice processes and principles that build on the Human Rights Commission guidelines. </p>
<p>With the government’s new <a href="https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/changes-in-education/equity-index/">equity index</a> for funding high-need schools to improve students’ educational outcomes, it makes sense that the known obstacle of school uniform affordability doesn’t stop students getting through the gates. </p>
<p>New Zealand (along with other <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/ser/54/1/article-p26_003.xml">similar countries</a>) could also amend its <a href="https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/eligibility/children/school-uniforms-and-stationery.html">existing welfare grants process</a> to better reflect the high upfront cost of school uniforms and make the eligibility criteria broader – especially given current inflation rates.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505996/original/file-20230124-11-uu4dwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505996/original/file-20230124-11-uu4dwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505996/original/file-20230124-11-uu4dwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505996/original/file-20230124-11-uu4dwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505996/original/file-20230124-11-uu4dwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505996/original/file-20230124-11-uu4dwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505996/original/file-20230124-11-uu4dwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Plain sports-style uniforms have been embraced by state and private schools alike.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
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<h2>Benefits of simpler, more affordable uniforms</h2>
<p>In New Zealand’s devolved system, where school boards and communities have significant control of school operations, uniform policies are influenced by local expectations. Uniform design reflects tradition, helps identify students and signals a school’s place in the education market.</p>
<p>And while uniforms have no direct impact on academic performance, they influence how comfortable students feel in the learning environment. So understanding the functions of a uniform can help determine its form. </p>
<p>Mental and physical comfort, respect, and physical activity all improve learning. This explains why a simpler sports-style uniform that hits a number of targets for <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18377122.2012.666198?journalCode=rasp20">physical activity</a>, comfort and affordability has been adopted by both <a href="https://www.kingswoodcollege.vic.edu.au/">private</a> and public schools.</p>
<p>However, choice and affordability are linked to supply and demand. To ensure a thriving market, schools should follow Commerce Commission <a href="https://comcom.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/117549/School-uniforms-and-supplies-Fact-sheet-February-2019.pdf">guidelines</a> to regularly review suppliers and encourage competition for their business. </p>
<p>Additionally, allowing some uniform items to be purchased from any retailer, as opposed to specific suppliers, works out <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/436576/RR474_Cost_of_school_uniform.pdf">cheaper overall</a>. Schools should consult with parents about uniform purpose, expectation and changes, and be transparent about any profits made from selling new uniforms. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/school-uniforms-are-meant-to-foster-a-sense-of-belonging-and-raise-achievement-but-its-not-clear-that-they-do-197935">School uniforms are meant to foster a sense of belonging and raise achievement – but it's not clear that they do</a>
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<h2>Level playing fields</h2>
<p>We know those experiencing hardship often don’t ask for help because they feel ashamed. Schools can counter this by considering how hardship funds are administered and whether school uniforms can simply be supplied on enrolment.</p>
<p>Other strategies include having more expensive items, such as blazers, that can be borrowed when representing the school or for formal occasions; allowing students to discreetly borrow uniform items until their families can afford new or secondhand items; or simply giving students in need good quality secondhand uniforms. </p>
<p>Most schools have already established secondhand uniform sales, stocking good quality used items at a reasonable price. </p>
<p>As the Human Rights Commission guidelines make clear, school uniforms and policies about their use should be informed by considerations of human dignity, rights and Treaty of Waitangi principles. </p>
<p>These serve to shield pupils against racism and bullying, and protect culture, identity and religious expression, meaning students can feel comfortable and get on with learning. So let’s also think harder about uniform costs as integral to the value of our investment in education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Johanna Reidy has received funding from University of Otago Research Grant 2023 for a pilot project to explore school uniform usage and health. </span></em></p>As the start of the school year looms, school uniform prices will be front-of-mind for many families already facing a cost of living crisis. What can be done to reduce the burden?Johanna Reidy, Lecturer, Department of Public Health, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1820602022-06-27T08:15:41Z2022-06-27T08:15:41ZThe public cost of private schools: rising fees and luxury facilities raise questions about charitable status<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471069/original/file-20220627-19-v60bif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C455%2C5006%2C3337&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Eton College, founded in 1440, is the largest boarding school in England.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/5-june-2019-windsor-uk-eton-1554469532">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some UK private schools appear to be taking advantage of their charitable status and the lax legal definition of “public benefit” by charging fees that are increasingly out of kilter with their ongoing costs.</p>
<p>Around 1,300 UK private schools, including the vast majority of the most prestigious private institutions, enjoy long-standing charitable status. This gives them substantial tax advantages but obliges them to use their charitable resources for public benefit.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01425692.2022.2026211?journalCode=cbse20">research</a>, conducted over the last four years, focuses on how these schools acquire, sustain and use their wealth, and on the associated thin transparency and accountability regimes that have endured for more than a century. (Responses received are collated at the end of this article.)</p>
<p>We found that some of these schools have more than doubled their fees over the past two decades, which appears to indicate that they are pricing by what parents can pay, rather than their actual costs.</p>
<p>Charging very high fees while offering discounts (known as fee remissions) that mostly benefit the already-wealthy can be justified as lawfully charitable and delivering public benefit under the loose regulatory environment created by English charity law. Furthermore, the limited nature of the level and reach of fee remissions is often obscure, given their – quite legitimate – treatment in private schools’ financial accounts.</p>
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
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<p>While less than 7% of pupils attend private schools in the UK, in <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures/admissions-statistics/undergraduate-students/current/school-type">2020 more than 31%</a> of students at Oxford University were privately educated. This educational disparity is effectively subsidised by all UK taxpayers through a broad range of tax exemptions available to private schools with charitable status. The UK also subsidises universities by a roundabout route, meaning that privately educated students pay to get access to a state-subsidised system.</p>
<p>It is not possible to state with certainty how much the UK’s charitable private schools save through tax exemptions. However, a good estimate according to our research is around <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17508487.2020.1751226?journalCode=rcse20">£3 billion a year</a>. This equates to more than 6% of England’s total state school budget (£47.6 billion) in 2020-2021.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the UK parliament’s <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1581/financial-sustainability-of-schools-in-england/publications/">Public Accounts Committee</a> reported in March that severely straitened finances have seen many state schools in England narrowing their curriculum offerings, dropping subjects, cutting staff and reducing support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465293/original/file-20220525-14-g1t7fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465293/original/file-20220525-14-g1t7fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465293/original/file-20220525-14-g1t7fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465293/original/file-20220525-14-g1t7fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465293/original/file-20220525-14-g1t7fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465293/original/file-20220525-14-g1t7fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465293/original/file-20220525-14-g1t7fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brighton College commissioned a world-leading architectural firm to design its new Sports and Science Centre. Photograph: Laurian Ghinitoiu/OMA.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An air of exclusive luxury and privilege</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>At Millfield, a full range of academic and instrumental tuition is offered in a purpose-built Music School … Millfield is fortunate to have the Johnson Hall, our 350-seat Concert Hall with superb acoustics and a stage large enough to host a full orchestra and choir. The Johnson Hall Steinway D Piano was recently described by international artist Pascal Rogé as ‘among the ten best pianos I have ever performed on’. (Extracted from the <a href="https://www.millfieldschool.com/senior-13-16/the-arts/music">Millfield School website</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Music education is culturally and socially enriching for children, and deemed a vital part of a well-rounded education. Millfield, a high-fee private school in south-west England, is a member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headmasters%27_and_Headmistresses%27_Conference">Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference</a> (HMC) – a powerful lobby group of private schools. Most HMC schools have similarly abundant music offerings.</p>
<p>These provisions stand in <a href="https://musiceducation.global/growing-divide-music-provision-in-state-and-independent-schools-in-england/">stark contrast</a> to the parlous music offering in state schools. A survey conducted by <a href="https://www.ukmusic.org/policy-campaigns/music-education/">UK Music</a> found that 50% of children at independent schools receive sustained music tuition, while the figure for state schools is 15%. Furthermore, 17% of “music creators” were educated at fee-paying schools, compared with 7% across the population as a whole.</p>
<p>The intellectual, cultural and social advantages accruing to private school students through music education are echoed in all other curriculum fields, from the performing arts to sport to STEM subjects.</p>
<p>UK private schools generally possess lavish facilities and infrastructure. <a href="https://www.brightoncollege.org.uk/news-and-events/articles/new-buildings/">Brighton College</a> commissioned a world-leading architect, <a href="https://www.oma.com/projects/brighton-college">OMA</a> – whose <a href="https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/collections/landmark-oma-projects/">other buildings</a> include the London Design Museum and Moscow’s Museum of Contemporary Art – to design its new £55m Sports and Science Centre. Opened in 2020, it features: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a cinema-style auditorium linked up to science departments across the globe, 18 university-standard laboratories, six breakout spaces for personal research and tutorials, a 25-metre pool, a strength and conditioning suite, a rooftop running track with panoramic views, and a double-height sports hall. (Extracted from the <a href="https://www.brightoncollege.org.uk/news-and-events/articles/sports-and-science-centre/">Brighton College website</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A couple of miles down the road, <a href="https://www.roedean.co.uk/">Roedean School</a> noted of its refurbished boarding facilities in 2015 that “each house is adorned with artwork and a palette of House colours, and complemented with a mix of new and period furniture”. </p>
<p>Roedean has utilised its superlative facilities to create an air of exclusive luxury and privilege. In one annual report, the school quoted high-society magazine <a href="https://www.tatler.com/article/the-swankiest-boarding-house-in-the-world">Tatler’s</a> exclamation that “Roedean now has the swankiest boarding facilities in the country, perhaps in the universe”. Such abundance is a common feature of private schools’ marketing strategies.</p>
<p>The increasing asymmetries between state and private provision in the UK severely skew educational, cultural and <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Elitist-Britain-2019.pdf">social outcomes</a>. Such disparities led Finland to outlaw charging for education nearly 50 years ago. In contrast, some UK private schools have used their charitable status and formidable networks to achieve a “virtuous money circle” that is effectively being subsidised by all UK taxpayers, while benefiting a small minority of predominantly wealthy families. And while they offer some fee remissions for those unable to pay their full fees, our research suggests these usually do little to make the schools less exclusive.</p>
<h2>Charitable status, public benefit and tax</h2>
<p>Charities in England must have charitable purposes, and for more than 400 years, English law has recognised education as such a purpose. Charities must also deliver public benefit with their resources – but this term is only loosely defined in law. This effectively permits private schools to allocate most of the benefits of their land, buildings, facilities and scholarships to a small group of significantly better-off families who can afford the school fees.</p>
<p>For a century or more, charities have been exempted from a broad range of taxes – a form of public expenditure known as “tax expenditures”. Rather than collecting taxes and then spending the money on public services, the government simply excuses certain classes of taxpayers (in this case, charitable private schools) from paying tax in the first place.</p>
<p>Such tax expenditures are largely invisible because they are not measured, and no specific budget allocations are made and subjected to parliamentary scrutiny. Private schools are, in practice, subject to little or no accountability with regards to the effectiveness or equity with which they use this cash.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Eton school pupils walking in street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465453/original/file-20220526-18-h2mlv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students from private schools such as Eton are disproportionately represented at the UK’s top universities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/etonian-schoolboys-english-independent-boarding-school-1174007794">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Charitable resources intended for public benefit and the considerable tax savings enjoyed by many private schools help provide luxurious facilities. In turn, young people from families wealthy enough to pay the high fees generally gain disproportionate access to top universities and <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Elitist-Britain-2019.pdf">subsequent life chances</a>, in part through the “<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/online-old-boy-networks-just-the-job-for-top-private-schools-xw8k5k0j9">old school tie</a>” networks.</p>
<p>Indeed, a representative of the Old Marlburian Association (the alumni association for Marlborough College) told <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/online-old-boy-networks-just-the-job-for-top-private-schools-xw8k5k0j9">The Times in 2019</a> that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Parents now expect that what they pay for is not just five years of teaching but lifetime membership to a special club. It’s the reason people decide to send their kids to public schools and not to the local academy, where they may very well perform better academically.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The fact that privately schooled students are remarkably over-represented at top universities is, in part, because these schools’ essential selection criterion is family income, which usually ensures that students already have considerable <a href="https://www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk/what-is-cultural-capital/">cultural capital</a>. Other selection criteria may include tests and interviews. </p>
<p>The schools’ wealth also gives their students significant advantages in terms of an abundant supply of quality curriculum materials, small class sizes and intensive teaching, plus a potential benefit from the schools’ ability to “<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/private-schools-gamed-covid-rules-to-give-their-pupils-more-top-a-levels-6z0z6w9r5">game the system</a>”.</p>
