Book dossier

Fee-paying schools and educational change in Britain

by Ted Tapper

This book offers a timely evaluation of how a unified educational system might be achieved. Could the private and maintained sectors merge into a new and different whole, or would selected access to educational resources inevitably sabotage such an ambition? The book begins with a historical overview of access to private schooling and shows how the public schools changed from charitable institutions for 'poor and needy scholars' to exclusive and privileged establishments for the children of the well-to-do. There have been well intentioned attempts to widen access to fee-paying schools, up to and including the recent assisted places scheme. Strikingly, despite the increase in fees to a level beyond the reach of all but the rich, the independent schools have not only survived the comprehensivisation years but have prospered. The author has an explanation for this phenomenon. The book concludes with a discussion on selection - the key to a divided educational system - and considers how the selection process may be made to work so that in the future all pupils may get the best from their education, regardless of family income or social background.