Private schools in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, private schools or independent schools^[1] are fee-charging schools, some endowed and governed by a board of governors and some in private ownership. They are independent of many of the regulations and conditions that apply to state-funded schools. For example, pupils do not have to follow the National Curriculum, although, some schools do.^[2] Historically the term 'private school' referred to a school in private ownership, in contrast to an endowed school subject to a trust or of charitable status. Many of the older independent schools catering for the 13–18 age range in England and Wales are known as public schools, seven of which were the subject of the Public Schools Act 1868. The term "public school" derived from the fact that they were then open to pupils regardless of where they lived or their religion (while in the United States and most other English-speaking countries "public school" refers to a publicly-funded state school). Prep (preparatory) schools educate younger children up to the age of 13 to prepare them for entry to the public schools and other independent schools.

Merchant Taylors' School (1561), one of the nine 'Clarendon' schools.

Some former grammar schools converted to an independent fee-charging model following the 1965 Circular 10/65 and the subsequent cessation in 1975 of government funding support to direct grant grammar schools.

There are around 2,600 independent schools in the UK,^[3] which educate around 615,000 children, some 7 per cent of all British children and 18 per cent of pupils over the age of 16.^[4][5] In addition to charging tuition fees, they may also benefit from gifts, charitable endowments and charitable status. Some of these schools (1,300) are members of the Independent Schools Council.^[6] In 2021, the average annual cost for private schooling was £15,191 for day school and £36,000 for boarding school.^[7]

The Independent Schools Yearbook has been published annually since 1986.^[8] This was a name change of a publication that started in 1889 as The Public Schools Yearbook^[9]

Origins

 

Warwick School (914), one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.

See also: List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom

Some independent schools are particularly old, such as The King's School, Canterbury (founded 597), The King's School, Rochester (founded 604), St Peter's School, York (founded c. 627), Sherborne School (founded 705), Wells Cathedral School (founded 909), Warwick School (c. 914), The King's School, Ely (c. 970) and St Albans School (948). These schools were founded as part of the church and were under its complete dominion. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries the first schools independent of the church were founded. Winchester (1382) and Oswestry (1407) were the first of their kind, and such early "free grammar schools" founded by wealthy benefactors paved the way for the establishment of the modern "public school". These were typically established for male students from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds. English law has always regarded education as a charitable end in itself, irrespective of poverty.

The transformation of free charitable foundations into institutions which sometimes charge fees came about readily: the foundation would only afford minimal facilities, so that further fees might be charged to lodge, clothe and otherwise maintain the scholars, to the private profit of the trustees or headmaster. Also, facilities already provided by the charitable foundation for a few students could profitably be extended to further paying pupils. Some schools still keep their foundation students in a separate house from other pupils.

After a time, such fees eclipsed the original charitable income, and the original endowment would become a minor part of the capital benefactions enjoyed by the school. By 2022 senior boarding schools were charging fees of over £40,000 per annum.^[10] Most of the independent schools today are still registered as a charity, and bursaries are available to students on a means test basis. Christ's Hospital in Horsham is an example: a large proportion of its students are funded by its charitable foundation or by various benefactors.

Victorian expansion

 

Rossall School (1844)

The educational reforms of the 19th century were particularly important under first Thomas Arnold at Rugby, and then Samual Butler and later Benjamin Kennedy at Shrewsbury, the former emphasising team spirit and 'muscular Christianity' and the latter the importance of scholarship and competitive examinations. Edward Thring of Uppingham School introduced major reforms, focusing on the importance of the individual and competition, as well as the need for a "total curriculum" with academia, music, sport and drama being central to education. Most public schools developed significantly during the 18th and 19th centuries, and came to play an important role in the development of the Victorian social elite. Under a number of forward-looking headmasters leading public schools created a curriculum based heavily on classics and physical activity for boys and young men of the upper and upper middle classes.

They were schools for the gentlemanly elite of Victorian politics, armed forces and colonial government. Often, successful businessmen would send their sons to a public school as a mark of participation in the elite. Much of the discipline was in the hands of senior pupils (usually known as prefects), which was not just a means to reduce staffing costs, but was also seen as vital preparation for those pupils' later roles in public or military service. More recently heads of public schools have been emphasising that senior pupils now play a much reduced role in disciplining.

