Brighton school setting the record for going to top universities (From The Argus)

Alternative headline: "UK's two-tiered education system ensures privilege and opportunity is entrenched for another generation."

It's amazing what 18k a year can do for your education. Still it takes plenty of hard work to achieve the grades to get into a top university.

jamus77 wrote:
Alternative headline: "UK's two-tiered education system ensures privilege and opportunity is entrenched for another generation."

and those who make the sacrifices to obtain the best possible educational opportunities for their children still pay for the other tier.
It's simply a matter of individual choice like everything else in life; the make of car you drive, the wristwatch you have, the designer clothes you wear, the holiday destinations you can afford.
I know at least twenty people in this City who were educated in local state schools but have chosen to educate their own children privately.

jamus77 wrote:
Alternative headline: "UK's two-tiered education system ensures privilege and opportunity is entrenched for another generation."

I worked hard at school ( a comprehensive ) and now have a good job because I worked hard having left school. I don't have a degree. I use money I could otherwise use to go on a holiday or have a bigger house to educate my children privately. I know of a number of children at the same school who have single parents who work in supermarkets. THEY decide, like me, to use their hard earned cash to send their children to a better school. It's a life style choice for many of us rather than having wads of cash and being born into a privileged lifestyle.

Many parents could afford it if they sacrificed alcohol, holidays, Sky TV and iPhone contracts.

Vigilia wrote:

jamus77 wrote:
Alternative headline: "UK's two-tiered education system ensures privilege and opportunity is entrenched for another generation."

and those who make the sacrifices to obtain the best possible educational opportunities for their children still pay for the other tier.
It's simply a matter of individual choice like everything else in life; the make of car you drive, the wristwatch you have, the designer clothes you wear, the holiday destinations you can afford.
I know at least twenty people in this City who were educated in local state schools but have chosen to educate their own children privately.

Wow, how out of touch with the real world are you! 18k per year (for one child) is not a "simple matter of individual choice". It is more than a lot of people will earn in a year. It is not a choice parents make whether or not to educate their children privately unless they have substantial wealth to make that choice. It's a crying shame money buys access to the best universities - yes, you and your wealthy friends may be able o make that choice and buy an education but the truth is there are plenty of rich, well "educated" individuals who aren't actually that bright who can pay their way nevertheless (politicians, royal family) and I can only despair at the flip side - bright kids who will be lost and abandoned by the state alternative

Fight_Back wrote:

jamus77 wrote:
Alternative headline: "UK's two-tiered education system ensures privilege and opportunity is entrenched for another generation."

I worked hard at school ( a comprehensive ) and now have a good job because I worked hard having left school. I don't have a degree. I use money I could otherwise use to go on a holiday or have a bigger house to educate my children privately. I know of a number of children at the same school who have single parents who work in supermarkets. THEY decide, like me, to use their hard earned cash to send their children to a better school. It's a life style choice for many of us rather than having wads of cash and being born into a privileged lifestyle.

Many parents could afford it if they sacrificed alcohol, holidays, Sky TV and iPhone contracts.

It seems like you are paying a very high price for very little gain, possibly a grade or two, but then I guess that is not really what private school is about.

Plenty of state schools give a good quality and broad education; that is where mine will go.

I am sure that the pupils that have got to Oxbridge worked hard and good luck to them but, I am afraid it should come as no suprise that those with all the advantages get into the "top" universities (I say "top" as it seems to me that it is some graduates of Oxbridge that have and continue to make such a shambles of running the country). That is how the system is structured.

I read last week of an Oxford college that filtered out people from less well off backgrounds by refusing those that could not guarentee the £20000+ annual fees. No wonder there are plenty of places for the better off.

Wherever you go to school, be it private or state, and on into University, you are just there to be programmed into being a good little robot who slaves away to pay taxes so the idle Royals can live a life you can't even begin to imagine and the government can **** your money away on wars and expenses. Then you get 80 odd quid a week when you retire at - what is it now - 67, 70, 80,100? I've learned far more since leaving education than I have at school or University.

Those I know in Brighton and Hove who have chosen to educate their children privately do not have "substantial wealth." They make sacrifices to provide for their children.
That is reality.

Vigilia wrote:
Those I know in Brighton and Hove who have chosen to educate their children privately do not have "substantial wealth." They make sacrifices to provide for their children.
That is reality.

