Does Private School Education Actually Produce Better Outcomes?

The headline statistics

Independent schools educate approximately 7% of UK schoolchildren. Their pupils represent around 29% of Oxford and Cambridge entrants, 65% of senior judges and 57% of the most senior civil servants. These are striking overrepresentations.

What drives the advantage

Family background — parental education, income, social networks, cultural capital — is the most powerful predictor of educational and professional outcomes in research. Many of the advantages associated with private schooling are also associated with high parental education and income, whether or not a child attended a private school.

What schools genuinely add

Research suggests private schools do provide genuine advantages in several areas: alumni networks and teacher recommendations that facilitate elite university applications; better-resourced drama, sports, debating and music programmes; and smaller average class sizes — around 10-12 in independent schools vs 26-28 in state schools.

The evidence on academic value-added

The evidence for pure academic value-added — better academic results after controlling for pupil intake characteristics — is more mixed than independent school marketing suggests.