Private Schools vs State Schools

I think the guy was trying to say that getting a certain grade at a state school is equivalent to higher in private school. Eg:

http://www.suttontrust.com/news/news/comprehensive-pupils-outperform/

This does not prove that state schools are producing a better form of education, just that those who do excel have more potential than their peers in the independent sector. Nonetheless, there is still a huge disparity between the proportion of private school pupils (7%) overall and at elite universities (43% at Oxbridge).
I am not saying that those at state schools cannot excel (I like to think I excel, if I can drop modesty for a second) but that private school provides overall a better education (for whatever reasons, not necessarily related to the facilities/teaching quality).

A school may be higher up on the league tables, but it doesn't make it a better school. Many, many state schools cheat the system by entering their students into "soft" qualifications so it improves their point scores.




*******s. Perhaps the other girl did many other extra-curriculars during her time at school? Perhaps had other opportunities that she took part that you didn't? Perhaps she was exposed to more ideas? Perhaps her grades don't exactly show her potential fully?

Private school is not just a way of buying a university place.

You did better than some people at private school? Looks like we have proof that state schooling is better then.

Do you have any evidence that private schools spoon feed any more than state schools? For one, their high Oxbridge acceptance rates would suggest the opposite is true, given that Oxbridge will reject those who obviously rely on spoon-feeding.

I did better than every single person at every private school in my area if you must know.

you can definately tell those with a classical education on here i mean that in the rudest of ways :P

With arguments as illogical as that, how did you manage it? Do you not understand that one anecdote does not make something true?

That's why I justified it with the League Tables thing and you can't deny that doing hardly any GCSEs can harm peoples chances of competitive uni courses - some score you on your best 9 GCSEs

Oh I believe it is. I go to an average state school and I tell you the teachers couldnt give a crap about me. Im doing well yay but they wont help me to get me to the very top, they concentrate on all the under-achievers. I have never even heard of all these awards that private students get. We dont have an option to play instruments or do DofE and all the other things, literally in our school its a free-for-all. Everything must be done yourself! I went to Airbus in Chester for a weeks work experience and I was the only kid that was from a state school (There were 10 of us in total). They had all been advised by their school on going there (And had a goot personal statement for it) but I looked it up in my own time and luckily I have done many things in my own will to attempt and get a good a CV as possible, if only I had more opportunities...

I did better than every single person at every private school in my area if you must know. And private schools enter their students in for so few GCSEs in order to get better results that it really limits their options. In the school league tables for my area, the private and state schools were completely mixed up - the private schools had no better results.

And yes - more contact time and less free periods DOES mean they are spoon fed and given extra help, and universities know it. An admissions tutor I was speaking to at an Open Day said that they give extra points to state schools because their results are more genuine and show a better chance of being able to work at a university level.

Oh I believe it is. I go to an average state school and I tell you the teachers couldnt give a crap about me. Im doing well yay but they wont help me to get me to the very top, they concentrate on all the under-achievers. I have never even heard of all these awards that private students get. We dont have an option to play instruments or do DofE and all the other things, literally in our school its a free-for-all. Everything must be done yourself! I went to Airbus in Chester for a weeks work experience and I was the only kid that was from a state school (There were 10 of us in total). They had all been advised by their school on going there (And had a goot personal statement for it) but I looked it up in my own time and luckily I have done many things in my own will to attempt and get a good a CV as possible, if only I had more opportunities...

Yes, but that is still your area - I imagine it has very good state schools and rather worse private schools than average (and I severely hope it is not a grammar school area, or you are taking the piss). I'm talking of overall trends, not a few schools in one or two counties.

My mum teaches Maths at a comprehensive and has to do exactly this. It is all about getting people up to a C grade, so who really gives a crap about people on a A/A* boundary?

Seems like you are doing pretty well though, so congrats.

This is mostly true (the universities I have knowledge of take grades in context, so equivalent grades from a bad school are seen as better than those from an exceptional school), but how is this an argument against private schooling?

There is also a difference between spoon-feeding and getting good quality teaching. I went to an extremely good private school, and do not pretend to have had any barriers whatsoever to in my education (and am happy to concede of someone got grades even close to mine from a really rough school it is just as impressive), but this doesn't mean it was spoon-fed to me. I still had to understand the material just as well as anyone else to get my grades. You could say that Oxford spoon-feed me now because I get a lot more contact hours (3-4 tutorials per week) than at almost any other university, but I would strongly refute that.

No actually - it has a mix of the good and the bad of both and I definitely wouldn't consider it to be a particularly affluent county - it's just your average northern county with the rich and the poor

and obviously I'm not from a grammar school area

Anyone who says a state school education is superior is simply delusional. There is so much snobbery from judgemental, 'high-horse' parents who send their kids to state schools, who try to justify their (perfectly legitimate) decision not to give their kids the best start possible in life - unless of course they can't afford it, which is an entirely different matter. I have experienced both private and state schools, and the gulf is massive. Public students do not live in a bubble, very few are actually snobs and they are almost all very well mannered and polite due to the discipline enforced by their school.

My experience of state school was living in fear every day because I was an above average student and was threatened daily for trying to make something of my education. My fellow students were primarily obnoxious wannabe gangsters who spent their time beating each other up and dragging their knuckles along the floor. The idea that you get a more balanced education, learning about society is absolute *******s; it is simply the excuse of the parents who decide to send their kids there. At my school there are kids from all different backgrounds, about 30% are on scholarships and others have parents who sacrifice a large proportion of their income to send their offspring there. Unless you have experienced private schools, I'm afraid you have no right to comment, and vice versa.

Just check the average results nationally and private schools do enormously better. If those in your area do not, then there must be some sort of difference in your area or the schools there.