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British independent schools are, of course, a hugely contentious political issue, yet in all the debate about them, three key features are hardly ever noted.
One is that the independent or private sector in the UK is relatively small by the standards of other developed countries. The second is that we are somewhat unusual in having a rigid boundary between the two sectors, whereas in some other countries, some state funding is available for parents who choose to have their children educated privately. And the third is that it is an extremely successful export industry with a unique global reach.
Size first. Private schools in Britain educate between six per cent and seven per cent of children, though the proportion is roughly double that at A-level (what in other countries would be classified as upper secondary level). This compares with 10 per cent in the US and Germany, where the proportion has been rising rapidly in recent years, and around 17 per cent in France. In Japan, it is around 30 per cent at the upper secondary level, and in Australia, it is even higher, having reached nearly 37 per cent.
That is probably the top end of the global range, though in Sweden, the proportion at the upper secondary level is also high at around one-third. At the other end of the scale is Finland, where only one per cent to three per cent of students are in the independent sector.
Britain goes against the grain
Looked at globally, what seems to be happening is a gradual increase in the proportion of young people educated privately, particularly at upper secondary level.
It is not quite clear why this should be happening. Part of the story may be that globalisation has led to more executives being posted abroad, and therefore choosing independent sector international schools for their children. In the emerging world, as wealth has increased, the new middle class clearly wants to invest more in the next generation. And though it is hard to pin this down, it may be that as family size has shrunk, an increasing proportion of parents feel able to pay for private education for their children.
What is beyond dispute is that the UK is becoming unusual in not only having a relatively small independent sector, but one that has not grown significantly over the past couple of decades.
We are also unusual in the rigid barrier between the two sectors. For example, in France, the state gives large subsidies to privately-run schools. In Sweden, there are lots of private schools paid for by the state, known as friskolor, following a revolution in the funding system 30 years ago.
There has been concern about the way in which this may have increased social divisions. Similar concerns exist in Germany, where the right to private education is guaranteed by law. In the US, there are charter schools, publicly funded but independently run, which have become a fast-growing sector. This is not to make a judgment about the policies of other countries, and it is true that there are several where the distinction is similar to that of the UK. It is simply to note that we are a bit unusual.
Overseas boom
But the area where the UK is truly an outlier is the attractiveness of our independent schools to the rest of the world. International students with parents living abroad account for only 4.7 per cent of places in the UK independent sector, but that goes up to 6.6 per cent if you add in foreign nationals whose parents live in the UK.
That seems to be the highest proportion of any major developed country. In addition, many UK top-end schools have established overseas campuses, initially in the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore, but increasingly right across the world.
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In the past year, new campus openings include: Benenden (China), Brighton College (Vietnam), Charterhouse (Nigeria), Haileybury (Malta and Bangladesh), Harrow (India and China), Malvern College (Japan), Repton (Egypt), and Wellington (India and Indonesia). This is a profitable business, with earnings reaching £29m in 2022-23. Since British private schools with charitable status do not pay corporation tax on these overseas profits, this has become a political issue.
There will almost certainly be pressure to do so – to treat them just like any other business. But if you see UK independent schools as a business, then you should also see them as hugely successful exporters, a booming service industry in what is globally a strong growth market.
What is wrong with profits if they create employment at home and abroad, particularly if these help subsidise students in the UK who need financial help? Just as important, educating the young people who will become members of the next global elite extends the UK’s soft power for a generation. You don’t forget a good teacher.
Need to know
What seems to be happening is that the UK private school sector is being pushed to become more commercial. At the top end, it has gone global. The brand is strong enough to do so, and I can’t see any obvious challenger.
US schools have such a huge domestic market that they don’t need to go global, and continental European ones, while many are excellent, don’t have the name recognition, quite apart from the language issue. The greater challenge probably comes from the booming commercial private school groups, which include Inspired Education, Cognita and Nord Anglia.
If you set out to be a growth company, you have the flexibility that old-established schools that have operated as charities don’t have. If you see the UK as just one market of many, then if the government of the day chooses to raise taxes on the business here, you invest elsewhere.
Of course, schools are special in their ethos, but then so are other businesses. Is teaching young people morally different from, for example, developing new drugs that will treat diseases? Both require a sense of social mission. Both are heavily regulated. Both need profits to survive.
Indeed, maybe it’s wrong to see these groups as a challenge to the old-established British schools. Maybe it’s just what the latter need to encourage them to find ways to control costs and improve the student experience. The former is really important in every business, and my personal view is that the UK independent school sector has not done nearly as well as it should on that front.
I am not suggesting that the government is doing a favour to the independent sector by increasing its taxes on it. But if you treat schools as though they were like any other business, you will make them behave as though they were purely commercial enterprises. That shift of mindset would bring positives as well as negatives.
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