They are earning enough to cover the fees - that is the reality
They are using their wealth to gain an advantage for their off spring that is not available to many others - that is reality
And the trouble is, it is not necessarily in society's interest to push people who aren't that bright through the university system - else god forbid they might end up running the country

You seem to be totally unaware of the system of matriculation.
If you are not "that bright" the universities do not accept you. You gain admittance to university on your educational achievement and intellectual capacity alone.
Do not denigrate the achievement of those pupils who have obtained Oxbridge places by your class or envy prejudices.

To those slating private education, claiming unfairness and discrimination - what is the alternative you are offering?
Abolish private schooling, and force everyone in to the state school system, increasing the number of students by 7 percentage points but with the same funding?
If we begin to claim that it is unfair that those who have succeeded in life, even if it is just marginally, to the extent that they can afford the fees, where do we stop? Should we all live in the same sized house? Should we all drive the same car? Should we all wear the same clothes - for fear of upsetting those without?
If anything, universities are discriminating AGAINST private school pupils, setting quotas to the maximum number they will take and giving them far higher required grades to make the offer.
How much longer are state school educated people going to play the 'I went to a state school' card to blame their current socio-economic position. I bet you or your kids didn't/don't work half as hard as the kids at private schools work, doing several hours of homework every single night. The world is largely meritocratic, sure, there may be places where it is not so, but if you put the time in, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from moving from this bottom rung of the ladder that you claim you have been banished to.

Sussexbythesea14 wrote:
To those slating private education, claiming unfairness and discrimination - what is the alternative you are offering?
Abolish private schooling, and force everyone in to the state school system, increasing the number of students by 7 percentage points but with the same funding?
If we begin to claim that it is unfair that those who have succeeded in life, even if it is just marginally, to the extent that they can afford the fees, where do we stop? Should we all live in the same sized house? Should we all drive the same car? Should we all wear the same clothes - for fear of upsetting those without?
If anything, universities are discriminating AGAINST private school pupils, setting quotas to the maximum number they will take and giving them far higher required grades to make the offer.
How much longer are state school educated people going to play the 'I went to a state school' card to blame their current socio-economic position. I bet you or your kids didn't/don't work half as hard as the kids at private schools work, doing several hours of homework every single night. The world is largely meritocratic, sure, there may be places where it is not so, but if you put the time in, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from moving from this bottom rung of the ladder that you claim you have been banished to.

If the wealthiest, best connected and most articulate parents sent their children to state schools then I have no doubt the education budget would rise and there would be pressure to improve where necessary.

I am sure kids in both state and private schools work hard, I have nothing against individuals, but the system we have is divisive and corrosive.

I don't understand how you can claim that the UK is largely meritocratic when we have government cabinet minister largely male, white, rich and not only privately educated but from a narrow choice of schools and universities.

If it wasn't for the social exclusivity who would pay so much money and often make sacrifices to lift their A-levels by a grade?

HJarrs wrote:

Fight_Back wrote:

jamus77 wrote:
Alternative headline: "UK's two-tiered education system ensures privilege and opportunity is entrenched for another generation."

I worked hard at school ( a comprehensive ) and now have a good job because I worked hard having left school. I don't have a degree. I use money I could otherwise use to go on a holiday or have a bigger house to educate my children privately. I know of a number of children at the same school who have single parents who work in supermarkets. THEY decide, like me, to use their hard earned cash to send their children to a better school. It's a life style choice for many of us rather than having wads of cash and being born into a privileged lifestyle.

Many parents could afford it if they sacrificed alcohol, holidays, Sky TV and iPhone contracts.

It seems like you are paying a very high price for very little gain, possibly a grade or two, but then I guess that is not really what private school is about.

Plenty of state schools give a good quality and broad education; that is where mine will go.

I am sure that the pupils that have got to Oxbridge worked hard and good luck to them but, I am afraid it should come as no suprise that those with all the advantages get into the "top" universities (I say "top" as it seems to me that it is some graduates of Oxbridge that have and continue to make such a shambles of running the country). That is how the system is structured.

I read last week of an Oxford college that filtered out people from less well off backgrounds by refusing those that could not guarentee the £20000+ annual fees. No wonder there are plenty of places for the better off.

Unfortunately, you didn't read the article properly. It was not an undergraduate course, but a post-graduate course, which is quite different.

There's nothing to stop would-be undergraduate students from any background going to Oxbridge, with funding available. Just apply for a student loan.

Funny how Manchester United and our other top football teams are never criticised for elitism, in terms of their selection procedures. And there you really are guaranteed a fortune if you're accepted.

People overlook the fact that you can't just turn up and walk away with a degree from Oxbridge. It's fiercely competitive - if you're not up to it, you're out. Rather like a football team, in fact, now I think about it ....