Whatever the social desirability of private education, the headmaster of Brighton College is wrong to suggest that his type of school comes at no cost to the taxpayer.

Taxpayers subsidise private schools indirectly by virtue of the sizeable tax breaks they receive as a result of their charitable status.

A strange charity for the seriously wealthy, the “deserving” middle classes on partial scholarships, and the very occasional underprivileged meritocrat, tolerated to boost exam results and foster the myth of inclusivity.

Simon Packham, Oakhill Road, Horsham