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British Public Schools

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British Public Schools 1. Introduction Public schools have always enjoyed a special position in British society and they seem to have substantially influenced many aspects of the life in Britain. From the pedagogical point of view, the institution of public schools seems fascinating. One could hardly find another educational institution that started to provide education long before the state and has managed to retain its unique characteristics for years. However, in spite of its long tradition, public schools still arouse discussions and politicians, educationalists and the public question the desirability of their existence in the British society of today. The institution of public schools is very controversial. On the one hand, public schools are held in the highest regard as academic excellent institutions. On the other hand, they are criticised for their selectivity both on academic and financial grounds. In this work I have decided to focus on this controversial institution in more detail: I describe its development from the first foundations till nowadays, discuss its main features and engage in the ongoing debate that surrounds the existence of public schools. The aim of this thesis is to provide sufficient information about the subject in order to help the reader to form his/her own opinion on this issue. The first part of this work is dedicated to the private sector of British education. It describes the position of the public schools in British educational system, explains the terminology concerning the private education and summarizes some of the main characteristics of British public schools. The second part of the thesis traces the origins and evolution of the institution of public schools from the 6th century till nowadays. It depicts how the public schools have been changing in the course of time, comprising their position in British society, as well as their characteristics of an educational institution. In the third part I discuss some of the key aspects of their academic and social life, such as admission, 1 curriculum, extra-curricular activities, boarding and religion. A short chapter is dedicated to the academic excellence of the public schools and it suggests the possible grounds of this success. The last part of my thesis deals with the debate about the desirability of the existence of public schools in British educational system and society. I discuss the crucial antagonistic opinions that could serve as a basis for a further public school debate. 2 2. British Private Sector of Education There are several types of schools that provide schooling in England and Wales: community schools, foundation schools, voluntary schools, community and foundation special schools and independent schools (Private education 124). Community schools are established and fully funded by local education authorities (LEAs), foundation schools, formerly grant-maintained schools, are owned either by the school governing body or by trustees of the school and they receive financial resources from the LEAs in a similar way to community schools. Voluntary controlled and voluntary aided schools are also owned either by school trustees or by the founding body of the school, e.g. the Church of England or the Catholic Church. Although both types of schools receive full funding for revenue expenditure, voluntary aided schools are expected to contribute a small proportion of capital costs, usually around 10 per cent in England and 15 per cent in Wales (ibid.). Only independent schools are considered to be private schools. However, the term “private” is rather misleading, since most schools in membership of ISC1 are not privately owned (“What”). Therefore sometimes the term “non-maintained schools” is preferred (Private education 124). I will discuss the terminological issue in more detail in the following chapter. The independent schools are defined by the Educational Act 1996 as “any school at which full-time education is provided for five or more pupils of compulsory school age (whether or not such education is also provided for pupils over or under that age), not being a school maintained by a local education authority” (Private education 125). The same definition also applies to the independent schools in Northern Ireland, with the exception that it does not specify a minimum number of pupils (ibid.). 1 Independent Schools Council, an umbrella organization that draws together all the major associations serving the head teachers and governing bodies of private schools. 3 British private sector of education is characterised by diversity (Walford, “British public” 2). There are many types of independent schools in the United Kingdom, including day and boarding schools, schools that have both day and boarding pupils, single-sex and coeducational schools, schools for children of every ability up to the age of nineteen (“What”; “Common”). The size of independent schools ranges from under fifty pupils to over two thousand. Some schools pride themselves on being highly academically successful, others such as the specialist schools focus on music, drama and dance and there are also schools catering for special needs (“Facts”). As far as the age of pupils is concerned, the independent schools can be divided into two main groups: primary and secondary schools. The primary schools comprise two categories: pre-preparatory schools or departments, which are intended for children aged below seven or eight and junior or preparatory schools, the so-called “prep” schools, which are attended by pupils aged seven or eight to eleven or thirteen (Private education 132). The pre-preparatory schools, sometimes called nursery schools or kindergartens, correspond to nursery and infants’ stages in the maintained sector. At these schools children mainly learn to play. The pre-preparatory schools are often attached to junior schools (“Types”). The preparatory schools, as the name suggests, prepare pupils for the next stage of education. They lead to admission to senior schools at 11+ or through the Common Entrance Examination. They offer a full range of subjects: pupils learn the basic skill of reading, writing and number and they are introduced to art, music, sports and outside activities (“Preparatory”). The last two years at the preparatory schools are often devoted to preparation for the Common Entrance Examination. The passing of this exam is required for entering the majority of the independent secondary schools (“Independent”). 4 There are on average fifteen to twenty pupils per teacher at the preparatory schools and the fees reach from about ₤600 to ₤1,500 per term2 for ages two to seven and ₤950 to ₤3,5003 for day pupils aged seven to thirteen. The fees for boarders are much higher reaching from ₤2,300 to ₤3,500 per term (“Independent”). According to the Independent School Fees Advice, a typical cost for boarders ranged between ₤3,400 and ₤5,250 in autumn 2004 (“Financing”). In order to enter a secondary or as it is sometimes called a senior school, pupils have to pass an examination. As I have already mentioned, the majority of schools use the Common Entrance Examination that is taken at the ages of eleven, twelve or thirteen. The senior schools are designed for pupils aged eleven or thirteen to eighteen. Pupils can choose between many different varieties of senior schools, including single-sex and coeducational schools. Many senior independent schools are much smaller than the schools in the maintained sector, while the larger ones are often divided into “houses” of forty to sixty pupils (“Senior”). The classes at secondary schools comprise between twenty to twenty five pupils. The figure is usually lower at sixth form level (“Independent”). Most senior school pupils continue their studies after reaching the age of sixteen and the majority of them (over ninety per cent) go on to higher education (“Senior”). Fees at senior schools vary widely, from ₤1,300 to ₤2,700 for girls’ day schools per term and from ₤2,700 to ₤4,400 for boarding girls. The fees for dayboys are between ₤1,300 and ₤3,200 and between ₤2,800 and ₤4,600 for boarders per term (“Independent”). According to the Independent School Fees Advice, typical costs per term in autumn 2004 were between ₤2,400 and ₤4,500 for day pupils and ₤4,700 and ₤7,200 for boarders (“Financing”). Besides these types of independent schools, there are also the so-called “all-through” schools that take pupils from early ages of two to five to sixteen or eighteen/nineteen and thus 2 ₤600 to ₤1,100 (“Independent”), between ₤1,000 and ₤1,500 (“Financing”) 3 ₤950 to ₤2,500 (“Independent”), ₤1,730 to ₤3,500 (ibid.) 5 have their own nursery, primary and secondary departments. In these schools pupils of different age are taught in separate departments or schools, but under the same management (“Types”). The sixth form refers to the last two years of secondary schooling during which students prepare for their GCE A-level4 examinations (“Sixth”). The term is also used to describe a separate college for pupils aged sixteen to nineteen (Mackinnon, Statham, Hales 204). These schools offer 2-year AS level courses5, International Baccalaureate, vocational courses or retakes of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (“Common”). The British private sector of education is more heavily weighted by sixth-formers, and much less by children of primary school age than the state sector (Halsey, Heath, Ridge 13). As far as the proportion of students in private sector is concerned, the figure has altered during the years. According to Glennester and Wilson, there were 2,5 million pupils in private schools in the 1850s (qtd. in Halsey, Heath, Ridge 10). The number had shrunk to 564,000 in 1951 (480,000 at independent schools and 84,000 at the direct grant schools), which comprises 9.2 per cent of the school population. And there was a further decline to 5.8 per cent in 1978.
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