To an extent, the public school system influenced the school systems of the British Empire, and recognisably "public" schools can be found in many Commonwealth countries.

20th and 21st centuries

 

Culford School (1873), a former 'direct grant' school

Until 1975 there had been a group of 179 academically selective schools drawing on both private and state funding, the direct grant grammar schools. The Direct Grant Grammar Schools (Cessation of Grant) Regulations 1975 required these schools to choose between full state funding as comprehensive schools and full independence. As a result, 119 of these schools became independent.^[11]

Pupil numbers at independent schools fell slightly during the mid-1970s recession. At the same time participation at all secondary schools grew dramatically, so that the share of the independent sector fell from a little under 8 per cent in 1964 to reach a low of 5.7 per cent in 1978. Both these trends were reversed during the 1980s, and the share of the independent schools reached 7.5 per cent by 1991. The changes since 1990 have been less dramatic, participation falling to 6.9 per cent by 1996 before increasing very slightly after 2000 to reach 7.2 per cent in 2012.^[12] By 2015, the figure fell back to 6.9 per cent with the absolute number of pupils attending independent schools falling everywhere in England apart from in the South East.^[13]

England and Wales

In 2011 there were more than 2,500 independent schools in the UK educating some 628,000 children, comprising over 6.5 per cent of UK children, and more than 18 per cent of pupils over the age of 16.^[14][15] In England the schools account for a slightly higher percentage than in the UK as a whole. According to a 2010 study by Ryan & Sibetia,^[16] "the proportion of pupils attending independent schools in England is currently 7.2 per cent (considering full-time pupils only)".

Most of the larger independent schools are either full or partial boarding schools, although many have now become predominantly day schools. By contrast there are only a few dozen state boarding schools. Boarding-school traditions give a distinctive character to British independent education, even in the case of day-pupils.

A high proportion of independent schools, particularly the larger and older institutions, have charitable status.^[17]

Inspections in England

The Independent Schools Council (ISC), through seven affiliated organisations, represents 1,300 schools that together educate over 80 per cent of the pupils in the UK independent sector. Those schools in England which are members of the affiliated organisations of the ISC are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate under a framework approved by the Government's Department for Education (DfE). Independent Schools not affiliated to the ISC in England are inspected by Ofsted. Independent schools accredited to the ISC in Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland or others in England out with the inspectorial bodies listed above are inspected through the national inspectorates in each country.^[18]

Scotland

 

Fettes College (1870) is one of Scotland's most famous independent schools, particularly since the 1997 Labour Government led by former pupil, Tony Blair.

See also: List of private schools in Scotland and Scottish Council of Independent Schools

Independent schools in Scotland educate about 31,000 children and often referred to as private schools. Although many of the Scottish independent schools are members of the ISC they are also represented by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, recognised by the Scottish Parliament as the body representing private schools in Scotland. Unlike England, all Scottish independent schools are subject to the same regime of inspections by Education Scotland as local authority schools and they have to register with the Learning Directorate.^[19][20] The nine largest Scottish independent schools, with 1,000 or more pupils, are George Watson's College, Hutcheson's Grammar School, Robert Gordon's College, George Heriot's School, St Aloysius' College, The Glasgow Academy, Dollar Academy, the High School of Glasgow and the High School of Dundee.

In Scotland, it was common for children destined for private schools to receive their primary education at a local school. This arose because of Scotland's long tradition of state-funded education, which was spearheaded by the Church of Scotland from the seventeenth century, long before such education was common in England. Independent prep schools only became more widespread in Scotland from the late 19th century (usually attached to an existing secondary private school, though exceptions such as Craigclowan Preparatory School and Cargilfield Preparatory School do exist), though they are still much less prevalent than in England. In modern times many secondary pupils in Scotland's private schools will have fed in from the school's own fee-paying primary school, therefore there is considerable competition facing pupils from state primary schools who seek to enter a private school at secondary stage, via entrance examinations.

Selection

Independent schools, like state grammar schools, are free to select their pupils, subject to general legislation against discrimination. The principal forms of selection are financial, in that the pupil's family must be able to pay the school fees, and academic, the latter determined via interview and examination. Credit may also be given for musical, sporting or other talent. Entrance to some schools may be orientated to pupils whose parents practise a particular religion, or schools may require pupils to attend religious services.