<p>The fact that UK higher education is still significantly state-subsidised means, in effect, UK taxpayers continue to fund privately educated students during their university studies. Such students’ disproportionate representation is a serious opportunity-loss for state students, many of whose schools are suffering real financial hardship that negatively impacts their students’ educational and career outcomes.</p>
<h2>Private schools’ sources of income</h2>
<p>Private schools have three primary sources of income. </p>
<p><em>1. Fees</em></p>
<p>Fees charged to families are the major source of private schools’ income. Fees may not seem a legitimate public concern – people can spend their money as they please. But the links between fees and the schools’ charitable obligations need to be unpacked.</p>
<p>Private school fees are high relative to average UK incomes. In 2018, average annual fees in day and boarding schools were nearly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/apr/27/average-private-school-fees-rise-above-17000-a-year-for-first-time">£15,000 and £33,000</a> respectively. In real terms, fees have <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-charts-that-shows-how-private-school-fees-have-exploded-a7023056.html">more than doubled</a> over the last 25 years. These price points <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17508487.2020.1751226?journalCode=rcse20">serve to exclude</a> lower-income families. The fee increases also match marked rises in the disposable income of wealthier families in the UK, and the increased recruitment of students from wealthy overseas families – in particular from Russia and China.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2022.2026211">research</a> demonstrates, empirically, that many private schools charge much more than is strictly necessary for them to fulfil their charitable purposes of providing education. For example, comparing average day and boarding school fees by region, the differences between day fees in the cheapest and most expensive English regions could not be explained by costs alone. Specifically, while boarding school fee differentials (17%) were roughly equivalent to the difference in associated costs such as staffing, average day fees in the cheapest region were 35-40% lower than those in the most expensive.</p>
<p>Similarly, we found a stronger correlation between local <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/regionalaccounts/grossdisposablehouseholdincome">gross disposable household income</a> and day fees than with boarding fees. This suggests that day schools are particularly responsive to the disposable income levels in their catchment area.</p>
<p>But boarding school fees are also rising rapidly, as was highlighted in a recent <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boarding-school-fees-soar-to-50-000-a-year-jr0qnk5qk#">Sunday Times report</a> which suggested the average annual cost of sending a child to an English boarding school is now “approaching £50,000” due to planned fee increases for the next academic year.</p>
<p>The increasingly upmarket facilities of charitable private schools, such as those described earlier, may, in turn, be used to justify these rising fees. The vast majority of children from families with more modest incomes are excluded by this fee spiral from enjoying such facilities – which should, by law, be available for public benefit.</p>
<p><em>2. Tax reliefs</em></p>
<p>Private schools benefit financially from the tax exemptions that arise because of their charitable status. Their operating surpluses (profits) and capital gains (profits on the sales of investments including shares, land and facilities) are exempt from income tax, capital gains tax or corporation tax.</p>
<p>In England and Wales, private schools also receive an 80% discount on business rates (local taxes). Furthermore, they can claim 25% of all donations received (such as chancellor Rishi Sunak’s donations to his old school, Winchester College, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/05/rishi-sunak-and-wife-donate-over-100000-to-winchester-college">reportedly exceed £100,000</a>) from the tax authorities in <a href="https://www.cafonline.org/my-personal-giving/plan-your-giving/individual-giving-account/how-does-it-work/gift-aid#:%7E:text=Gift%20Aid%20is%20a%20scheme,donation%20from%20your%20own%20funds.">gift aid</a>.</p>
<p>This suite of tax exemptions arose principally from a legal and public <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17508487.2020.1751226?journalCode=rcse20">campaign</a> conducted by the Headmasters’ Conference in the early 20th century, and have remained largely unquestioned ever since. Charities that provide education are also, under a 1977 EU Directive, exempt from charging VAT, while bequests to schools are exempt from inheritance tax.</p>
<p>The total scale of these tax expenditures is mostly unknown. The <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/keir-starmer-labour-private-schools-b1927130.html">Labour Party</a> estimated the annual value of VAT forgone by the state from charitable private schools was £1.6 billion in 2019. In 2021, it estimated the annual value of these schools’ business rates discount and income tax relief to be around <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2021-09-26/tax-private-schools-to-raise-17bn-for-state-education-sir-keir-starmer-says">£100m</a> and £700m respectively. In all, we estimate the total value of private school tax exemptions could be in the region of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17508487.2020.1751226?journalCode=rcse20">£3 billion</a> a year.</p>
<p><em>3. Investments and donations</em></p>
<p>Many private schools derive substantial income from invested funds and donations. Some of this income is derived from related charities whose purpose is to fund specific private schools, but which are separate for legal and accounting purposes. Whatever the source, this income is charitable in nature and must legally be used for public benefit.</p>
<p>In some cases, private schools hold significant investment portfolios accumulated over long periods of time. For example, the published financial accounts of Eton College and Winchester College show they have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2022.2026211">total reserves</a> of £323,000 and £526,000 per pupil respectively.</p>
<p>In law, such investments must have a charitable purpose. Yet Eton, despite fees of £42,500 per student, still has to use investment income to help fund its spend on education. In reply to a request for comment on this article, the school confirmed: “The amount Eton spends on education is not met fully by fee income; a significant proportion of that expenditure comes from income from our endowment.” This means the school uses income from charitable assets to subsidise educational provision that it already generously funds through fees.</p>
<p><em>Sources of donations and fees</em></p>
<p>Across the private school sector as a whole, it is worth considering whether the sources of donations and fees are always legitimate, and if the potential exists for <a href="https://qz.com/1392063/money-laundering-in-the-uk-private-schools-in-the-crosshairs/">money laundering</a>. In 2018, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) asserted that money is <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5a2ab2a4-b83b-11e8-b3ef-799c8613f4a1">being filtered through British private schools</a>, and criticised schools for failing to flag suspicious payments to the government. </p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/03/07/britains-private-schools-face-funding-shortfall-sanctions-wealthy/">sanctions</a> placed on Russian citizens following the invasion of Ukraine again put a spotlight on the sources of school fees and donations – there are some 2,300 Russian children currently studying in UK private schools. However, these schools are not legally obliged to report suspected money laundering, and may also have limited capacity to carry out checks.</p>
<h2>How private schools use their income</h2>
<p>UK private schools are, on the whole, replete with financial resources. Because they are charities, they cannot pay out dividends (they have no shareholders) and their freely available (“free”) reserves must, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284727/rs3text.pdf">in law</a>, only be sufficient to enable them to carry out their charitable objectives. </p>
<p>Their remaining “restricted” reserves are funds that are held for charitable purposes – such as saving for a new building or funding bursaries. But charity law and <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284727/rs3text.pdf">accompanying guidance</a> are not prescriptive, and simply require trustees to formulate reserves policies that justify a target level of reserves, and explain how they intend to achieve that target.</p>
<p>The accounting firm <a href="https://www.bdo.co.uk/en-gb/insights/industries/not-for-profit/charity-reserves-review#:%7E:text=On%20average%2C%20charities%20were%20found,the%20sector%20as%20a%20whole.">BDO</a> has suggested that, across all charities, reserves policies are far from satisfactory. In the case of private schools’ accumulated reserves, there appears to be little action (or appetite) from the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission">Charity Commission</a> to address this issue. In short, these charitable schools are free to accumulate cash and have significant discretion as to how it is used.</p>
<p>One way to absorb cash that cannot be reasonably kept as free reserves is to incorporate it into more facilities of the type described earlier. Investment in <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/increase-in-private-education-fees-is-driving-out-middleclass-families-a3240636.html">luxurious infrastructure projects</a> appeals to the schools’ target markets, potentially enabling them to charge even higher fees.</p>
<p>While a detailed analysis of schools’ expenditure on infrastructure is problematic, due to the unpredictable nature of such expenditure and the difficulty in distinguishing it from normal infrastructure renewal, the rise in private schools’ total <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-charts-that-shows-how-private-school-fees-have-exploded-a7023056.html">annual capital expenditure</a> from £247m in 1997 to £771m in 2013 (the latest reliable figure) supports this analysis.</p>
<h2>What constitutes adequate provision for ‘the poor’?</h2>
<p>English law requires that charities provide benefits to at least a significant section of the public. However, the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/589796/Public_benefit_analysis_of_the_law.pdf">Charity Commission</a> advises that what constitutes “significant” is a matter of judgment.</p>
<p>In a landmark case in 2011, the UK’s Upper Tribunal <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-law-journal/article/public-schools-for-public-benefit/92A67B8BF2A587E8DDBADE8453D2D45F">ruled</a> that the law “requires that those who benefit from the charity’s purpose must be sufficiently numerous to constitute ‘a section of the public’”. While school-age children obviously constitute a significant part of the public, fee levels exclude a very large proportion of them. How, then, are private schools not in breach of their public benefit obligations?</p>
<p>The Upper Tribunal ruled that, in making adequate provision for “the poor”, consideration should be given as to whether the charity in question provides a “luxury” service. Its judgment stated that, while the provision of luxury facilities is no bar to charitable status, there is a greater onus on private schools to demonstrate how they provide a public benefit.</p>
<p>However, Charity Commission advice does not prescribe any limits either to the degree of luxury which may be provided, or the maximum level of charges. And the Upper Tribunal ruled that “the poor” does not just include those who meet official definitions of poverty. Its definition extended to those of “modest means” – defined as those who could not afford the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/589796/Public_benefit_analysis_of_the_law.pdf">school’s full fees</a>. Given the current high levels of school fees, such families may be far from poor by official measures. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/would-abolishing-private-schools-really-make-a-difference-to-equality-124141">Would abolishing private schools really make a difference to equality?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Crucially, decisions as to what constitutes adequate provision for “the poor” are at the discretion of individual school trustees. Charitable private schools stay on just the right side of a fuzzy legal line in deciding who benefits from the resources they generate from fees and other income sources, such as tax reliefs and investment income.</p>
<p>But, these schools were given <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-law-journal/article/abs/public-schools-for-public-benefit/92A67B8BF2A587E8DDBADE8453D2D45F">short shrift</a> by the Upper Tribunal in 2011 for arguing that, simply by relieving the state of the cost of educating their students, they were delivering public benefit. And while many private schools allow local communities to use their facilities, such as swimming pools, the Upper Tribunal stressed this does not provide public benefit as it has no direct educational purpose. With its more recent plans to <a href="https://staracademies.org/news-story/star-academies-signs-partnership-agreement-with-eton-college/">sponsor selective academy schools</a>, Eton College might fare better on perceived public benefit provision.</p>
<h2>Who qualifies for private schools’ reduced fees?</h2>
<p>Mostly, charitable private schools seek to demonstrate their public benefit through fee remissions and complete exemptions. These may be means-tested, awarded based on academic, musical or sporting talent, or given as discounts for families with more than one child at the school, or to the children of staff. Again, these decisions are at the trustees’ discretion, within the law.</p>
<p>In 2011, the Upper Tribunal set no minimum level of total fee remissions, stipulating only that it must be more than “merely token”. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2022.2026211">Our analysis</a> reveals that in 2018-19, UK private schools awarded fee remissions totalling just over £1 billion to 176,234 out of their 537,315 students. Analysis of all fee remissions awarded by the 192 HMC schools in 2019 shows a median value of 10.4% of total fees.</p>
<p>Of this £1 billion, some £440m – 44% of the total fee remissions – was means-tested. The proportion of fees discounted on this basis ranged from 1.7% to 15%, with the median at just 5.1% (for the 142 HMC schools where the means-tested split could be identified). In all, our research shows the means-tested £440m was shared between 44,395 students – an average of around £1,000 a head. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="External view of St Paul's School" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465455/original/file-20220526-22-y6jf17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">St Paul’s School offers fee assistance to families with an annual household income of less than £120,000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-united-kingdom-on-6th-july-1128947594">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Just 6,118 – 1.1% of all private school students – received a full scholarship, and a further 2.1% received fee remissions in excess of 75% of fees. Of the schools contacted during the writing of this article, <a href="https://www.stpaulsschool.org.uk/">St Paul’s School</a> highlighted that 80% of its 147 bursaries are for between 75%-100% of the fees, and Eton highlighted that in the 2020-21 academic year, 90 of the 261 boys receiving fee remissions paid no fees at all. According to our research, these are uncharacteristically high percentages compared with the national average.</p>
<p>Importantly, while private schools may be proud of their scholarship provision, most provide no data on the demographic profiles of recipient students, making it impossible to evaluate the extent to which these benefit less well-off families. And given the high levels of fees, most students in receipt of means-tested fee remissions will still require very substantial family contributions.</p>
<p>For instance, St Paul’s offers fee assistance to families with an annual household income of less than £120,000, which can arguably be justified when the definition of “modest means” is being unable to afford fees of around £27,000 a year out of post-tax income.</p>
<p>Charging very high fees and giving fee remissions which mostly benefit those who could be considered to be already wealthy can certainly be justified as lawfully charitable and as delivering public benefit. But this is because of the loose regulatory environment created by charity law and associated accounting rules, and because of a simple lack of public transparency and accountability in the system. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/get-rid-of-private-schools-wed-be-better-tackling-inequalities-between-state-schools-121805">Get rid of private schools? We'd be better tackling inequalities between state schools</a>
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<p>Furthermore, the limited nature of the level and reach of fee remissions may be obscured by their – quite legitimate – treatment in private schools’ financial accounts. For example, if full fees are £15,000 per year and a 50% deduction is awarded, the schools show (either on the face of the Income & Expenditure account or in a note) gross fees of £15,000 and the remission of £7,500 as a deduction from that figure. However, the additional cost to the school of teaching that pupil is likely to be lower than the valuation placed on the fee remission, because schools’ costs are largely fixed or stepped (for example, when an extra teacher is required). But there is, of course, an opportunity cost to the school of replacing a full-fee place with a student paying a reduced fee.</p>
