Why private schools benefit the education system as a whole. By Samuel Hughes

 Private education is a controversial topic. It is a flourishing sector in the United Kingdom, offering the 7% of students that attend opportunities that are unmatched elsewhere, not just academically but beyond the classroom in extra-curricular areas. This to some people is deemed as ‘unfair’ and whilst not the case for all of left-wing political opinions, there is a desire to remove, or limit independent schools in the UK with the aim to create an equality of opportunity across the board in education, that they would argue is not there as it stands. A society where those state educated cannot achieve the levels of those privately educated is something to be avoided, but as long as private schools continue to benefit the UK education system it is not something that needs to be worried about at the moment. After exploring the funding benefits of having private schools as well as the contribution private schools make to reducing class sizes in education the statement: ‘why private schools benefit the education system as a whole’ will be addressed.

 

It is in the state sectors interest to keep private schools, as it offers clear benefits to the funding they have per student. Private schools take 7% of students out of the state sector. In times where financial cuts are necessary for the economic recovery from the unprecedented events of the last year and a half, resulting in 9% spending cuts per pupil, the state sector benefits from not having to accommodate for privately educated students as well. The current spending per pupil in state secondary schools is £6000 and in primary schools it is just over £5000. There are roughly 8.2million students in state education, receiving between £5000 and £6000 spending on them each. Private schools accommodating 615,000 students save the government spending around £3.5billion (at the same spending per pupil rate). This highlights a clear benefit of private education from a funding basis. The likelihood of the government being able to uphold that spending for private school students as well is up for speculation, should you remove private schools. It would either result in funding cuts in other sectors, which would not necessarily be popular, or cause the spending per pupil to drastically decrease. A decrease in spending per pupil to accommodate for the ‘formerly’ privately educated would create the ‘fairness’ that some may desire. However, what it would not do is offer any benefit to the education system, resulting in a decrease in the quality of education one would receive across the board. Pupils would be receiving less funding, including those that were previously in the state sector, quality of education would decrease, the workforce would ultimately be less skilled, leading to further issues for the nation. Fortunately, this is not the case. Private schools do, objectively, offer an advantage to those who can attend, this much is common knowledge. What is not as well-known is the advantage private schools offer state sector pupils, relative to the position they would be in without private schools. Private schools mean the state sector can receive more funding per pupil.

One overriding benefit of private education is the reduced class sizes and increased one to one style learning that goes on as a result of that. Smaller class sizes mean an easier policed and monitored class, which with adequate teaching, leads to a more focused and hard-working group, as the ability for one or two students to play up and distract others is minimised. It would also help remove the ‘it isn’t cool to work hard’ culture that circulates mainly secondary education. Private schools see an average class size of 10-15, with the student to teacher ratio being 6:1. In comparison, state education sees and average of 25-30 in one class with the student to teacher ration being 16:1. This shows that smaller class sizes are strived for, with the schools who have more control on class sizes, choosing to keep them smaller. It is a fair assessment that the smaller the class size the more focused the learning, and ultimately the greater the opportunity to achieve. Private schools mean that the class sizes in the state sector at worst case remain what they are, because ultimately more students into the state schools equals more people per class. Labours proposal to tax private school fees by 20%, in their 2019 manifesto, only pushes more people into the state sector which only increases state schools class sizes and decreases private school ones, increasing the gap between the two sectors and contradicting their desire to create ‘fairness’. Removing private schools all together may be another option, but all that would achieve is bring the whole population of people in education down a level, so whilst there would then be a level playing field, it would put every student, private or state educated, in a worse position as there is not the funding to achieve it.

Private education is something the whole education system should cherish. It allows everyone to have a better education, from those privately educated to those who are not. A policy aimed to reduce the numbers of people at private schools is prioritising fairness to the extent of lowering the whole of education over the best interest of every individual and their potential to succeed in our society. Private schools mean the state sector can be funded more adequately and ultimately help to encourage the quality of education to improve across the board, something that needs to be appreciated. Ones stance on the private school debate is determined by what they prioritise: fairness to the extent of a drop in quality for all or better education for everyone.