Independent Education A brief overview of how the Independent sector works.

Public Schools Are fee paying schools that are open to anybody with money. Pupils have to pass an entrance examination to get in. Sometimes there are scholarships - free places for a few. Are all boarding schools.

Public Schools There is a hierarchy of public schools. The best ones are part of the Clarendon group e.g.; Eton; Rugby; Harrow;Eton RugbyHarrow The children who attend usually come from the ruling classes. E.g. Royalty; established families with money and the new rich. There are usually a few free places for the less well off – e.g. clergymen’s children.

Private Schools A whole collection of fee paying schools exists in the UK They might be day or boarding. Fees will be cheaper than public schools. An entrance exam is still required unless the school is desperate to recruit customers. The children come from wealthy upper middle class families

Preparatory Schools These are fee paying primary schools They prepare pupils for private secondary schools They might be day or boarding Some preparatory schools keep pupils until the end of Year 8 They then transfer to an independent school

Other Independent schools Cathedrals often have a choir school nearby to provide a cathedral choir at services. E.g. Llandaff Cathedral School Not all the pupils will sing in the choir and the school will also double as a preparatory school Many independent schools have a Christian foundation but are not classed as faith schools. Islamic faith schools have to be independent as the state will not fund them.

Issues Do private schools create an elite group in our society? Do they prevent the state system from achieving excellence? Do they provide a networking / old school tie system? Are people in the top jobs in the UK former members of the independent schools?