<p>There is a relative dearth of accountability around the finances of charitable private schools, despite the public funding they receive through tax reliefs and their public benefit obligations. The UK government collects no data on the value of tax expenditures received by the schools, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2022.2026211">our analysis</a> of the (limited) scale and distribution of private school scholarships was <a href="https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2021-05-26/lords/lords-chamber/dormant-assets-bill-hl">highlighted in the House of Lords</a> in May 2021 as a cause for concern.</p>
<p>Discussing the private school sector, Andrew (Baron) Adonis said in his <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2021-05-26/debates/47D12772-75FC-4FE5-858B-A76E7D829F1C/DormantAssetsBill(HL)">speech</a> that “what starts off as a hugely privileged sector, even in the work that it does that is supposed to be charitable – in relieving fees and giving access to these charitable assets – is not meeting those objectives”.</p>
<h2>So what could be done?</h2>
<p>The financing of the UK’s charitable private schools is a matter of public interest and concern. These schools have public benefit obligations regarding their use of charitable assets, yet some fees indicate that private schools are indulging in market pricing, excluding nearly all but the wealthiest from any charitable benefit. In addition, the schools receive substantial benefits by being exempt from a wide range of taxes.</p>
<p>Given the current state school funding crisis, it can be argued that educational resources are being misapplied as a result of private schools’ charitable status, exacerbating educational inefficiencies and social injustice. For anyone seeking to address these issues, our research leads us to the following conclusions:</p>
<p>(1) The UK government should introduce robust systems of transparency and accountability for charitable private schools, regarding how their charitable assets are used and by whom, and the extent and distribution of the tax reliefs the schools enjoy. For example, private schools could be required to report demographic data on the recipients of their public benefits along with the results of independent stakeholders’ evaluations. Collated nationally, such data would provide an important input into debates on education funding.</p>
<p>(2) The UK government should also consider withdrawing the tax exemptions enjoyed by these schools (Scotland has already withdrawn their business rates discounts). In 2020-21, total spending on state schools in England and Wales was £47.6 billion. If tax exemptions for private schools, were removed, the resulting increased taxes could be redistributed to state schools, increasing their <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics/2020-21">budget</a> by around 6%, thereby making a significant contribution to the government’s levelling up agenda.</p>
<p>(3) The charity status of these private schools should be reviewed. They are, for the most part, elite organisations delivering a paid-for and exclusive product. The extent to which this meets public perceptions of “charity” is questionable. Of course, removal of charitable status would mean making new arrangements for the assets the schools hold, as they could not legally retain control of charitable assets such as investments and buildings. Control of these assets might be transferred to, say, a national education trust for the benefit of all UK school students. In part, this could be achieved by renting back the buildings and facilities to the private schools where they are located, with the rental income raised then being distributed throughout the state school system.</p>
<p>(4) Finally, higher education policies on university access need to specifically address issues associated with the disproportionate representation of private school students. The UK government has, for some time, devoted considerable resources to widening higher education participation, with its main policies encouraging disadvantaged students to gain access and achieve success. Such policies effectively ignore the opportunity costs borne by state educated students because of charitable private schools’ tax exemptions and other benefits.</p>
<p>Any attempts to effect change will, however, inevitably be met with significant pushback. Over at least two centuries, the UK’s private schools have successfully mobilised charity and tax law to their advantage. Yet this exercise of power is effectively invisible to wider public view, due to the complexity of legal linguistics and processes, the pseudo-objectivity of the law, and the failure of parliament to make public expenditure on private education a matter of regular debate and accountability.</p>
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<h2>Responses to this article</h2>
<p>All schools named in this article were offered the opportunity to comment on its key findings. The following schools offered comments, which are summarised here:</p>
<p><strong>Eton College</strong></p>
<p>“The amount Eton spends on education is not met fully by fee income; a significant proportion of that expenditure comes from income from our endowment. In our last financial year to 31 August 2021, Eton spent £7.081m on financial aid. 261 boys at Eton (19%) received fee reductions; 90 of these boys paid no fees at all. This year, that number is 103. </p>
<p>"We work with a number of external partners, including the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Bursary Foundation, to ensure that our bursary programmes reach those who would most benefit. Since we are heavily oversubscribed by parents willing to pay the full fee, these costs are real costs, which we are proud to meet.</p>
<p>"Eton also has a large and expanding partnership programme. We are about to open three new state sixth-form colleges in partnership with Star Academies, which Eton will help to fund in perpetuity. We file detailed annual accounts with the Charity Commission. These are scrutinised by our Audit Committee and by our full governing body, in addition to being externally audited. Our Reserves Policy is set out in our published accounts.”</p>
<p><strong>St Paul’s School</strong></p>
<p>“Our Governors and committees are very engaged on reserve levels, public benefit and accountability – our parents expect it. For the next academic year, we are looking at a fee increase of 3.5%. This increase follows the decision of the governors to increase all staff salaries by 3%, with an additional amount for lower-paid staff members in order to meet cost-of-living increases. The Governors have a stated commitment to try to restrain our fee increases to remain in line with, or below, inflation.</p>
<p>"Fees rebates were provided during the first term of COVID remote learning (summer 2020) and again in the 2021 spring term (which many parents donated back to our bursary appeal). Regarding families with modest incomes being excluded from fee remissions, 80% of our bursaries are for 75-100% bursaries, meaning the majority of the 147 bursaries currently awarded are for those most in need. Fee remissions are shown as a deduction from gross fee income in the notes to the accounts, and then the remissions coming from restricted donations are added back – our understanding is that this is the same for all independent schools.</p>
<p>"In terms of ‘free reserves’ (reserves which are immediately available to spend), the school has none because our unrestricted reserves are tied up in buildings which, as you will understand, are not immediately realisable. As a charitable foundation we are not driven by profit, but equally we are committed to maintaining the resources of the school and the high educational provision which we were founded in 1509 to provide. Our partnership work through the West London Partnership – which we established – is substantial and growing.”</p>
<p><strong>Roedean School</strong></p>
<p>“In terms of our boarding facilities, the houses were in dire need of refurbishment as they had not been refurbished for many years and also required structural work to the building. Any residential accommodation needs to meet the required standards for boarding. We do put pupils’ artwork on the walls and House colours (red, blue, green, yellow) are used in the Houses, along with furniture (new and old). The Houses are the girls’ ‘homes’ and we want all girls to feel at home here. Tatler’s quotation reflects their magazine’s style.”</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malcolm James is affiliated with the Labour Party, but has not done any paid or unpaid work for them in this area. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Kenway receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Boden is a member of the Labour Party. </span></em></p>The tax exemptions enjoyed by the UK’s charitable private schools are estimated to equate to 6% of England’s annual state school budgetMalcolm James, Head of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityJane Kenway, Emeritus Professor, Monash University. Professorial Fellow, Melbourne University., Monash UniversityRebecca Boden, Chair Professor, New Social Research, Tampere UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1241412019-09-27T14:43:45Z2019-09-27T14:43:45ZWould abolishing private schools really make a difference to equality?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294540/original/file-20190927-185375-llkcyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=112%2C28%2C6134%2C4139&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pupils-computer-class-teacher-480125899">Shutterstock/SpeedKingz</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For some, the British private school system evokes images of rolling playing fields and academic excellence that can pave the way to an elite university education and a prosperous life. For others it simply cements societal injustice and inter-generational inequality.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the UK’s Labour party is now in the latter camp. And at its recent national conference it endorsed a series of measures that would effectively see <a href="https://theconversation.com/abolishing-private-schools-is-admirable-but-wont-make-choosing-a-state-one-any-easier-for-parents-124111">private education abolished</a>.</p>
<p>The proposal would see endowments – or recurrent income from past benefactors – of wealthy private schools “nationalised”. The money would then be used to help subsidise the integration of private schools into the state-funded system. </p>
<p>Creating one system of schools for all would have many potential benefits. For a start it might mean that more high attaining pupils, currently in private schools, would be role models for a wider range of fellow pupils. It might also help to improve social cohesion and foster understanding by creating <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/education-policy">a better mix of young citizens</a> who will work together in the future. </p>
<p>The better-off parents currently using private schools could add their support to the operation and improvement of their local state schools. And it would enable a large number of issues to be standardised – such as teacher qualifications, provision of extracurricular activities, access to sporting facilities and safeguarding. </p>
<p>Some commentators, though, <a href="https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/its-absolutely-insane-212917/">claim the idea is rooted in envy</a> and will damage something valuable and traditional in education. Others have said it is not feasible – that <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d93922e6-dde8-11e9-b112-9624ec9edc59">the costs would be too great</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7496721/Eton-headmaster-SIMON-HENDERSON-slams-Labours-plan-abolish-private-schools.html">Critics have also pointed</a> out that <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f0e7b158-deb7-11e9-b112-9624ec9edc59">private schools already offer free</a> and assisted places to a small number of disadvantaged pupils – or open their facilities for use by nearby state schools. And others have <a href="https://theconversation.com/get-rid-of-private-schools-wed-be-better-tackling-inequalities-between-state-schools-121805">proposed more modest changes</a> such as ending the charitable status and tax exemption of many of the richer schools. </p>
<h2>Are private schools better?</h2>
<p>Private schools come in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X030007018">all shapes and sizes</a>. Many are small, with few facilities and these are often accommodated in converted residential accommodation. Quite a few are religious. And some buy in (often from the US) their own curriculum and teaching materials. </p>
<p>In general, these schools don’t take very privileged children, and do not produce notably high attainment results. Quite a large number are special schools, or even hospitals – taking in young people with some of the severest learning or physical challenges.</p>
<p>That said, the majority of privately educated pupils attend larger, more established and popularly successful schools – though <a href="https://mailchi.mp/a7aa2d643ebe/abolisheton">few of these are like Eton</a>. Most are coeducational, non-selective, day schools, with somewhat smaller class sizes than in the state sector, but otherwise not very remarkable. </p>
<h2>Top results?</h2>
<p>A number of private schools have among some of <a href="https://ukguardianship.com/best-independent-schools-in-the-uk-gcse-league-table-2018/">the highest exam results</a> in the country. Though this is not entirely surprising as not only do private schools have better facilities and smaller classroom sizes, but the state sector also has special schools and pupil referral units making up a proportion of its exam grades. </p>
<p>Indeed, more than 20 years of educational research shows that the results of any school are <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/Do_parental_involvement_interventions_increase_attainment1.pdf">largely determined</a> by the nature of their pupil intake. That is to say, grammar schools do not produce better results, they simply <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2018.1443432">select the most pupils who are already achieving higher levels academically</a>. Schools in the north of England are not worse than those in the south, they simply have <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244018825171">more long-term disadvantaged pupils</a>. </p>
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<p>Across the state sector, any difference in results can be explained by the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244018825171">prior attainment and challenges that pupil’s face</a>. And although the data is less complete for private schools, <a href="https://www.bera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/J05587-BERA-RI-140-Interactive-02.pdf">there is no reason to expect anything different</a>.</p>
<h2>Reform the state sector</h2>
<p>So if private schools are no better for pupils, perhaps abolishing them would make no difference either way. It would not create a crisis of attainment, but neither would it enhance equality – as the same privileged pupils will still have high attainment at state schools. And those pupils will still dominate subsequent opportunities based on having higher grades. </p>
<p>Some richer parents might also opt for home education, paying for tuition, and banding together to fund extra-curricular activities. The result would be the same as now. Indicating that schools themselves may not really be the issue. </p>
<p>Perhaps then it would be better to address the sharp inequalities in school access in the state system and move towards a position where there isn’t an incentive to spend money on private education. But for this to happen laws and procedures for all schools would need to be equalised. </p>
<p>Private schools would need to be made more transparent, provide more data and be required to use qualified teachers. At the same time faith-based, grammars and all other “diverse” kinds of schools should be phased out – and one school format decided upon.</p>
<p>Above all, successive administrations and secretaries of education need to <a href="https://theconversation.com/abolishing-private-schools-is-admirable-but-wont-make-choosing-a-state-one-any-easier-for-parents-124111">stop creating or expanding new types</a> of state schools – and instead use the clear evidence which shows that the tax-payer funded, SAT-tested, Ofsted-inspected schools are <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/Do_parental_involvement_interventions_increase_attainment1.pdf">all about as good as each other</a>. And that paying for a private school simply to get an advantage in terms of exam results is a waste of money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Gorard was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to investigate school intakes and outcomes</span></em></p>There’s no evidence that private schools produce better results than state schools for equivalent pupils.Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education and Public Policy, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1241112019-09-26T11:12:44Z2019-09-26T11:12:44ZAbolishing private schools is admirable, but won’t make choosing a state one any easier for parents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294346/original/file-20190926-51434-jdmdua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=90%2C0%2C3935%2C2685&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/etonian-schoolboys-english-independent-boarding-school-1174007794?src=gsQnkNVbQ4elEAK3BQOSTA-1-0">Shutterstock/Bell Photography 423</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Labour has voted on plans to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-49798861">abolish private schools</a> by removing their charitable status and redistributing their wealth to the state sector.
