Should private schools be banned?

No they shouldn't. It won't solve anything. Schools in wealthy areas will just be more picky. You'll just end up with a two tier state school system

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I definitely think more academic scholarships should be given; private education should really be based more around academic skill and not whose parents can afford it

I personally think they should be banned. It is unfair that everyone does not get the same education

grammer schools

In Britain, we should and do strive for as free a market as possible. The only things it is illegal to buy are those that could potentially hurt yourself or others. Private schooling does not hurt anyone. True, it gives some people an advantage over others, but there's a world of difference between giving someone an advantage and actively disadvantaging someone else.

I personally think they should be banned. It is unfair that everyone does not get the same education, and people are practically buying their/ child's education.
I wonder what everyone else's view is on this?

The damage is usually done before kids even start primary school. Private schools may be a symptom but they are not the cause of inequality.

I go to state school. I've got an offer from Cambridge. How did that happen if all state schools, as a later poster alleges are, s**t? And if he / she does not have a Cambridge offer presumably Mummy & Daddy have been wasting that 20 or 30 grand a year on private school fees.

thats why grammer schools were set up but labour got rid of most of them.

It's a service at the end of the day. Private schools often have teachers with first class degrees or Oxbridge degrees. Until the govt makes it harder for people to become teachers, and stop letting in people with rubbish A levels and 2.2 degrees who will end up teaching in the local comp, this service will carry on being sold and people will carry on buying it.

Completely agree with this it's not so much that state school are crap it's more the attitude towards education of people attending these schools. I went to what was considered a bad state school but because I had supportive parents that had always placed a huge importance on education even though they had little I excelled in my studies. However most other pupils did not have this attitude in their minds it was a waste of time and they had no interest in learning which is the fault of their parents in my opinion.

Nah I think state schools should just be better. I go to a private school and I'm damn happy that I do because the state schools are pretty ****. Even my private school is 1.5 hours away but my parents wanted me to get a good education.

If state schools had good quality education, then who would send their kids to private schools anyways? And even if they did, there wouldn't be any difference in quality of education so it wouldn't matter.

Edit: Just realised the person above me said exactly the same thing.

No we should try and raise the standard of state schools rather than drag good schools down to their level. Admittedly some state schools are excellent.

Moreover, universities take into account how good/bad your school was so it's not unfair in that sense.

The problem is, how can you make state schools 'just be better'? With what funding?

I agree with what you say about the fact that if state schools were better people wouldn't send their kids to private schools, or rather, they would, but sending your child to Eton/Harrow etc would become more of a status thing, not a means of buying an unfair advantage for your child when it comes to university admissions. And if sending your child to a private school was just about showing off your wealth then perhaps you could compare it to being able to afford expensive items.

But for now it's just disingenuous to equate buying an education for your children with buying an expensive car/house/flying first class. Education is absolutely integral to social mobility.

I didn't used to be pro-abolishing private schools, as I used to think 'It's the parents' choice as to how they spend their money.' But personally it just seems like a case of fairly absolute morality; if you believe in a meritocratic society in which people are given as equal opportunities as possible, then why uphold private schools?

It's not just ethical but economic, too. Whenever any group is held back in society in terms of accessing the higher echelons within careers, holding positions of real power, be this because of gender, race or social class, that means that the best people are not getting the best jobs. I want to be treated by the best doctors, represented by the best lawyers, have the most intelligent and suitable people working in the finance industry, not just the people whose parents could afford to send them to expensive schools.

But do they really? I mean around 40% of students at Oxbridge are from private schools and yet 10% of the population attends them....now unless people at state schools are just generally less intelligent, clearly not enough is being done to address the unfair advantages that going to a private school gives you.

if you want the best then sending them to state schools is the last thing you want

If you look at the proportion of applicants to Oxbridge, private school students make up around 36% of applicants, so it makes sense that the proportion of people accepted is similar. Even more so when you consider the fact that private school kids are more likely to apply for Classics and other less subscribed subjects, whilst most state school applicants will be going for the most competitive subjects like Medicine.

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