Only a small minority of parents can afford school fees averaging (as of 2021) over £36,000 per annum for boarding pupils and £15,000 for day pupils, with additional costs for uniform, equipment and extra-curricular activities.^[21] Scholarships and means-tested bursaries to assist the education of the less well-off are usually awarded by a process which combines academic and other criteria.^[22][23]

Independent schools are generally academically selective, using the competitive Common Entrance Examination at ages 11+ or 13+. Schools often offer scholarships to attract abler pupils (which improves their average results); the standard sometimes approaches the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) intended for age 16. Poorly-performing pupils may be required to leave, and following GCSE results can be replaced in the sixth form by a new infusion of high-performing sixth-form-only pupils, which may distort apparent results.^[24] On the other hand, pupils performing poorly cannot legally be excluded from a state school solely for poor performance.^[25]

Conditions

Independent schools, as compared with maintained schools, are generally characterised by more individual teaching; much lower pupil-teacher ratios at around 9:1;^[26] longer teaching hours (sometimes including Saturday morning teaching) and homework (known as prep), though shorter terms; more time for organised sports and extra-curricular activities; and a more emphasis on traditional academic subjects.

As boarding schools are fully responsible for their pupils throughout term-time, pastoral care is an essential part of independent education, and many independent schools teach their own distinctive ethos, including social aspirations, manners and accents, associated with their own school traditions. Many pupils aspire to send their own children to their old schools over successive generations. Most offer sporting, musical, dramatic and art facilities, sometimes at extra charges.

Educational achievement is generally very good. Independent school pupils are four times more likely to attain an A* at GCSE than their non-selective state sector counterparts and twice as likely to attain an A grade at A-level. A much higher proportion go to university. Some schools specialise in particular strengths, whether academic, although this is not as common as it is in the state sector.

Independent schools are able to set their own discipline regime, with much greater freedom to exclude children, primarily exercised in the wider interests of the school. In England and Wales there are no requirements for teaching staff to have Qualified Teacher Status or to be registered with the General Teaching Council. In Scotland a teaching qualification and registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is mandatory for all teaching positions.

Economic impact

In 2014 the Independent Schools Council commissioned a report to highlight the impact that independent schools have on the British economy. The report calculated that independent schools support an £11.7 billion contribution to gross value added (GVA) in Britain.^[27]

Criticisms

Independent schools are often criticised for being elitist, and seen as lying outside the spirit of the state system.^[28] Many of the best-known public schools are extremely expensive, and many have entry criteria geared towards those who have been at private "feeder" preparatory schools. The Thatcher government introduced the Assisted Places Scheme in England and Wales in 1980, whereby the state paid the school fees for those pupils capable of gaining a place but unable to afford the fees. This was essentially a response to the decision of the previous Labour government in the mid-1970s to remove government funding of direct grant grammar schools, most of which then became independent schools; some Assisted Places pupils went to the former direct-grant schools such as Manchester Grammar School. The scheme was terminated by the Labour government in 1997, and since then the independent sector has moved to increase its own means-tested bursaries.

The former classics-based curriculum was also criticised for not providing skills in sciences or engineering, but was perhaps in response to the requirement of classics for entry to Oxbridge until the early 1960s, as well as a hangover from centuries ago when only Latin and Greek were taught at many public schools. It was Martin Wiener's opposition to this tendency which inspired his 1981 book English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit: 1850–1980. It became a huge influence on the Thatcher government's opposition to old-school gentlemanly Toryism. According to a 2010 report from the Department for Education, independent school pupils have "the highest rates of achieving grades A or B in A-level maths and sciences" compared to grammar, specialist and mainstream state schools, and pupils at independent schools account for a disproportionate number of the total number of A-levels in maths and sciences.^[29]

Some parents complain that their rights and their children's are compromised by vague and one-sided contracts which allow Heads to use discretionary powers unfairly, such as in expulsion on non-disciplinary grounds. They believe independent schools have not embraced the principles of natural justice as adopted by the state sector, and private law as applied to Higher Education.^[30] This belief is reinforced by the fact that the legal rights of pupils are governed by a private contract, as opposed to rights implemented by the national government. For instance, a pupil seeking admission to a state school that is rejected is legally entitled to appeal, whereas at an independent school admissions are at the discretion of the governing body of the school.^[31]