At the <a href="https://theconversation.com/labour-party-conference-what-to-expect-as-party-debates-its-brexit-position-and-election-plan-123933">party’s conference</a> delegates approved a motion for this to be included in the party’s next general election manifesto.</p>
<p>The idea behind the move is that it will ensure every child gets the best education and start in life – helping to end inequality in the British school system. A system where the prospect of doing well is still significantly <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-britains-private-schools-are-such-a-social-problem-111369">shaped by a student’s socioeconomic background</a>. But the motion has not been taken well by private schools, which have <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/23/private-schools-threaten-sue-labour-plans-abolish/">threatened to sue Labour</a> over plans to abolish them.</p>
<h2>The problem with private schools</h2>
<p>Private schooling has inequality as a founding premise – with entry almost entirely dependent on the ability of parents to pay. Private schools perpetuate inequalities and maintain privilege. This can be seen in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-school-and-an-oxbridge-degree-remain-the-currency-of-british-politics-37189">over-representation of privately educated people</a> in better universities, and in key professional careers that shape society – such as journalism, law, politics and finance. </p>
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<p>This dominance is achieved not only through the educational outcomes produced by the schools in terms of qualifications but also through what sociologists regard as the <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/newsarchive/creating-cultural-capital/">social and cultural capital</a> that can be gained in private schools. In this way, attending a private school gives students a ready-made network of similarly advantaged friends to help them in the future. </p>
<p>And pupils will also have learned ways of “being” and interacting, which can help ease the way through interviews for university, professional training and jobs. The <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/every-woman-should-part-old-girls-network/">“old boys” or “old girls” networks</a> thrive on a sense of entitlement, belonging and common cultural references.</p>
<h2>A question of choice</h2>
<p>In the meantime, the state schooling system has also become permeated by choice – a concept that was formalised by Margaret Thatcher in the <a href="http://www.educationengland.org.uk/history/timeline.html">1980 Education Act</a> – and has remained key in education ever since. </p>
<p>The logic of the market and choice has led to a rapid increase of different types of state schools – including grammar schools, religious schools, academies and free schools. Meaning that parents – and occasionally young people – are increasingly seen as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0965975940020102">consumers of educational options</a>. </p>
<p>So rather than ideas of social welfare, there is a “parentocracy” made up of individual consumers. This is at odds with an education system <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9780230224018">that aims to reduce inequality</a> and provide good outcomes for children regardless of their family background. </p>
<h2>Impact on parents</h2>
<p>This concept of “choice” has led to secondary schools becoming larger and fewer in number – with government policy producing not more schools but an increase in different types of schools. And for parents, this had made choices at once more limited, but also more complicated. </p>
<p>Navigating the complex terrain of different kinds of schools with different entry policies has become a key part of being a “good” and “effective” parent. <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/11/why-are-the-middle-classes-so-obsessed-with-schools/">Media coverage</a>, and much <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30036294?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">academic literature</a>, might suggest that concern about this is a particularly <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2304/eerj.2008.7.2.176">middle-class anxiety</a>. But in an <a href="https://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719091155/">in-depth study</a> conducted in three areas of Manchester with different social-economic and ethnic profiles, I found that many parents are deeply ambivalent about the process of choosing schools. </p>
<p>Indeed, I found that at all parts of the economic spectrum parents are concerned and sometimes deeply anxious about making the right choices for their children. The study found that for parents, emphasis on choice can produce feelings of inadequacy. Both in terms of feeling there aren’t enough acceptable choices available, and in feeling that if there is only one school to (in practice) choose from, something is wrong – as no choice is being made. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294348/original/file-20190926-51401-8cep98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294348/original/file-20190926-51401-8cep98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294348/original/file-20190926-51401-8cep98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294348/original/file-20190926-51401-8cep98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294348/original/file-20190926-51401-8cep98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294348/original/file-20190926-51401-8cep98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294348/original/file-20190926-51401-8cep98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The world-famous Eton College.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/windsor-england-26-may-2017-architecture-1006187545?src=gsQnkNVbQ4elEAK3BQOSTA-1-2">Shutterstock/Kurt Pacaud</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>For most of the people I spoke to, the option of attending a private school was a financial impossibility. And for many it was something they were also politically or morally opposed to. Many of the parents in my study assumed that a private education would be a better education. But many also felt their children would suffer in an alien social and cultural environment – where they would be made to feel economically disadvantaged. </p>
<p>I suspect then that many of the parents in my study would welcome the Labour Party proposal to abolish or withdraw state support for private schools – and would feel that it makes the education system more just. </p>
<p>That said, others might feel that it goes against the idea of choice – which has become so deeply embedded in the education system. That is to say even though such a choice is not available to most parents, the idea that – on an aspirational level at least – it is still an option may still be an important factor for some parents and pupils. So it may well be that Labour would have their work cut out to convince all parents that abolishing private schools really is a step in the right direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bridget Byrne receives funding from the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council). </span></em></p>Over the past few decades secondary schools have become larger and fewer in number. For parents, this had made choices at once more limited, but also more complicated.Bridget Byrne, Professor of Sociology, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1218052019-08-14T13:13:34Z2019-08-14T13:13:34ZGet rid of private schools? We’d be better tackling inequalities between state schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287917/original/file-20190813-9431-43rsis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/windsor-england-26-may-2017-architecture-1006187545">Kurt Pacaud/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is the 20th Etonian to become prime minister of the UK. Most of his cabinet is composed of privileged, privately educated people, with <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/sutton-trust-cabinet-analysis-2019/">two-thirds</a> of his ministers among the 7% of the population who went to fee-paying schools. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/25/britains-top-jobs-still-in-hands-of-private-school-elite-study-finds">more than half</a> of Britain’s senior judges, top civil servants and diplomats also privately educated – not to mention substantial numbers in the media, arts and sport – the UK continues to be a country run and dominated by a privately educated minority.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287923/original/file-20190813-9429-1dycwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287923/original/file-20190813-9429-1dycwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287923/original/file-20190813-9429-1dycwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287923/original/file-20190813-9429-1dycwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287923/original/file-20190813-9429-1dycwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287923/original/file-20190813-9429-1dycwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287923/original/file-20190813-9429-1dycwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Old Etonian Boris Johnson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-24th-july-2019-boris-1460208074">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>In the same month, Labour pressure group <a href="https://twitter.com/abolisheton?lang=en">Labour Against Private Schools</a> announced its intention to include <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jul/09/abolish-eton-labour-groups-aim-to-strip-elite-private-schools-of-privileges">abolishing private education</a> in the party’s next election manifesto. The #AbolishEton motion is calling for an election pledge to “integrate all private schools into the state sector”, and the withdrawal of charitable status. For many, private schools have long been regarded as sites of inherited privilege which stifle social mobility.</p>
<h2>Rich man, poor man</h2>
<p>Despite being presented as symbolic of the sector, Eton is not your typical private school. It is just one of 2,500 fee-paying schools across the UK and its enrolment of 1,200 pupils represents <a href="https://www.isc.co.uk/research/">less than 0.2%</a> of the 650,000 children in fee-paying schools. Best known for educating many public figures, such as George Orwell, Ian Fleming and Princes William and Harry, a year’s boarding at Eton costs around <a href="https://www.etoncollege.com/currentfees.aspx">£40,000</a>, while the average annual fee for private schools in northwest England (the lowest regional average) is under <a href="https://www.isc.co.uk/media/5479/isc_census_2019_report.pdf">£11,000</a>.</p>
<p>Arguably, most fee-paying schools are not dissimilar to the best-performing state schools, having little connection to the privilege and prestige of places like Eton. The gap between elite boarding and private day schools is perhaps larger than that between the private and state sectors.</p>
<p>There are also wide variations between state schools, linked to the socio-economic circumstances of their catchment areas. In <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/9/169">Scotland</a>, more than a fifth of state schools have fewer than 30% of pupils attaining at least three Highers, while the top 15% have more than 70% of their pupils achieving at that level.</p>
<p>Inequalities also exist for students when applying for university – often regarded as a means of increasing social mobility. At the top fifth of state schools (measured by exam grades) 73% of pupils applying to university apply to the leading institutions; among the bottom fifth, it’s 34%. This <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/access-to-advantage-university-admissions/">compares</a> with around 88% for those from private schools.</p>
<p>Many of the leading state schools act closer to private schools than disadvantaged state schools. Schools in the most advantaged areas are <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/appg-social-mobility-closing-the-regional-attainment-gap/">more likely</a> to have teachers with degrees in their subject area with students who <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/making-a-statement-university-admissions/">produce better personal statements</a>, which is a key part of the university application process. </p>
<p>Characteristics and practices of state schools can partly explain these variations. Our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/9/169">research</a> into the role of guidance teachers showed that schools in wealthy areas had many professional and graduate parents whom they could draw on for support and saw their roles as easing pupils into university while cultivating a CV that appealed to admissions offices. These are similar to the characteristics <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9294.html">seen in private schools</a>.</p>
<p>By contrast, in the least wealthy areas, guidance teachers often described their role as increasing the aspirations of talented pupils. There was often little experience of university among parents and pupils had few role models in the local community promoting the benefits of higher education. Schools in disadvantaged areas, therefore, focused on trying to sell university to pupils, not the other way around.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288018/original/file-20190814-136213-80pc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288018/original/file-20190814-136213-80pc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288018/original/file-20190814-136213-80pc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288018/original/file-20190814-136213-80pc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288018/original/file-20190814-136213-80pc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288018/original/file-20190814-136213-80pc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288018/original/file-20190814-136213-80pc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Bringing private school pupils into the state system could see existing state pupils moving to less advantaged schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teacher-helping-female-pupil-line-high-1195675996">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Integrating private schools</h2>
<p>But the proposal for Labour to integrate independent schools into the state system risks increasing, not decreasing, the inequalities that exist in the educational system. Most privately educated children will live within the catchment areas of the most affluent schools, thus adding well-resourced parents, in terms of both knowledge and finances, to the already advantaged schools. Those schools would benefit and some existing pupils would be displaced, perhaps towards less advantaged schools.</p>
<p>Most of the pupils who get high grades and university places through private schools would achieve similarly through the top-end schools of the state system. The privately educated who would lose out would probably be those living in the poorest areas.</p>
<p>Abolishing private schools would not remove privilege. We would continue to see prime ministers appointed who otherwise would have gone to schools like Eton. It is not attending the school itself, but what underpins admission, where the real privilege exists. Those families would continue to network and cultivate the lifestyles and experiences that foster entitlement. “Entitlement coaches” would become a new parenting industry, replacing the unspoken benefits that elite boarding schools confer on their pupils who exist in a bubble of wealth and privilege.</p>
<p>Already there are <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/5320613/Private-school-grief-how-the-credit-crunch-is-closing-down-schools.html">many private schools closing</a>. A policy focus is needed to ensure that when these fee-paying schools return to the state sector the existing inequalities are not increased.</p>
<p>Some state schools are already seeking measures to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jul/23/state-schools-choosing-expensive-uniforms-to-exclude-poor-pupils-says-mp">exclude pupils</a> from poorer homes and recruit pupils from wealthy backgrounds. Ensuring that re-categorising schools does not create unintended inequalities is crucial.</p>
<p>Finding strategies for limiting the inequality between state schools should be a central policy focus. Integrating private schools into the state system is an ideological issue which offers few substantive or pragmatic benefits for helping socially disadvantaged young people thrive. And it fails to tackle the problem of inherited privilege.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Integrating private schools into the state system will offer little benefit to socially disadvantaged pupils. Addressing the inequalities between state schools should be the focus.Dave Griffiths, Senior Lecturer Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology, University of StirlingJennifer M Ferguson, Doctoral Researcher, Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/716212017-02-12T19:09:58Z2017-02-12T19:09:58ZIs there a crisis in public education?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156121/original/image-20170209-17316-1597ox9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children's needs are not always catered for in the public school system .</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Miller/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/educating-australia-35445">this series</a> we’ll explore how to improve schools in Australia. Some of the most prominent experts in the sector tackle key questions, including why we are not seeing much progress; whether we are assessing children in the most effective way; why parents need to listen to what the evidence tells us, and much more.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>It is widely claimed that there is a crisis in public schooling, or at the very least, that there is something profoundly wrong with it. </p>
<p>This is, unsurprisingly, a common reform and lobbying tactic. Talk of “crises” in schooling can provide important “reform windows” in which government, lobbying groups, unions and pundits push their reform agendas. </p>
<p>However, the exact nature of the crisis is hotly contested. </p>
<p>For some, such as the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review_of_the_national_curriculum_final_report.pdf">authors of the review of the Australian Curriculum</a>, the problem lies in the need for schools to pay greater attention to “the impact of Western civilisation and Judeo-Christianity on Australia’s development”.</p>
<p>For others, the crisis lies in the quality of teachers. Some people also think the belly of the crisis lies in the deep inequalities that plague our education system and its outcomes, from the disadvantage experienced by Indigenous students to the stubborn link between economic inequity and education inequity. </p>
<p>When it comes down to it, each of these proclaimed crises reflect different points of why we have a public school system, and what we want it to look like and do. </p>
<p>Ultimately, this is about different views surrounding the purpose of public schooling. </p>
<h2>The purpose of public schooling</h2>
<p>In Australia the term “public” is often used as a stand-in for state- or government-funded schools. </p>
<p>At a most basic level, this funding indicates that schooling is a common concern to be funded and regulated by government, rather than driven by purely private and individual interests and resources. </p>
<p>Underpinning this is a desire for schooling to develop and reflect a <a href="http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf">democratic and equal Australian society</a>.</p>
<p>But does our current school system achieve this?</p>
<p>To answer this, we need to look at three key aspects of schooling:</p>
<p>1) Despite recent reports of a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/public-schools-increase-share-of-enrolments-reversing-40-year-trend-20170202-gu42df.html">flattening of private school enrolments</a>, Australia has a highly successful private school sector that is <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-some-australian-private-schools-are-overfunded-heres-why-66212">bolstered by government support and funding</a> in addition to charging parent fees. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.aeufederal.org.au/news-media/media-releases/2016/may/160516">recent report</a> showed that government funding to independent and Catholic schools has increased at twice the rate of funding to public schools. </p>
