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.
I set up an alternative Bullingdon Club for state school students
I was made to feel like an outsider at university, so I set up a club to tackle elitism on campus and support less well-off students
17 March 2021 • 3:00pm
Sophie Pender, founder of The 93% Club and trainee solicitor at Herbert Smith Freehills in Dubai
Credit: Christopher Pike
We can all picture that archetypal Bullingdon Club member clad in a bespoke £3,500 tailcoat, bought specially for the riotous dinners that are the hallmark of this famously snobbish Oxford University drinking club.
At our ‘alternative Bullingdon’ club, though, a £10 hoodie and jeans is permissible. Kingly dishes might line the Bullers’ dining table, which have been graced by future Prime Ministers and millionaire entrepreneurs. At our meetings, we’ll settle for a Nandos.
Remains found in Sarah search
Human remains have been found in Kent in the search for missing Sarah Everard, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has announced. The 33-year-old was last seen a week ago in Clapham, South London, on her way home from a friend’s house. A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been arrested on suspicion of kidnap and murder. Dick, who said police are yet to confirm the identity of the remains, told the public that “it is incredibly rare for a woman to be abducted from our streets”.
2
Brazil passes grim milestone
Brazil has exceeded 2,000 Covid-related deaths in a single day for the first time since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic one year ago today. Health chiefs say the transmission rate is being made worse by more contagious variants. There are fears that the South American nation is on the verge of becoming a “breeding ground” for new strains that could spread worldwide. Brazil has the second highest death to
Chloe Wills has received an offer for Cambridge
- Credit: Brampton Manor Academy
Chloe Wills, who is eligible for free school meals, was offered a place to study natural sciences at Cambridge University.
She said: “An important part of applying to top universities is believing that you actually have a chance, which Brampton reassures you of from the beginning.”
The school is not the only one in the borough celebrating university offers.
Newham Collegiate Sixth Form, East Ham, has more than 90 per cent of its students going to Russell Group universities.
More than 50 will be going on to study medicine and several are expected to land places at America’s most prestigious universities.
ETON OF THE EAST END
No fist bumps and 6am starts: How Brampton Manor Academy in deprived area outstripped posh Eton for Oxbridge offers
Updated: 11 Mar 2021, 17:48
NESTLED within one of the nation’s poorest areas, Brampton Manor Academy is a beacon hope for state school pupils dreaming of attending the top universities.
Fifty-five teenagers from the school in East London have been offered Oxbridge places this autumn, while just 48 at £42,000-a-year Eton were chosen.
11
Students from Brampton Manor Academy s sixth form celebrate being offered places at Oxford and Cambridge universitiesCredit: Sam Dobin
Oxford and Cambridge have faced accusations in recent years of shunning ethnically diverse talents.