In 2006, pupils at fee-paying schools made up 43 per cent of those selected for places at Oxford University and 38 per cent of those granted places at Cambridge University (although such pupils represent only 18 per cent of the 16 years old plus school population).^[14][32]

Charitable status

A major area of debate in recent years has centred around the continuing charitable status of independent schools, which means they are not charged business rates by local councils, amongst other benefits. This is estimated to save the schools about £200 per pupil and to cost the Exchequer about £100 million in tax breaks, assuming that an increase in fees would not result in any transfer of pupils from private to maintained sector.^[33]

Since the Charities Act was passed in November 2006, charitable status is based on an organisation providing a "public benefit", as judged by the Charity Commission.^[34] In 2008, the Charity Commission published guidance, including guidance on public benefit and fee charging, setting out issues to be considered by charities charging high fees that many people could not afford. The Independent Schools Council was granted permission by the High Court to bring a judicial review of the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance as it affected the independent education sector. This was heard by the Upper Tribunal at the same time as a reference by the Attorney General asking the Tribunal to consider how the public benefit requirement should operate in relation to fee-charging charitable schools. The Upper Tribunal's decision, published on 14 October 2011, concluded that in all cases there must be more than de minimis or token benefit for the poor, but that trustees of a charitable independent school should decide what was appropriate in their particular circumstances.^[33]

The Charity Commission accordingly published revised public benefit guidance in 2013.

In Scotland, under the Charities and Trustee Investment Act (Scotland),^[35] there is an entirely separate test of charitable status, overseen by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, which assesses the public benefit^[36] provided by each registered school charity.^[37]

Extra exam time

An investigation into official exam data by the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme, in 2017, showed that 20% of private school pupils were given extra time for their GCSE and A level exams, as compared with less than 12% of pupils in public sector schools.^[38] The most commonly given amount of extra exam time is 25%. Such 'exam access' arrangements are given for a range of disabilities and educational special needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD.^[39][40]

Types and degree classes

In 2002 Jeremy Smith and Robin Naylor of the University of Warwick conducted a study into the determinants of degree performance at UK universities. Their study confirmed that the internationally recognized phenomenon whereby “children from more advantaged class backgrounds have higher levels of educational attainment than children from less-advantaged class backgrounds"^[41] persists at university level in the United Kingdom. The authors noted "a very well-determined and monotonically positive effect defined over Social Classes I to V" whereby, for both men and women, "ceteris paribus, academic performance at university is better the more advantaged is the student's home background". but they also observed that a student educated at an independent school was on average 6 per cent less likely to receive a first or an upper second class degree than a student from the same social class background, of the same gender, who had achieved the same A-level score at a state school. The averaged effect was described as very variable across the social class and A-level attainment of the candidates; it was "small and not strongly significant for students with high A-level scores" (i.e. for students at the more selective universities) and "statistically significant mostly for students from lower occupationally-ranked social-class backgrounds". Additionally, the study could not take into account the effect of a slightly different and more traditional subject mix studied by independent students at university on university achievement. Despite these caveats, the paper attracted much press attention. The same study found wide variations between independent school, suggesting that students from a few of them were in fact significantly more likely to obtain the better degrees than state students of the same gender and class background having the same A-level score.^[42]

In 2011, a subsequent study led by Richard Partington at Cambridge University^[43] showed that A-level performance is "overwhelmingly" the best predictor for exam performance in the earlier years ("Part I") of the undergraduate degree at Cambridge. Partington's summary specified that "questions of school background and gender" ... "make only a marginal difference and the pattern – particularly in relation to school background – is in any case inconsistent."