<p>These funding arrangements exacerbate rather than challenge the existing social inequalities that exist in Australia. The vast majority of disadvantaged students attend public schools, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-engines-of-inequality-23979">our schooling systems are highly segregated on the lines of socioeconomic status</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nswtf.org.au/files/my_school_and_others_-_christine_ho_may_2011.pdf">Research suggests</a> these trends are further exacerbated by the rise of schooling markets and school choice, in which parent choice can lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/gentrification-is-dividing-australian-schools-53098">further social and cultural segregation in Australian schools</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680939.2016.1274787?needAccess=true">nature of public schools is also changing rapidly</a>. For instance, an often overlooked recommendation in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-gonski-anyway-13599">Gonski review</a> of school funding was the support of philanthropic funding in public schools. This welcomes private funds into public schools in unprecedented ways, raising questions surrounding the capacity for private influence. </p>
<p>2) For many in Australia, access to school education is not a given. There are numerous examples that highlight how our school system is not catering for the needs of our diverse society. </p>
<p>For instance, there are those whose needs are still not being catered for. On example is students with disabilities, who are often still <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-with-disability-are-being-excluded-from-education-59825">excluded</a> from quality education. </p>
<p>Here, we come to questions of “who counts” in public education. </p>
<p>Reports revealing the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/forgotten_children_2014.pdf">lack of education and rights for child refugees and asylum seekers</a> <a href="https://www.savethechildren.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/109741/FINAL_Children_in_Immigration_Detention_PositionPaper.pdf">in detention</a> demonstrates that in Australia, public schooling does not in fact operate for all of those under its care. </p>
<p>When the right to education is denied to some, the pursuit of equity and justice is gravely undermined. </p>
<p>3) Government is not a stand-in for the public when it comes to public schooling.</p>
<p>Recent funding debates around <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/gonski-4904">Gonski</a> – a needs-based funding model – have put a spotlight on government funding as the core lever for social equity. </p>
<p>Of course government – and funding – plays a role. But ultimately <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17508487.2016.1186711">what is public about public schooling</a> is the fact that schools are places in which communities come together and in which communities are made through the actions of teachers, students and parents. </p>
<p>And when it comes to this, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680939.2015.1044568">government does not always act - and has not acted - in the best interests of all</a>. </p>
<p>For example, through segregating education <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/academic-professional/education/Teaching-Aboriginal-Studies-Rhonda-Craven-9781741754759">governments denied</a> Indigenous Australians’ access to a shared schooling experience and included curricula that did not recognise Indigenous language, knowledge or culture. </p>
<p>The recent controversy surrounding <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-safe-schools-coalition-55018">Safe Schools</a> - the anti-bullying and anti-discrimination program for gender and sexual diversity – saw the government intervene on what schools are allowed to teach when it comes to sex education, <a href="https://theconversation.com/safe-schools-review-findings-experts-respond-56425">effectively marginalising gender and sexual diverse identities</a>. </p>
<p>This shows that government can, and does, actively take a moral and political position that seeks to minimise the visibility, safety, and standing of some groups.</p>
<h2>The value of public schooling</h2>
<p>If there is a crisis in public schooling, it circles around the need to seriously consider the purpose and value of public schooling.</p>
<p>While government has a clear role in this, ultimately this consideration is one that extends far beyond the arms of government and into the diverse communities of Australia. </p>
<p>It requires the lively debate and action from teachers, students, parents, and community members.</p>
<p>This is particularly important as Australia navigates an increasingly uncertain global political context, as well as abiding social inequalities. </p>
<p>It involves facing the hard realities of past and present schooling practices that foster social segregation, exclusion and in some cases deny the fundamental right to education. </p>
<p>Key considerations must include the sorts of communities that are created in our schools and across our schooling sectors; how some Australians are excluded from public education; and how the public might engage with governments that do not always cultivate schooling practices based on inclusion, diversity and equality. </p>
<hr>
<p>• <em>Jessica Gerrard explores this theme further in a new book called <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/items/165663">Educating Australia: Challenges for the Decade Ahead</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71621/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gerrard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Public schools are spaces in which equality can either be supported or weakened.Jessica Gerrard, Senior Lecturer in Education, Equity and Politics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/668642016-10-12T13:21:38Z2016-10-12T13:21:38ZGrammar schools do nothing for social mobility – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141238/original/image-20161011-12027-1oa39rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More needs to be done to support pupils from poorer backgrounds</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monkey Business Images/Shuttertock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This September, my youngest daughter sat her 11 plus exam – and in a couple of days’ time, along with many children (and parents) up and down the country, we will find out her results.</p>
<p>I live in Tunbridge Wells, an affluent town in the south of England, but as a former social worker who spent many years working with teenagers in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-36405125">West Kent</a>, I also know it is a town of inequality – where the needs of those living with real difficulties are suppressed and minimised. </p>
<p>I have seen first hand how the selective system disenfranchises disadvantaged young people. And it was with reluctance that my husband and I entered our daughter for the test, feeling the complex dilemma of not liking the system we live in, but also knowing that it is difficult to restrict potential opportunities for our children based on our own political views. </p>
<p>So while Theresa May looks longingly back at the opportunities for social mobility provided to her by grammar school education, I wonder if she has caught up with <a href="https://theconversation.com/dear-theresa-may-this-is-what-you-need-to-know-about-grammar-schools-65360">how it really works today</a>. Because the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-36405125">statistics</a> speak for themselves – less than 3% of grammar school entrants are entitled to free school meals, compared to a national average of 18%. And 13% of grammar school entrants actually come from outside the state sector – primarily from independent fee-paying schools. </p>
<p>As a consequence of this lack of diversity, the grammar schools in this area have developed a strong and exclusive middle-class culture. My older daughter attends the local girl’s grammar school and as a parent I find the culture intimidatingly middle-class. And if I feel this, despite the fact that I work as a university lecturer, I wonder how others might feel. </p>
<h2>Tutor-proof?</h2>
<p>Along with the middle-class culture within the grammar schools, there is also the rise in specific <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/03/14/how-do-i-choose-the-right-11-plus-tutor/">11 plus tutoring</a>. I have heard of nearby primary schools in Tunbridge Wells where every pupil in the year five class is being tutored – almost like a rite of passage, even for the brightest children. </p>
<p>Kent County Council claims it is trying to address this. And two years ago it introduced a new system stating that primary schools were not allowed to offer any assistance to children in preparing for the 11 plus. They developed a new test which they marketed as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/12/tutor-11plus-test-grammar-schools-disadvantaged-pupils">tutor-proof</a>”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141242/original/image-20161011-12013-1meczmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141242/original/image-20161011-12013-1meczmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141242/original/image-20161011-12013-1meczmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141242/original/image-20161011-12013-1meczmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141242/original/image-20161011-12013-1meczmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141242/original/image-20161011-12013-1meczmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141242/original/image-20161011-12013-1meczmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Theresa May reckons the only reason she’s Prime Minister is because she went to grammar school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This new test is less predictable in its content, and included English for the first time. But claiming the test was tutor proof was like waving a red rag to the middle-class parenting bull. The sense of uncertainty about the questions has led to even more anxiety in parents, and subsequently even <a href="http://schoolsweek.co.uk/kent-private-schools-ignore-11-plus-tutoring-ban/">more tutoring among the children</a>. So while primary schools are not allowed to show pupils sample papers, or prepare children in any way, this seems to have perpetuated inequality further. </p>
<p>The first time I looked at some of the nonverbal reasoning papers I was utterly confused. Once you practice them a few times they become easier as you get used to the type of thinking that is required. So having parents who have the money and inclination to buy you some practice tests is likely to make a significant difference to performance. Maths topics, such as algebra, are included in the test, despite this not being on the year five curriculum – making it hard to see how Kent can argue this is a “tutor-proof” test. </p>
<h2>Inflated achievements</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/09/08/the-school-system-is-already-loaded-in-favour-of-middle-class-fa/">Furthering the inequality</a> is the fact that the test now occurs on the first week back in school after the summer holidays, when most children will have only been back in school for two or three days. This timing is particularly detrimental to social mobility – as <a href="http://www.ippr.org/publications/thursdays-child">research</a> from The Institute for Public Policies shows how children from disadvantaged backgrounds regress in English and maths during the summer holidays.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141243/original/image-20161011-12017-1t3xzdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141243/original/image-20161011-12017-1t3xzdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141243/original/image-20161011-12017-1t3xzdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141243/original/image-20161011-12017-1t3xzdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141243/original/image-20161011-12017-1t3xzdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141243/original/image-20161011-12017-1t3xzdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141243/original/image-20161011-12017-1t3xzdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not everyone can afford expensive tutoring clubs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Slobodan Zivkovic/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the estate where I live, local people have taken action. It’s a local authority estate and a tiny proportion of children on the estate currently attend the town’s grammar school. With funding from the local housing association a tutoring club was set up to assist local children with the test. </p>
<p>It’s an excellent initiative and hopefully will make a difference, yet the real problem is a systemic one. It’s a problem of poverty – of children starting life from very different positions – and of inequality in primary schools, where the extensive tutoring in the more affluent schools inflates achievements.</p>
<h2>Test of time</h2>
<p>My parents grew up with the grammar school system in Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. In the 1950s, in a town with considerable poverty, the grammar school system seemed to provide genuine opportunities for social mobility. Yet I always remember my mother telling me about how her friends were split by the 11 plus exam. While my mother went to the grammar school, her best friend failed the test, and struggled to get over this disappointment. The secondary modern options were particularly poor in that era, and I remember my mother reporting the sadness of that split in her friends – children felt defined by, and ashamed of their “failure”.</p>
<p>As a teenager in the 1980s comprehensive system, I listened to this seemingly antiquated story never imagining that my own children would face the same situation. That we are still putting our children through this – in a country where our children’s well-being and mental health is increasingly fragile – seems like a step backwards rather than forwards.</p>
<p>Instead of testing pupils, we need to be building children’s confidence and offering opportunities to those who need them most. And if we really want to promote the success of this generation of children then going back in time is unlikely to be the answer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rhian Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Theresa May might believe ‘poorer children do better’ at grammar schools, but she still has a lot to learn about how social inequality impacts education.Rhian Taylor, Lecturer in social work, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/527602016-01-07T01:39:21Z2016-01-07T01:39:21ZWith Gonski gone, we can expect more demand for private schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107339/original/image-20160106-28985-cskh34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The government see private schools as the solution to quality.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government’s decision to end <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-gonski-anyway-13599">Gonski education reforms</a> is a huge blow to the sector. It means funding for Australian schools is not guaranteed beyond 2017, and leaves Australian <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/29/its-a-no-brainer-if-you-want-school-funding-to-be-needs-based-fund-gonski">states in a funding limbo</a>, not knowing where they stand.</p>
<p>Questions are being asked about where the extra funding will be found. Education minister Simon Birmingham has refused to say whether schools will get the full A$3.8bn in funding initially proposed. We are now looking at a four-year funding period finishing in 2018, rather than the original six-year period. </p>
<p>Birmingham plans to negotiate fresh funding deals with the states from 2018.</p>
<p>The Victorian government has already stated that not funding the last two years of the Gonski deal would take <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/kate-ellis-gonski-cuts-lock-in-tony-abbotts-legacy/news-story/9638319308d1019519dc97b4e900423c">A$1bn from the state’s schools</a>. </p>
<p>Between 2009 and 2013, nationwide government funding for private and Catholic schools <a href="http://www.educatoronline.com.au/news/new-data-spurs-calls-to-save-our-schools-202408.aspx">grew by 23% </a>on a per-student basis, while public funding of government schools grew by just 12.5% over the same period. </p>
<p>In a single year – 2013 – private schools received <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/private-schools-benefit-from-more-than-2-billion-in-government-funding-20151230-glwups.html">A$2.1 billion in Commonwealth government</a> funding, the equivalent of nearly one third of the final two years of the Gonski funding deal, according to Trevor Cobbold, former productivity commission economist.</p>
<h2>Why did the government dump Gonski?</h2>
<p>The decision to dump the Gonski funding represents a retreat from two ideas which have been consistently opposed by Coalition governments.</p>
<p>The first is that there should be a minimum level of resource – whether that’s through teaching hours, funding etc – for all children in Australia, regardless of who they are or where they live. State and Territory should not matter nor should postcode nor school. </p>
<p>Where the amount of per student spending is reached through school fees, that reduces the call on public grants because schools are already adequately resourced. Where schools enrol large proportions of disadvantaged students, that lifts the entitlement. More funding is paid per student to help tackle disadvantage through more intensive support.</p>
<p>The second idea relates to the Commonwealth’s role in achieving this resource standard. </p>
<p>Before the 1960s the Coalition resisted funding government schools on the grounds that schools were a matter for the states. It now wants to retire once more behind a wall of federalism, while leaving itself free to fund the private sector.</p>
<p>If the past performance of federal governments – both Labor and Coalition – is any guide, spending on private schools will <a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/funding/new-figures-show-that-government-funding-for-public-schools-is-down-but-up-for-private-schools">continue to rise</a> at a much faster rate than spending on public schools. </p>
<h2>Impact on states</h2>
<p>Denied adequate Commonwealth funding, states now don’t know where they stand, and are <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-labor-faces-backlash-over-gonski-school-funding-backdown-20150307-13xuwh.html">likely to retreat</a> from a national resource standard, pleading budgetary pressures.</p>
<p>But for political reasons they will not reduce their funding of private schools. They have a history of keeping the Catholic systems on side and the Catholic bishops have a history of keeping them pliant.</p>
<p>We have seen this with the decision of the Andrews government in 2015 <a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/funding/victorian-govt-betrays-gonski-needs-based-funding-principle">to increase its commitment</a> to private and Catholic schools. This decision was made without regard to the impact it would have on public schools. </p>
<h2>Where does this leave Australian education?</h2>
<p>The key challenge is reducing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-poor-children-perform-more-poorly-than-rich-ones-39281">achievement gap between rich and poor</a>, along with all the consequences that flow from this. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/file_download/93">Almost all schools</a> that serve predominantly poor families in Australia are public schools. There are very few private or Catholic schools across Australia that enrol mainly children from lowest socio-economic backgrounds. In 2011, public schools educated 80% of all students with disabilities and 80% of all indigenous students. </p>
<p>Since few private schools rank in the <a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/file_download/93">lowest fifth band of socio-economic status</a>, the responsibility for raising the achievement of children from poorly-educated, low-income and indigenous families lies largely with the states. </p>
<p>States alone cannot fund the effort required to address achievement differences.
