PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE UK

Running head: PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE UK: A STUDY
PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE UK: A STUDY
Name of the student
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Author Note

1PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE UK: A STUDY
Introduction
The United Kingdom has dime-a-dozen independent schools (private schools) that are free
charging private schools. Such schools are generally governed by a board of governors and
sometimes, the schools do not abide by the rules and regulations that the state funded schools in
the UK generally do. Such private schools generally do not follow the “National Curriculum” set
by the government of the UK. It has been observed that there are around 2600 independent and
private schools in the UK that educate almost 615,000 pupils. Such schools are also members of
“Independent Schools Council”. However, the independent schools of the UK are sometimes
accused of being elitist and classist. In spite of different schemes put up by the regulators of
independent schools in the UK, such as “Assisted Places Scheme” which made the private
schools affordable for the pupils who belonged to the marginalized backgrounds, the school has
been blamed to be showing differentiated attitude to the students according to their family
income and background (Independent.co.uk.2013). The respective paper is a critical essay that
argues against private schools in the UK for its elitist attitude as well as racism and other social
discrimination it practices. The paper has focused on the social disparities of the UK and how it
is reflected in the private schools where ethnically different and marginalized students are the
worst sufferers. The paper focuses on the weaknesses of private schools apart from its strengths
and tries to provide recommendations so that such happenings can be tackled within the school
premises.
Background
Private schooling, in various forms, have been an important feature of education systems across
the world. The existence of private schools provides an opportunity to the parents to send their

2PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE UK: A STUDY
wards to such schools rather than state funded schools. The private schools of the UK have
played a very prominent role in the economy and society of the UK. There are enough evidences
that prove that attendance in private schools generate significant economic advantage in life as
the individual candidates, who have attended private schooling earn more in the labor market and
are more likely to get the topmost and prestigious professions. Nevertheless, the link between
private schools, prestige and success remains a politically charged and debatable issue because
privilege is a special treatment given to a group of people historically and other people are
denied of such privileges because of socio- economic disparity. Therefore, despite of private
schooling being premium as far as academics and education is concerned, yet argument against
private schools should be heard as such schools are also the bearers of classism and elitism,
which are completely unethical, inequal and blot to the humanity (Theguardian.com.2019).
Issues
The United Kingdom has dime-a-dozen independent schools (private schools) that are free
charging private schools. Such schools are generally governed by a board of governors and
sometimes, the schools do not abide by the rules and regulations that the state funded schools in
the UK generally do. Such private schools generally do not follow the “National Curriculum” set
by the government of the UK. It has been observed that there are around 2600 independent and
private schools in the UK that educate almost 615,000 pupils. Such schools are also members of
“Independent Schools Council”. However, the independent schools of the UK are sometimes
accused of being elitist and classist. In spite of different schemes put up by the regulators of
independent schools in the UK, such as “Assisted Places Scheme” which made the private
schools affordable for the pupils who belonged to the marginalized backgrounds, the school has
been blamed to be showing differentiated attitude to the students according to their family

3PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE UK: A STUDY
income and background. It has been estimated that only 7 per cent of the population of the UK
attend private schools in their lifetime. According to the sociologist and head of Social Mobility
and Child Poverty Commission Alan Milburn, the society of the UK is “intensely elitist” and
most of the companies that function in the UK, while recruiting or hiring candidates, effectively
discriminate against private schooled individuals and community schooled individuals. Many
reports have been made to understand the deep lying prejudices of classism and aristocracy in the
society of the UK. According to many social researchers, it has been proved that many state
schools of the UK are doing pretty well in their educational and academic projects. Yet, since
state schools are heavily dominated by the middle class and lower middle class of the UK
society, therefore, there remains a social disparity which is very alarming at the same time. The
research figure shows that 71 per cent of senior judges, 62 per cent of senior armed forces
officers, 55 per cent of permanent secretaries, 53 per cent of senior diplomats and 43 per cent of
newspaper columnists all went to private schools in the UK, which means that all the white-
collar jobs and intellectually challenging jobs or professions that provide a differentiated social
status are all acquired by the elitist lots of the UK who have attended the private (or independent)
schools of the UK (Independent.co.uk.2019). The private schools of the UK have certain
aspirations, such as “having a small size or batch in the class” which would result in “excellence
for all the students” which is the main reason why the private schools of the UK are very choosy
or selective regarding their students. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the peculiar
combination of small class sizes and expectation of excellence among the private schools of UK
will eventually and inevitably lead to an environment to its students that would trigger a
premium academic atmosphere that fuels better exam results and aspirations of the pupils for
achieving the top roles in society. Private schools in the UK are economically strong as the