A study commissioned by the Sutton Trust^[44] and published in 2010 focussed mainly on the possible use of US-style SAT tests as a way of detecting a candidate's academic potential. Its findings confirmed those of the Smith & Naylor study in that it found that privately educated pupils who, despite their educational advantages, have only secured a poor A-level score, and who therefore attend less selective universities, do less well than state educated degree candidates with the same low A-level attainment. In addition, as discussed in the 2010 Buckingham report "HMC Schools: a quantitative analysis", because students from state schools tended to be admitted on lower A-level entry grades, relative to entry grades it could be claimed that these students had improved more.^[45] A countervailing finding of the Sutton Trust study was that for students of a given level of A-level attainment it is almost twice as difficult to get a first at the most selective universities than at those on the other end of the scale. Independent sector schools regularly dominate the top of the A-level league tables, and their students are more likely to apply to the most selective universities; as a result independent sector students are particularly well represented at these institutions, and therefore only the very ablest of them are likely to secure the best degrees.

In 2013 the Higher Education Funding Council for England published a study ^[46] noting, amongst other things, that a greater percentage of students who had attended an independent school prior to university achieved a first or upper second class degree compared with students from state schools. Out of a starting cohort of 24,360 candidates having attended an independent school and 184,580 having attended a state school, 64.9 per cent of the former attained a first or upper second class degree, compared to 52.7 per cent of the latter. No statistical comparisons of the two groups (State vs Independent) were reported, with or without controls for student characteristics such as entry qualifications, so no inferences can be drawn on the relative performance of the two groups. The stand-out finding of the study was that Independent School students over-achieved in obtaining graduate jobs and study, even when student characteristics were allowed for (sex, ethnicity, school type, entry qualifications, area of study).

In 2015, the UK press widely reported the outcome of research suggesting that school-leavers from state schools that attained similar A level grades go on to achieve higher undergraduate degree classes than their independent school counterparts. The quoted figures, based on the degree results of all students who graduated in 2013/14, suggested that 82 per cent of state school pupils got firsts or upper seconds compared with 73 per cent of those from independent schools. Later, HEFCE admitted that it had made a transposition error, and that in fact, 73 per cent of state school graduates gained a first or upper second class degree compared with 82 per cent of independent school graduates.^[47] This admission attracted far less publicity than the original erroneous assertion.

Across all English universities, state school students who scored two Bs and a C at A-level did on average eight per cent better at degree level than their privately educated counterparts.^[48] Two Bs and a C represents an entry tariff of 112, well below the average demanded by any of the UK's Russell Group universities.

See also

• Armorial of UK schools
• Education in the United Kingdom
• List of direct grant grammar schools (list of schools that were part of the scheme, between 1945 and 1976)
• List of English and Welsh endowed schools (19th century)
• List of private schools in the United Kingdom
• List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom
• Private school fee fixing scandal
• School and university in literature
• Schools Class locomotives for a class of Southern Railway locomotives that were named after Public Schools in the early 1930s