But the Commonwealth can and will outlay more on private schooling for ideological as well as political motives. This will increase social inequality.</p>
<p>Reducing support for government schools and lifting support for non-government schools will fuel demand for Catholic and other private schools, as occurred during the Howard years.</p>
<p>With Gonski gone, we are at risk of giving up the great gains in social cohesion which public schooling delivered during the decades of post-war growth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52760/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Teese does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The dumping of Gonski education funding model will inevitably increase social inequality – funding for public schools will reduce while support for private schools increase.Richard Teese, Adjunct Professor of Education, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/481542015-10-08T19:24:20Z2015-10-08T19:24:20ZWhy I’m choosing the local state school – even though it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles<p>Giving parents a choice about where they send their children to school is an important part of the Australian government’s education <a href="http://epx.sagepub.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/content/28/2/306">policy</a>. </p>
<p>The choice is not just private versus public schooling but choice within those types of schooling. Parents can choose from independent schools, Catholic schools, public schools and independent public schools. And in some state systems – such as Queensland – there is no expectation that a parent adheres to the local public school catchment area. </p>
<p>Choice presents a dilemma for parents enrolling their children in school for the first time. It is usually the first major educational transition their children will make.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/school-choice-no-great-love-for-the-private-path-but-parents-follow-the-money-40376">Research</a> shows most parents would ideally like to send their students to the local state school but are often attracted away by private schools with greater resources and infrastructure – shiny new buildings, sports ovals and equipment.</p>
<p>I am embarking on the enrolment process for my daughter at the moment and I have chosen the local state school. It is a regular, run-of-the-mill, public school down the road from my house. It runs at an average on the My School website, below average on like schools, and it has had a long reputation for being rough. So why have I chosen it?</p>
<h2>The local public primary school reflects the local community</h2>
<p>I love the idea that my daughter will be able to walk to and from school and there will be one less car in the morning and afternoon <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-safest-way-to-walk-to-school-18158">line up</a>. </p>
<p>She will also be walking with other children from the local community and come to know their parents and her neighbours as she passes their houses. She will continue to develop the sense of community that has been shown to be directly linked to life <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1520-6629%28200101%2929:1%3C29::AID-JCOP3%3E3.0.CO;2-C/abstract">satisfaction</a>. </p>
<p>She will also develop links with a community that is multicultural and has multiple family structures. Indigenous issues, NAIDOC Week and Harmony Day may have been <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/phonics-faith-and-coding-for-primary-school-kids/story-fn59nlz9-1227534083014?sv=2f37b94f8cac5b5fff430d9cafd1ef41">removed from the Australian curriculum</a> but the community my daughter grows up in will make it impossible to ignore them. </p>
<p>Her education will teach her that white, middle-class, English-speaking, nuclear families are not the only narrative.</p>
<h2>The local public primary school is a symbol of human rights</h2>
<p>Education is a basic human right and we are lucky to have good quality education for free in Australia. The best way to support public education is to send your child to a public school. </p>
<p>School funding in Australia is divvied up <a>per student</a>. The logical step in that thinking is that the more children attend the local public school, the more funding the school receives.</p>
<p>My local primary school is located in a refugee community. There are more than 80 different nationalities represented. Refugee children bring with them experiences that no child should ever have had to experience. When war has been a part of a child’s life, schooling them is complex and challenging. But this local public school is an <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-importance-of-teaching-more-than-english-to-refugee-students-31407">important part of their rehabilitation</a>. I choose to support it. </p>
<h2>The local public primary school will help with resilience</h2>
<p>I want my daughter to have resilience. There is a lot of pressure on parents to smooth the way for their <a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=0300066821">children</a> but actually <a href="https://theconversation.com/bulldozer-parents-creating-psychologically-fragile-children-32730">removing the bumps does no favours</a>. It is better to train people to jump their hurdles, rather than take them away. </p>
<p>The lack of bells and whistles at the local state school is a bonus for my child. She will face life in a safe and supportive environment and she will learn to deal with it. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-catholic-schools-do-add-value-to-students-results-42543">evidence</a> says that in primary school the school sector has little or no effect on scores. If this is so, then choosing a primary school should not be about just what happens in the classroom, but more about what happens in the wider school community.</p>
<p>The time when parents are looking to enrol their children in school for the first time is a good time to think deeply about education. Conversations about education seem to be fixated on how schools are run rather than the experience that leads to an education. </p>
<p>Education is bigger than the facilities or the scores. When deciding whether a school is right for a child, the whole experience of schooling should be considered. </p>
<p>The best way to make the decision is to have a good think about the ideal educational experience a child can have at school and choose the school that best aligns. The best way to deal with the dilemma of choice is to do the research online and offline, but most importantly in the school community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Barnes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I am embarking on the enrolment process for my daughter at the moment and I have chosen the local state school. It runs at an average on the My School website, below average on like schools, and it has had a long reputation for being rough. So why have I chosen it?Naomi Barnes, Doctor of Education, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/477372015-09-22T05:36:49Z2015-09-22T05:36:49ZShould students from state schools be given priority access to university?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95549/original/image-20150921-31504-n6brci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=298907810&size=huge&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQ0Mjg3MTExOSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMjk4OTA3ODEwIiwiayI6InBob3RvLzI5ODkwNzgxMC9odWdlLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJMU1ZvdFN0V0lmaWFBMHVtcEQzNWd5QTZuU2siXQ%2Fshutterstock_298907810.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=D-2026Z432AS-V6nL9nbtQ-1-13">edella/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Higher education is seen by some as a passport to social mobility, a leveller which can help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds catch up with their more fortunate peers by offering them a springboard from which to enter the world of employment. </p>
<p>But repeated studies have told us that students from poorer families, boys and some ethnic groups are less likely to participate in higher education than other groups – and even less likely to attend the most prestigious institutions.</p>
<p>One way of widening participation in higher education is through the use of contextual admissions policies. This involves taking into account the socioeconomic context of students’ academic achievements when deciding which university applicants to shortlist, interview, make standard or reduced offers to, or accept at confirmation or clearing. </p>
<p>The idea behind the use of contextual data in university admissions is, as the 2004 <a href="http://www.spa.ac.uk/information/fairadmissions/schwartzreport">Schwartz Report</a> on fair admissions put it, that: “it is fair and appropriate to consider contextual factors as well as formal educational achievement, given the variation in learners’ opportunities and circumstances”.</p>
<p>Some have argued that type of school attended should be a factor in university admissions decisions and have called for state school students to be <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10881377/Admit-state-school-pupils-to-university-with-lower-grades.html">admitted with lower grades</a> than their privately educated peers. But how appropriate is the type of school a student attended as a contextual factor?</p>
<h2>State school students do better at university</h2>
<p>Research on <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2015/201521/">degree outcomes</a> published recently by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) found that state school students do better, on average, at degree level than their privately educated peers. </p>
<p>In 2013-14, 82% of state school graduates achieved a first or upper second-class degree compared to 73% of graduates from private schools. This nine percentage point gap was found to decline to four percentage points after differences in grades on entry to university were taken into account. The gap was narrower for those with very high grades on entry, at about one percentage point for those who enter with AAAA at A-level.</p>
<p>The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) reported very similar findings <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2014/201403/">last year</a> and some <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100202100434/http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2003/03_32.htm">12 years ago</a>. Studies carried out at the universities of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070903414297#.VgAPuH3lzl8">Bristol</a>, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03054985.2014.900485">St Andrew’s</a> and <a href="http://www.kcl.ac.uk/ImportedImages/kli/staff/ogg-zimdars-heath-2009.pdf">Oxford</a> reported similar results, although a <a href="http://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/anova-level-and-tripos-performance">Cambridge</a> study found no link between school type and degree performance.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95580/original/image-20150921-31492-13b189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95580/original/image-20150921-31492-13b189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95580/original/image-20150921-31492-13b189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95580/original/image-20150921-31492-13b189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95580/original/image-20150921-31492-13b189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95580/original/image-20150921-31492-13b189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95580/original/image-20150921-31492-13b189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Private education is no guarantee of success in higher education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goran Bogicevic</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What causes this difference? It is often said that state schools are less well-resourced – at least compared to the well-known private schools. As a result, the reasoning goes, able students at state schools are less likely to achieve grades that do full justice to their ability while private schools are better placed to help even lower-ability students achieve high grades. However, the truth is that we do not know. </p>
<p>Either way the gap in degree performance between students from different types of school has been used as evidence to support the case for contextualised admissions as a means of making university access fairer and widening participation. But would it be fairer to base contextualised admissions policies on school type – and would it help to widen participation?</p>
<h2>It depends on the school</h2>
<p>It is questionable whether attending a state school rather than a private school counts as being contextually disadvantaged for all state school students. The differences are only “on average”. Many state schools serve students from highly privileged backgrounds whose family resources are similar to their privately educated peers – and these schools often achieve results as good as or better than many private schools. It would probably be these relatively advantaged state school students who would benefit first and foremost from a contextualised admissions policy based on school type. Far more so than state school students from working class families and comparatively deprived communities. </p>
<p>The HEFCE study also compared students from neighbourhoods with higher education participation rates in the bottom and top 20% nationally and found that those from the bottom 20% are about three percentage points less likely to receive a first or upper second class degree on average after taking into account grades on entry. Similarly HEFCE’s study <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2014/201403/">published last year</a> and <a href="http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7420">other research</a> found coming from a more deprived neighbourhood to be associated with poorer performance at degree level. </p>
<p>All of this suggests that it may not be the most socioeconomically disadvantaged section of the state school population that is driving the slightly superior average performance of state school pupils at degree level, but rather the socioeconomically advantaged section of the state school population.</p>
<h2>What does this mean?</h2>
<p>A lot of the above needs further research and analysis. But our current conclusion would be that coming from a state school, by itself, is not a good enough reason to say a student is likely to have more potential to succeed in higher education and so should be prioritised for access to university. We are much more likely to correctly identify students from disadvantaged contexts if we consider indicators of their individual circumstances and neighbourhood characteristics as well. </p>
<p>It also becomes clear that success in higher education should not be the justification for bringing in a policy of contextualised admissions. This is because socioeconomically disadvantaged students may underachieve relative to their potential in higher education <em>as well as</em> earlier in their school careers, precisely because they continue to be socioeconomically disadvantaged.</p>
<p>Therefore applicants should not be given priority merely because they are from state schools – this would not solve anything and there must be better ways to ensure that access to universities is fair for everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vikki Boliver has received research funding for a project on contextualised admissions from the Scottish Funding Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Gorard has a research programme currently funded by the Scottish Funding Council, Department for Education, Cabinet Office, Nuffield Foundaion, National Literacy Trust, and the Educational Endowment Foundation. </span></em></p>Many people think that the admissions process should take into account the type of school students attended.Vikki Boliver, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy, School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham UniversityStephen Gorard, Professor of Education and Public Policy, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/468142015-08-31T03:45:46Z2015-08-31T03:45:46ZCharter schools would only make our school system’s problems worse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93384/original/image-20150831-17760-o7mmzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Introducing a new type of school will only make things worse for Australia's already inequitable system.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52846207@N04/4962668165/">Matt/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="http://www.cis.org.au/pdf/rr6.pdf">report released today by the Centre for Independent Studies</a> says Australia should establish charter schools. Charter schools are publicly funded but privately operated schools that operate within the terms of a contract or “charter” which reduces what is seen as stifling public sector regulation. In fact, the report goes one step further in proposing Australia adopt for-profit charter schools.</p>
