One interesting study recently looked at the highest performing state schools in the national league tables this year and analysed the cost of houses in the catchment areas of those schools.
What they found perhaps wont surprise you, but the full extent of the premium on living close to those schools was quite shocking. The average price for a detached house near one of those schools was over a million pounds. Whilst the education itself may be free, being in a position to access it came with a hefty price tag.
Nonetheless, independent schools are very conscious of the sacrifices parents make to send their children to our schools. However, it may not be as much as you think. We work hard to make our schools within the reach of as many parents as we can, and one of the ways in which we do this is through the award of scholarships and means tested-bursaries.
Most schools offer scholarships on entry to recognise excellence in a number of areas: academic ability, sport, art, music, drama and sometimes one or two others. These are usually awarded based on assessment according to various demanding criteria. Scholarships usually carry a fee remission, and it is here where we have seen a change over the years. Nowadays most schools have moved away from high value scholarships towards a much smaller basic fee reduction. However, the scholarship can be augmented by a means-tested bursary up to in some cases 100% of the fee. The crucial aspect though is the means-testing; the level of the award is related to parents ability to pay rather than how well the pupil performed in the assessment.
Why have schools moved to this system? One answer for most independent schools lies in their charitable status. This is an aspect which has come under attack from politicians in recent times; how, they say can schools such as (inevitably) Eton call themselves charities when they educate the very rich? The very act of education itself is charitable, but even those of us at independent schools less well-resourced than Eton are obliged to give something back to those for whom access is difficult.
The second answer is that independent schools have long prided ourselves on the excellence not only of our academic provision but also in the areas of our sport, music and drama. Despite the sector educating an average of 7% of the UK population, a third of all British athletes who won medals in the 2016 Olympic games were educated at independent schools. Independent schools still send a disproportionately high number to Russell Group universities. We believe our schools, freed from overbearing accountability regimes and funded more appropriately, provide an environment where opportunities abound for pupils to capitalise on their talents. Those pupils in our schools who have scholarships not only have the best teaching, coaching and mentoring possible to develop their talents, they also serve as inspiration to those around them. We can only achieve this aim in our schools by widening participation wherever we can. Most independent schools do not have large sources of funding separate from fee income so providing bursary support is not easy.
However, through careful deployment of resources, and also through the generosity of those who have benefited from an independent education and want to enable others to do the same, we do try as hard as we can to allow talented pupils to join us. Contact your local independent school to find out more.