Notes

1. "Types of school". GOV.UK. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
2. "Types of school: Private schools". www.gov.uk. from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
3. Warrell, Helen (2 April 2014). "Private schools add nearly £12bn yearly to UK, says research". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
4. Hensher, Philip (20 January 2012). "Philip Hensher: Rejecting Oxbridge isn't clever—it's a mistake". The Independent. London. from the original on 9 August 2012.
5. Green, Francis. "Private schools and inequality". ifs.org.uk. Insitute for FIscal Studies. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
6. "About ISC". www.isc.co.uk. Independent Schools Council. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
7. Staton, Bethan (11 May 2021). "Growth in private school fees slows during pandemic". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
8. "The Independent Schools Yearbook". www.independentschoolsyearbook.co.uk/.
9. "The Public Schools Yearbook". Public Schools Year Book and Preparatory Schools Year Book1908, 1909 (via HathiTrust Digital Library ed.). London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 1889.
10. Spear's. "Britain's most expensive secondary schools". spearswms.com. Spear's Wealth Management. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
11. "Direct Grant Schools". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 22 March 1978. col. 582W–586W. from the original on 3 March 2016.
12. Bolton, Paul (2012). "Education: Historical statistics" (PDF). House of Commons Library.
13. "Why private schooling is on the decline in England". The Economist. 1 December 2015. from the original on 12 October 2017.
14. Pupil Numbers 18 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Independent Schools Council.
15. Murray-West, Rosie (9 October 2006). "Soaring school fees put private education out of reach for many". The Telegraph. London. from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
16. Chris Ryan & Luke Sibetia, Private schooling in the UK and Australia 5 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Institute of Fiscal Studies, 2010
17. Response to Charity Commission draft guidance on public benefit 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Independent Schools Council.
18. The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) 25 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Independent Schools Council.
19. . Scottish Council of Independent Schools. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
20. Independence 1 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Council of Independent Schools.
21. Staton, Bethan (11 May 2021). "Growth in private school fees slows during pandemic". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
22. "Scholarships for Private Independent Schools". GetTheRightSchool.co.uk. from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
23. Nick Collins (26 July 2010). "Richest independent schools give smallest bursaries". The Daily Telegraph. London. from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
24. Hackett, Geraldine; Baird, Tom (14 August 2005). "Schools 'cull pupils to lift A-level rank'". The Times. London. from the original on 6 June 2010.
25. "School exclusion". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
26. Teaching Staff & Teacher/Pupil Ratio 31 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Independent Schools Council.
27. . www.isc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014.
28. Green, Francis; Kynaston, David (2019). Engines of privilege : Britain's private school problem. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-5266-0127-8. OCLC 1108696740.
29. "Maths and science education: the supply of high achievers at A level" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
30. Phelps...Clark...and now Rycotewood? Disappointment damages for breach of the contract to educate Archived 13 October 2003 at archive.today by David Palfreyman, at the Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (OxCHEPS), 2003
31. "School admissions code". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
32. Hackett, Geraldine (17 December 2006). "Poorer pupils still fail to get into Oxbridge". The Sunday Times. London. from the original on 6 June 2010.
33. Fairbairn, Catherine (October 2013). "Charitable status and independent schools" (PDF). House of Commons Library, Standard Note SN/HA/5222.
34. Public Benefit 7 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Charity Commission.
35. "Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005". Legislation.gov.uk. 26 May 2011. from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
36. "Public Benefit". SCIS. 1 January 1970. from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
37. "Reviews of charitable status". Oscr.org.uk. from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
38. Pluck, Andrea (10 February 2017). "Private school pupils get more time for exams". educationbusinessuk.net. from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
39. Bateman, Tom (10 February 2017). "Private school students gain exam time". BBC News. from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
40. "Extra Time In Exams: Your Child May Be Eligible". huffingtonpost.co.uk. 11 April 2016. from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
41. Erikson, Robert; Goldthorpe, John H.; Jackson, Michelle; Yaish, Meir; Cox, D. R. (2005). "On class differentials in educational attainment". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102 (27): 9730–9733. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.9730E. doi:10.1073/pnas.0502433102. PMC 1172254. PMID 15976024.
42. Smith, Jeremy; Naylor, Robin (2005). "Schooling effects on subsequent university performance: evidence for the UK university population". Economics of Education Review. 24 (5): 549–562. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.11.4521. doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2004.07.016. Preprint version: Naylor, Robin; Smith, Jeremy (November 2002). "Schooling effects on subsequent university performance: evidence for the UK university population" (PDF). Warwick Economic Research Papers. 657. University of Warwick. (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
43. Richard Partington et al. The predictive effectiveness of metrics in admission to Cambridge University 14 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine Admissions & Data Services at Cambridge Admissions Office, February 2011
44. Catherine Kirkup, Rebecca Wheater, Jo Morrison, Ben Durbin, Marco Pomati Use of an aptitude test in university entrance:a validity study Archived 8 December 2010 at the Library of Congress Web Archives, National Foundation for Educational Research, September 2010
45. CEER Publications|University of Buckingham 8 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Buckingham.ac.uk (2 January 1997). Retrieved on 2013-08-13.
46. Quantitative Analysis for Policy Team Higher education and beyond: Outcomes from full-time first degree study 11 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine HEFCE 2013
47. Garner, Richard (3 November 2015). "University funding body admits 'disturbing blunder' over state- vs private-educated pupils' degree performance". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
48. "The type of school you went to could matter more than A-levels for your degree". The Independent. 16 September 2015. from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.

External links

• Passmore, Biddy (31 December 1999). . Times Education Supplement. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
• "University Admissions by Individual Schools". Sutton Trust. 1 February 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Milburn, Alan (chair) (2009). (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2010. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)