<h2>Does Australia need charter schools?</h2>
<p>The first charters appeared in the US in the early 1990s. They have since spread to England, Sweden, Chile and, most recently, New Zealand. So why not here?</p>
<p>The Centre for Independent Studies’ answer to the question is well researched, comprehensive and seriously misdirected.</p>
<p>The report starts with the widely recognised fact that both international and local standardised testing shows Australian schools making little or no headway on improving performance or reducing inequality. It argues that charters might help, in two ways.</p>
<p>First, charters might take over failing schools in which disadvantaged students are concentrated, and succeed where other approaches have not. And perhaps they would. A closer look at these so-called “conversion” charters is needed. Second, the report also wants “start-up” charters: schools established from scratch to compete with existing schools. </p>
<p>These new entrants, the report argues, might not only boost performance but bring choice to parents who can’t afford fees or who do not want religion-based schooling for their children. Freed from the usual curriculum and staffing requirements, they would also encourage innovation.</p>
<p>Even in the US, where charters first appeared and have grown to around 6% of enrolments, gains have been limited, as the report is careful to acknowledge. In the crucially different Australian setting, it is likely that any improvement that might flow from “conversion” charters would be more than offset by the effects of start-ups.</p>
<p>Most <a href="http://credo.stanford.edu/research-reports.html">US studies</a> suggest that many charters there are no better than the schools they compete with or replace, some are worse and some “outperform”. </p>
<p>Their record in innovation is similarly mixed. Some do use their freedom from the usual rules and regulations to innovate, but most pitch to parents in the same way as Australia’s independent schools. They sell on “traditional” values, curriculum, teaching methods and discipline.</p>
<p>As the report candidly concedes, there is little evidence to suggest that for-profit charters do better than the not-for-profits.</p>
<h2>Australia is a different ball game</h2>
<p>These very equivocal findings provide a less-than-robust platform from which to launch a new kind of school into a system that already has many, but that is not the only problem. The big difficulty is that Australia in 2015 is crucially different from the US in the early 1990s.</p>
<p>The US charters brought choice and competition to a system that had neither. They were an anti-public-school-monopoly measure. The new US charters were not permitted to charge fees, or to discriminate on academic, racial, family income or any other grounds.</p>
<p>Unlike the US, Australia already has a range of ways of organising, funding and running schools. It also has extensive experience of choice and competition, which, in our unique scheme of things, has been a disaster.</p>
<p>The fundamental structural problem is inadvertently uncovered by the report in the course of making out its case that Australian charter schools should be funded to the same level as mainstream public schools, and should be obliged to take all comers. </p>
<p>The obvious question arising: if a level playing field is a good thing within the public sector, why not in the system as a whole?</p>
<p>Around one third of Australian schools are not only permitted to charge fees, but fees up to double the amount spent on the average public school student. They are able to select on academic grounds as well as according to capacity to pay. </p>
<p>This is not just a problem of non-government schools, as is so often supposed. Government systems have joined in via academically selective schools and programs that are in practice socially and ethnically selective as well.</p>
<p>These unique arrangements have set in motion a vicious circle, in which the advantaged choose to go where the advantaged go, leaving behind schools in which the disadvantaged increasingly cluster with the disadvantaged. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.appa.asn.au/content/gonski-report/Review-of-Funding-for-Schooling-Final-Report-Dec-2011.pdf">Gonski</a> pointed out, the substrate of educational inequality in Australia is <a href="http://www.nousgroup.com/images/news_attachments/nous-schoolingchallengesandopportunities_2011.pdf">high and rising</a> social segregation in schooling, and his funding recommendations tackled this structural problem at one of its sources.</p>
<p>There is a case for what might be called deregulation of Australian schools, particularly to permit better ways of staffing and organising educational work, as the charter idea suggests. </p>
<p>But feeding yet more choice and competition into a system that has such distorted forms of both can only compound our problems.</p>
<p>It is a shame that the report did not choose to examine the case for competitive neutrality, for a genuinely level funding and regulatory playing field, as the basis of a more equal and productive Australian school system rather than propose what amounts to the further Balkanisation of an already dysfunctional system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46814/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dean Ashenden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Feeding yet more choice and competition into a system that has such distorted forms of both can only compound our problems.Dean Ashenden, Honorary Senior Fellow, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/449172015-08-02T20:08:19Z2015-08-02T20:08:19ZIs your child less likely to be bullied in a private school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90254/original/image-20150730-22674-1plardw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is the data correct that there are fewer bullies in elite schools, or is something else at play? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/foxschumacher/16793504311/">FoxSchumacher/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The most recent Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia (<a href="https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/">HILDA</a>) survey data revealed that twice as many parents of public school students reported their children had been bullied compared to private school parents. </p>
<p>Is it really the case that more bullying occurs in public schools? And should this affect a parent’s choice of school for their child?</p>
<h2>Do these results reflect what’s happening?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/hilda/Stat_Report/statreport_2015.pdf">HILDA</a> tracked a sample of 13,000 households in New South Wales between 2001 and 2012. The data on schools comes from 2012 when participants were asked a range of educational questions. </p>
<p>Households with school-aged children were asked whether or not their child was bullied at school. A higher proportion of parents of children in state schools reported their child was bullied compared with private schools. The differences were greatest for high schools, with 22% of parents at state schools reporting their child was bullied, compared to 15% in Catholic and 11% in other private schools. </p>
<p>So is this information likely to be accurate? There is no reason to suggest the sample is not representative of the NSW population. However, given the question about bullying is based on one question only (with no definition of bullying apparent in the report), it would be useful to draw comparisons with other research. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do bullies discriminate by sector?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yum9me/891746029/">Yum9me/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>There is actually very little research comparing bullying rates at private versus state schools. This is probably because schools are unlikely to agree to take part in research that makes direct comparisons between schools on such a sensitive topic. </p>
<p>There is, however, a similar population sample survey conducted by the US government. In this <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005310">study</a>, parents whose children attended state schools (29%) also reported higher rates of bullying than parents whose children attended private schools (22%). So does this mean an individual child is less likely to be bullied at a private school? </p>
<p>Parents want the best for their child and are attracted to schools that report good data for students on academic, behavioural and social outcomes. But whether your child will have the same experience as children who have gone before depends on whether the results reported are the result of what happens at the school or whether they are inherent to the sample of children who attend the school.</p>
<h2>Misinterpretation of statistics</h2>
<p>A team of New Zealand researchers conducted some <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10734-008-9114-8#page-1">interesting research</a> on individual and school factors affecting students’ academic success at school and later success in tertiary education.</p>
<p>They found the success of a school can be judged by educational programs but not by the demographics of who attends the school. Given general school-leaving results reflect both demography and education programs, they are not a valid measure of a school’s educational quality.</p>
<p>Students’ academic achievement is influenced not only by the educational program a school offers but by what the individual student brings to the school in terms of genetic capability, family support and prior learning. </p>
<p>Almost all state schools are required by law to accept all students in their catchment area. Private schools are not bound by this requirement. Private schools attract a selective population of students whose parents can afford the fees and who are conscientious enough to have enrolled their child many years in advance. </p>
<p>Most private schools also have enrolment applications that exceed their quota, so they can screen for academic ability and behaviour. These schools do not end up with a representative sample of students (and neither do the minority of state schools that have merit entry). </p>
<p>It is therefore a fallacy that we can deduce the relative benefit schools can provide for our child by simply comparing outcome data across schools.</p>
<h2>More at-risk minorities in state schools</h2>
<p>There is no research to my knowledge that examines the differences in effectiveness of private or state schools in preventing or addressing bullying. However, we do know that private schools start with different populations of students from state schools. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the HILDA report shows that family income and the proportion of parents holding university degrees are highest in non-Catholic private schools and lowest in state schools; state schools also have a higher proportion of single parents.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are more at-risk minorities in state schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beckywithasmile/5639109917/">Beckywithasmile/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The greater diversity of students at state and private schools results in state schools educating more students at risk of being bullied. Several demographic factors on which state and private schools differ <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/spq-0000008.pdf">have been found</a> to be <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795511">relevant to the risk</a> of a child being bullied. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/spq-0000008.pdf">Children with a disability</a> are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795511">much more likely</a> to be victims of bullying and violence at school than other students, as are children enrolled in <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2008-17775-001">special education classes</a>. </p>
<p>Parents’ educational level <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10826-013-9820-4">has been found</a> to discriminate bullied from non-bullied children. Children whose father is absent (likely to be more often the case in single-parent families) are also at <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2008-17775-001">greater risk of victimisation</a>.</p>
<p>This suggests that the differences in victimisation between private and state schools may not be due to a higher level of victimisation across all state school students; rather they may reflect a higher proportion of a minority of children who are frequently victimised.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/recurring/report-on-government-services">2015 Productivity Commission report</a> also provides evidence that a much higher proportion of at-risk students attend state rather than private schools. </p>
<p>In 2013, 84% of Indigenous students and 76% of students with a disability attended state schools. Nationally in 2013, the proportion of students with a disability was significantly higher in state schools (6.2%) than in private schools (3.6%).</p>
<p>Around <a href="http://www.eventoffice.com.au/ssl/downloads/NCAB_Program.pdf">10% of children in Australia</a> are bullied on a daily basis. For these frequently bullied children, victimisation tends to be chronic over time. It can <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J008v19n02_03#.VbmTx0KqpBc">continue even when children change schools</a>, which includes crossing from primary to middle or secondary school contexts. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005789414000847">In a study at the Parenting and Family Support Centre</a>, where making a fresh start at a new school was part of an intervention for some of the children, there were at least as many successful transitions for children moving from private to state schools as for children moving from state to private schools. What was more important was the ability of the child to fit in and make friends at the new school.</p>
<h2>So is a child less likely to be bullied at a private school?</h2>
<p>Although more parents from state schools report their child is bullied than do parents from private schools, this could result from the higher proportion of at-risk students who attend state schools. Therefore we cannot conclude that an individual child will be less likely to be bullied if they attend a private school.</p>
<p>There is bullying at all schools. A number of factors impact a child’s risk of being targeted for bullying. These include school management, the child’s social and emotional skills, support from friends and the parenting they receive. </p>
<p>Children’s friendships at school <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9923467">are an important protective factor</a> against bullying. So whether your child already has good friends or is likely to be able to make good friends at a school is an important factor in choosing a school for your child. </p>
<p>Supportive family relationships <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20132419">help protect children</a> against the emotional consequences of bullying at school, so families should take lifestyle factors such as the financial burden of school fees and long travel times into account when choosing a school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karyn Healy conducts ongoing work with state schools and occasional work in private schools.
