Are private schools really worth the money any more?
Sexual-abuse allegations, a fall in the number of Oxbridge admissions and ever-increasing fees – is it time to reassess independent schools?
30 April 2021 • 5:00am
Left: Eton, Berkshire
£42,500 per year 48 pupils offered places at Oxbridge in 2021; right: Brampton Manor Academy, Newham
£0 per year 55 pupils offered places at Oxbridge in 2021
Credit: Getty
A year ago, during the height of the first lockdown, Amy and Simon Eccles, both NHS consultants at a central London teaching hospital, had a conversation with their five-year-old daughter Hermione. She had joined Hill House, the Knightsbridge private school famous for its uniform of mustard jumpers and knickerbockers, the previous September. But as the pandemic hit, Hill House had to close. Amy, 41, and Simon, 50, decided to move Hermione to the local state school in Southwark.
Girls blast sexism and demand uniform equality in top city school
King David High School in Childwall says it is listening to its students
15:59, 28 APR 2021
Updated
King David High School
A debate has broken out at a top city high school over uniform policy with girls stating they feel discriminated against. Female pupils at King David High School in Childwall say they want to be able to wear trousers like the boys - as well as questioning policy over a ban on leggings in PE.
But King David head teacher, Michael Sutton, says there are complex cultural considerations involved related to the fact it is an Orthodox Jewish school.
Submitting.
And now Ofsted has announced plans for a review into safeguarding policies and practices at schools following concerns about widespread sexual abuse.
More than 14,000 reports were posted on the Everyone’s Invited website where students can anonymously share their experiences of misogyny, harassment, abuse and assault.
Department for Education figures show Wigan schools excluded students 91 times for sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2019 – all of which were temporary exclusions. Of these, the vast majority (74) occurred in state-funded secondary schools and 17 in primary schools.
Three exclusions took place in 2018-19 – the year with the latest available figures.
They were among 1,972 sexual misconduct exclusions – which include incidents of sexual abuse, sexual bullying and sexual harassment – across England that year.
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Bolton reports a rise in sexual misconduct cases in the classroom - as Ofsted prepares to visit schools and colleges where such allegations have been made
Pupils removed from class for sexual misconduct is on the rise YOUNG people being thrown out of school for sexual misconduct have risen, figures reveal. Department for Education figures show Bolton schools excluded students 19 times for sexual misconduct in 2018/19 one permanently and 18 temporarily. The number of people told to leave class for sexual misconduct was an increase on the year before, when there were 10. Overall, Bolton schools excluded pupils 3,956 times in 2018-19 – 3,846 of which were fixed, and 110 permanent.
Sexual harassment, groping and assault: Young women share stories of everyday experiences in Surrey
SurreyLive asked young women to share their experiences of sexually inappropriate behaviour and assaults in everyday life, from uni bars to walking on the streets
A woman holds a banner during a protest in London against a lack of justice for rape victims (Image: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/GettyImages)
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