She coordinated the trial of Resilience Triple P, an intervention for the families of children bullied at school, which was funded by the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Recent survey data revealed that twice as many parents of public school students reported their children had been bullied compared to private school parents.Karyn Healy, Program Coordinator (Psychologist), Resilience Triple P program Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425432015-06-01T20:07:59Z2015-06-01T20:07:59ZPrivate, Catholic schools do add value to students’ results<p>Over the last few years <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/thirty-studies-and-15--years-later-review-shows-public-schools-produce-same-results-20150419-1mlrvg.touch.html">several studies have concluded</a> there are no differences in academic outcomes for students from government, independent or Catholic schools once statistical adjustments are made for students’ socioeconomic status and other factors.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">Studies</a> based the on 2009 and 2012 Australian component of the (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">PISA</a>) international student tests found the large differences in student performance between school sectors were reduced when students’ socioeconomic background was taken into account. The differences disappeared when the schools’ average socioeconomic status was taken into account.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092753711500024X">recent study</a> on Year 5 performance in the National Assessments of Performance — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) found the higher scores of students from Catholic and independent schools disappear with a comprehensive set of controls, which includes prior achievement (such as Year 3 NAPLAN performance). Other statistical approaches led to the same conclusion. </p>
<p>The authors attribute much of the differences between school sectors in NAPLAN to “previous cognitive attainments” or natural ability rather than socioeconomic status.</p>
<h2>Previous studies on school sector differences</h2>
<p>Despite these studies, it would be wrong to conclude there are no school sector differences in student performance in Australia. School sector differences are well established for students’ Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATARs). </p>
<p>This conclusion is based on <a href="http://aed.sagepub.com/content/53/1/19.abstract">a number</a> of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13803611003711310?journalCode=nere20">studies</a> of <a href="http://www.lsay.edu.au/publications/2541.html">cohorts</a> participating in the <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=lsay_research">Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth</a> study (between 1998 and 2009) and <a href="https://www.training.nsw.gov.au/forms_documents/vet/bvet/research/vet_planning/career_moves_acer.pdf">a study of 2010 school leavers in New South Wales</a>. </p>
<p>Generally, the unadjusted gap (not taking into account other influences on student performance) in tertiary entrance rank between Catholic and government school students is about five ATAR points and the gap between independent and government school students is around 11 ATAR points. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catholic schools have higher ATARs than government schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When controlling for students’ socioeconomic status, the Catholic-government school sector gap declines marginally, whereas the independent-government school sector gap declines by about one-third from about 11 to seven ATAR points. </p>
<p>School sector differences decline much more substantially when taking into account students’ prior achievement. On average, when taking into account socioeconomic status and prior achievement, the Catholic-government school sector gap is three to six ATAR points and the independent-government school sector gap six to eight points.</p>
<h2>New study confirms sector differences</h2>
<p>I recently undertook the <a href="http://aed.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/05/29/0004944115586658.abstract">most comprehensive study of school sector differences</a> to date. This study is more robust than previous studies based on survey data, since the data is both 100% accurate and complete. I analysed NAPLAN and tertiary entrance performance data obtained from administrative sources for all students (over 40,000) attending all Victorian schools who obtained an ATAR in 2011.</p>
<p>For ATAR, Catholic school students scored, on average, nine ATAR points higher than government school students. Independent school students scored 17 ATAR points higher. </p>
<p>The increments associated with the Catholic and independent school sectors were reduced to six and eight ranks, controlling for socioeconomic status, prior achievement (Year 9 NAPLAN performance), gender and language background.</p>
<p>Analysis of students’ Tertiary Entrance Aggregate, from which ATAR is derived, revealed substantial effects of school sector. Students from Catholic and independent schools performed at 0.24 and 0.38 standard deviations higher than their peers in the government sector, again once accounting for the effects of socioeconomic status, prior achievement, gender and language background.</p>
<p>The study included analysis of students who changed school sectors between Years 9 and 12. It concluded that the Catholic and independent school sectors were associated with increases in academic performance of six and eight percentiles, respectively, compared with the government sector. </p>
<p>Therefore the higher tertiary entrance performance of students attending Catholic and independent schools cannot be attributed to the differences in the social and academic profiles of each sector’s students.</p>
<h2>Socioeconomic background not as important as thought</h2>
<p>This study also demonstrates that students’ socioeconomic background is not nearly as important as often claimed. Student socioeconomic status is a weak predictor of students’ ATARs. The very much stronger effects of prior achievement (Year 9 NAPLAN performance) on tertiary entrance performance cannot (at all) be attributed to socioeconomic status. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A students’ socioeconomic background is a poor predictor of results.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The absence of strong effects of socioeconomic background on tertiary entrance performance makes theoretical sense. The knowledge and skills assessed during and before Year 12 are overwhelmingly taught in schools; even the most highly educated, wealthiest, or most cultured parent would have great difficulty with the depth and breadth of a typical Year 12 student’s subjects.</p>
<p>These findings show that Catholic and independent schools “add value” to students’ tertiary entrance performance in Victoria in terms of higher scores. Here “value adding” is defined as increasing student performance beyond that expected by students’ prior achievement. </p>
<p>This conclusion of substantial sector differences in ATAR does not necessarily contradict studies that show small or no sector differences in NAPLAN. It may be the case that school sector differences in student performance are trivial in primary school but increase over the school career and are sizeable in senior secondary school. At least this seems to be the case for Victoria. </p>
<p>Alternatively, Year 12 assessments are “high stakes” tests, whereas NAPLAN and PISA are “low stakes” tests in that there are no consequences for students for excellent or poor performance. Schools are more likely to devote much greater resources to “high stakes” tests. </p>
<p>Since the early 2000s Victoria has been a leader in allowing analysis of administrative data on student performance in Year 12. It is hoped that analysis of similar data of senior secondary students from other states and territories will help us understand the extent and nature of school sector differences in Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gary N. Marks does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research has concluded Catholic and Independent schools do add value to students’ tertiary scores.Gary N. Marks, Adjunct Professor, School of Sociology and Political Science, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/410902015-05-13T20:10:20Z2015-05-13T20:10:20ZLocation matters most to parents when choosing a public school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80390/original/image-20150505-8415-1tdikyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nope, not nearly urban enough.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is an <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/public-versus-private-education">ongoing, heated debate</a> surrounding public versus private secondary schools. Most of these debates concern the quality or merit of private and public schools. </p>
<p>My <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17508487.2014.969288">research</a> about parents campaigning for new public schools found the quality or merit of the school is validated in its location. When it comes to the urban public school, the location of the school is exceedingly important for how desirable the school is for middle-class parents.</p>
<p>The geographical importance is not merely related to convenience and proximity (because many strategic middle-class school choosers will move house for a desirable public school). It is more nuanced and complex than that. A suburb in which a school is located lends itself to prestige, status and class. </p>
<h2>The statistics</h2>
<p>For three years, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01596306.2012.739471">I studied groups of parents lobbying for brand-new public schools</a>. I wanted to know what made certain public schools more desirable than others; what kind of strategies parents used to acquire enrolment in the desirable schools; and why public education was meaningful and what it symbolised for parents.</p>
<p>This <a href="http://arrow.monash.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/monash:151197">research</a> encompassed interviews, observation and comparative analyses of 15 different suburbs and schools, by income, race and religion. </p>
<p>What came from this analysis is: for the participants in this study, desirable public high schools are located in suburbs with higher levels of income, in comparison to the state median and the surrounding suburbs. </p>
<p>The desirable schools are positioned in suburbs with higher levels of Australian-born residents, in comparison to the surrounding suburbs and on par with the state median. </p>
<p>The desirable public schools are also positioned in suburbs with higher levels of individuals who identify with “No Religion” in the Australian Census. In the desirable suburbs, the percentage of these individuals is higher than the state median and higher than the surrounding suburbs on all counts.</p>
<h2>Geography and class</h2>
<p>Beyond these statistics, there is another embedded layer to how geography influences and informs school choice. Each of my participants referenced class in the interviews. I did not ask any questions about class or use the actual word, but each interview participant referenced the “middle class” in relation to their own identity. </p>
<p>This reference was always negotiated, imagined and discussed in connection with where they live. Where you live is a crucial marker of your own “class story”. In turn, this directly influences how an individual engages in school choice, but also which school they want for their child. I make this argument in the context of the urban, public school.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81504/original/image-20150513-5763-djsy60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Class is reinforced by our surroundings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Coghlan/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Geography is physical – it is around us and under our feet. But it also represents and is emblematic of identity and class. Where an individual lives relates strongly to social standing. </p>
<p>Geography constructs class – that is, social divisions, social separations and social hierarchies. A lesser amount of infrastructure within particular suburbs, such as missing footpaths, a rickety footbridge, or a lack of schools, expresses matters of class – a sense of inferiority or superiority - within a physical space.</p>
<h2>The question of convenience</h2>
<p>Middle-class parents frequently rely on an argument of convenience. And of course, why shouldn’t they? We are all busy. </p>
<p>However, in my research, I find that problems of distance are always overcome, provided the school is desirable. If the middle-class school chooser can achieve enrolment in a desirable public school, then travel distances will not matter.</p>
<p>For the savvy chooser, there is a strong and significant perceived <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lesson-from-canada-why-australia-should-have-fewer-selective-schools-35534">gap between “good” and “bad” schools</a>. Differences in government funding to schools contribute to this gap. </p>
<p>Indeed, it is not simply the stratification between “good” and “bad” schools - it reaches beyond that to the urban space in which the school is positioned, and how this space is characterised by school choosers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41090/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Rowe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The quality of a public school is in location, location, location.Emma Rowe, Lecturer in the Faculty of Education,, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/403132015-04-23T20:20:42Z2015-04-23T20:20:42ZStudies consistently find no academic gains from private schooling, but don’t explain why<p>I have a vivid primary school memory of playing with another child of similar age who cautioned, “Sister told us not to play with the publics.” The public-private divide still exists today with ongoing debates about <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-should-follow-chiles-lead-and-stop-funding-private-schools-33310">funding struggles</a>, comparisons of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lesson-from-canada-why-australia-should-have-fewer-selective-schools-35534">quality of infrastructure</a>, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/comment/private-schools-and-their-moral-failings-20140605-zry5k.html">values</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-schooling-has-little-long-term-pay-off-30303">standards</a> and discipline being discussed and compared.</p>
<p>There is a perception among parents that they will help their children do better academically if they send them to a non-government school.</p>
<p>Lately, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-strengths-and-benefits-of-catholic-and-independent-schools-30478">a new debate has surged</a> with the comparison of educational outcomes questioning which system produces the better student. When weighing up such serious financial and life decisions parents need to go directly to the evidence.</p>
<h2>Do non-government school students have an advantage in their school years?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">PISA results from 2012</a> show that independent schools do better than Catholic schools, which in turn do better than government schools. However, when school-level socioeconomic background is taken into account, the differences in performance across school sectors are not significant. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/82282/">recent study by researchers at UQ, Curtin and USQ</a> has allowed the simmering educational debate to come to the boil again. Drawing on data from the <a href="http://www.growingupinaustralia.gov.au/">Longitudinal Study of Australian Children</a>, it finds that sending children to Catholic or other independent primary schools has no significant effect on cognitive or non-cognitive outcomes. </p>
<p>What is interesting is that researchers aligned this study with evidence from the US and UK and were able to draw the same conclusions. That is, for students attending non-government schools the returns are no different to public schools.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79055/original/image-20150423-3111-17y1ubs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79055/original/image-20150423-3111-17y1ubs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79055/original/image-20150423-3111-17y1ubs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79055/original/image-20150423-3111-17y1ubs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79055/original/image-20150423-3111-17y1ubs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79055/original/image-20150423-3111-17y1ubs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79055/original/image-20150423-3111-17y1ubs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cost of private schooling doesn’t translate to results.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/75012107@N05/7209128210">Flickr/Montgomery County</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Interestingly, when the researchers controlled for unobserved individual heterogeneity (where unobserved variables such as “effort” are correlated with observed variables like academic test results) into account, the cognitive outcomes for students from Catholic schools were in fact worse than students from public schools. </p>
<p>Again these findings were in keeping with the outcomes from similar studies undertaken in the <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp4089.html">UK</a> and <a href="https://www.msu.edu/%7Etelder/Cath_Prim_Current.pdf">US</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/thirty-studies-and-15--years-later-review-shows-public-schools-produce-same-results-20150419-1mlrvg.html">recent media reports</a>, 30 studies have been published in the past 15 years that provide evidence that public schools are achieving similar if not superior results to private schools.</p>
<h2>What are the post-school outcomes for non-government school students?</h2>
<p>Last year in <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-school-kids-do-better-at-uni-29155">a piece for The Conversation</a>, schools researcher Barbara Preston cited a number of studies, both in Australia and the UK, that concluded that state school students do better at university than private school students when they enter an institution with the same tertiary entrance score. </p>
<p>As early as 1985, <a href="http://aed.sagepub.com/content/29/2/175.full.pdf">a study concluded</a> after three years of analysis that students from government schools entering Monash University performed better in their first year than students with the same entrance score from independent schools. </p>
<p><a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=969083">Other studies proved</a> that outcomes at university could differ according to the type of high school a student attended. </p>
<p>In fact, it was demonstrated that attending a non-government school had a relatively large negative impact on the marks students could achieve at university – their marks were three percentage points lower than their government counterparts.</p>
<p><a href="http://search.informit.org/documentSummary;dn=200704287;res=IELAPA;subject=Education">The Monash study revealed</a> students from non-selective government schools achieved five marks higher at the end of the first year. </p>
<p>This isn’t just an Australian phenomenon. <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2014/201403/">Similar studies in the UK</a> have also found that students from government-funded schools with lower Year 12 results performed much better at university.</p>
<h2>Why don’t additional resources translate to greater learning?</h2>
<p>What is frustrating is that these studies do not go further to explain why. If students from independent schools were afforded additional educational resources why would they not continue to succeed or exceed their government peers? </p>
<p>These outcomes have significant implications for government policy, government funding, university choice, tertiary funding of equity programs, parental choice, family budgets and life-long educational decisions.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79056/original/image-20150423-3121-1vzatxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79056/original/image-20150423-3121-1vzatxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79056/original/image-20150423-3121-1vzatxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79056/original/image-20150423-3121-1vzatxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79056/original/image-20150423-3121-1vzatxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79056/original/image-20150423-3121-1vzatxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79056/original/image-20150423-3121-1vzatxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We don’t know why government school kids do better at uni.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/francisco_osorio/11280555145/in/photolist-rzu7h1-qQgZuy-pn88qR-kUSM8e-qfXSuh-qHSN9E-nRXSfx-p4YNfV-jfBmE4-mwKFdB-ibPN36-hSPrrL-pAmjqM-hVL1YU-ntn2zw-dQrgkB-dQrhXV-qRy3pw-mwKxv2-jfB2a2-9Yhnpc-57MhkQ-bEGAb8-MkM3s-nzt6pq-fQyvgw-jhqax3-NAZxp-p7kmEg-dQwSi9-ehTt4H-nbPPKB-adFXNh-57MhuJ-hBQj5-qafBK9-pAmk38-pt4ERA-dQwQsw-FdZh3-cs1iTL-q9gf6G-5tZDkh-5tZDkS-dQriPF-ihkr2r-iewX47-nWaCEX-akN8cv-dQxfDE">Francisco Osorio/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Evidence overwhelmingly points to the fact that when presenting at the tertiary level with similar scores the students from government schools do better. Unfortunately, we do not appear to be any closer to answering the large issue of why is this so. </p>
<p>We can speculate reasons for this dichotomy - perhaps resilience factors, motivation, unrealistic aspirations or the possibility that the students’ tertiary scores are not in fact equal when entering the university. </p>
<p>Other factors, which may impact on the first year of tertiary study, include independence, study habits, lifestyle, ambition and preparation for university life. </p>
<p>There is no denying that non-government systems provide quality education and it would be simplistic to equate the findings of the recent studies to all schools, universities and students, but it does provide interesting evidence for future policy development and school funding arrangements.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Brown receives funding from
Australian Research Council</span></em></p>A number of studies in recent years have shown there is no academic advantage to private schools, so parents weighing up which school to send their child to need to look at the evidence.Ian Brown, Head of School, School of Education, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.