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England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
(but not
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
), a public school is a fee-charging endowed school originally for older boys. They are "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exch ...
or
profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully '' professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, ''professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...
. In Scotland, a public school is synonymous with a
state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...
in England and Wales, and fee-charging schools are referred to as private schools. Although the term "public school" has been in use since at least the 18th century, its usage was formalised by the Public Schools Act 1868, which put into law most recommendations of the 1864 Clarendon Report. Nine prestigious schools were investigated by Clarendon (including Merchant Taylors' School and
St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , h ...
) and seven subsequently reformed by the Act: Eton,
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Shr ...
, Harrow,
Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lon ...
, Rugby,
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
, and
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
. Public schools are associated with the
ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and by exte ...
. Historically, public schools provided many of the military officers and administrators of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts ...
.In 2019, two-thirds of
cabinet ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...
of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...
had been educated at such fee-charging schools.


Definition

There is no single or absolute definition of a public school, and the use of the term has varied over time and according to context. The starting point was the contrast between a ''public school'' and ''private teaching''. In England and Wales so-called public schools are not funded from public taxation. The
independent schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...
' representative body, the Independent Schools Information Service (ISIS), defined public schools as long-established, student-selective, fee-charging independent
secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
s that cater primarily for children aged between 11 or 13 and 18, and whose head teacher is a member of the
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Unite ...
(HMC).''Independent Schools: The Facts'', Independent Schools Information Service, 1981, The above definition of 1981 has resonance with that of
Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Early life and education Born in Woodford, Essex, England, Smith was the son of merchant Robert Smith (1739–1827) and Maria Olier (1750–1801), ...
written in 1810 in ''The
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'' ...
''. "By a public school, we mean an endowed place of education of old standing, to which the sons of gentlemen resort in considerable numbers, and where they continue to reside, from eight or nine, to eighteen years of age. We do not give this as a definition which would have satisfied Porphyry or Duns-Scotus, but as one sufficiently accurate for our purpose. The characteristic features of these schools are, their antiquity, the numbers, and the ages of the young people who are educated at them ...". A public school has been very simply defined as "a non-local endowed boarding school for the upper classes".
Arthur Leach Arthur Thomas Leach (2 March 1876 – 1 October 1948) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon and Collingwood during the early years of the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of Thomas Leach (1847-1916), and ...
, in his ''History of Winchester College'' (1899), states: "The only working definition of a Public School...is that it is an aristocratic or plutocratic school which is wholly or almost wholly a Boarding School, is under some form of more or less public control, and is ... non-local". Vivian Ogilvie in ''The English Public School'' (1957) suggests five "characteristics commonly associated with a public school" (while allowing that these are not absolute or definitive): "it is a class school, catering for a well-to-do clientèle; it is expensive; it is non-local; it is a predominantly boarding school; it is independent of the State and of local government, yet it is not privately owned or run for profit." In November 1965, the UK Cabinet considered the definition of a public school for the purpose of the Public Schools Commission set up that year. It started with the 1944 Fleming Committee definition of Public Schools, which consisted of schools which were members of the then
Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Unite ...
or the Girls' Schools Association. At that time, there were 276 such independent schools (134 boys and 142 girls), which the 1965 Public Schools Commission took in scope of its work and also considered 22 maintained and 152
direct grant grammar school A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...
s. In 2022, using the 1981 ISIS definition or the 1944 Fleming Committee definition, there are 298 independent secondary schools belonging to the
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Unite ...
(78% of HMC schools are co-educational, 9% are boys only and 13% are girls only), and 230 independent girls' secondary schools belonging to the Girls' Schools Association. The majority of public schools are affiliated with, or were established by, a
Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...
, principally the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church record ...
, but in some cases the Roman Catholic and
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
churches. A small number are
non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fai ...
or inherently secular, including
Oswestry School Oswestry School is an ancient public school (English independent day and boarding school), located in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. It was founded in 1407 as a 'free' school, being independent of the church. This gives it the distinction of b ...
, Bedales and
University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...
. A minor public school is defined in ''Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable'' as "a somewhat demeaning term dating from the 1930s for an English public school that is not one of the ancient foundations, such as Eton, Harrow, Rugby or Winchester". Public school rivalry is a factor in the perception of a "great" (or "major") versus "minor" distinction.


History


Early history

Public schools emerged from
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary sch ...
s established to educate pupils, usually destined for clerical orders, in Latin grammar. The term "public" came into use because over time access to such schools was not restricted on the basis of home location, paternal occupation or status, and that they were subject to an element of public management or control, in contrast to private schools which were run for the personal profit of the owner(s). The origins of schools in the UK were primarily religious, although in 1640 the House of Commons did invite the reformer and promoter of
universal education Universal access to education is the ability of all people to have equal opportunity in education, regardless of their social class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnic background or physical and mental disabilities. The term is used both in colle ...
,
Comenius John Amos Comenius (; cs, Jan Amos Komenský; pl, Jan Amos Komeński; german: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is consider ...
to England to establish and participate in an agency for the promotion of learning. It was intended that by-products of this would be the publication of "universal" books and the setting up of schools for boys and girls. The
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of reli ...
prevented any such reform. Some schools are particularly old, such as
The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...
c.597, The King's School, Rochester c.604,
St Peter's School, York St Peter's School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school (also referred to as a public school), in the English City of York, with extensive grounds on the banks of the River Ouse. Founded by St Paulinus of York in AD 627, ...
c. 627,
Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...
c.710, (refounded 1550 by
Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first En ...
),
Warwick School Warwick School is a selective, independent day and boarding school in Warwick, England in the public school tradition. Known until about 1900 as King's School, Warwick, it is believed to have been founded by Æthelflæd of Mercia in 914 AD ...
c.914,
King's Ely King's Ely (renamed from "The King's School" in March 2012),The School's Terms and Conditions and the Companies House registration would suggest that the School's legal name remains "The King's School, Ely" is a co-educational public school ...
c.970 (originally the Ely Cathedral Grammar School, then the King's School Ely when refounded in 1541 by
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
, subsequently adopting the current name in 2012) and St Albans School c.948. Until the late medieval period most schools were controlled by the Church; and had specific entrance criteria; others were restricted to the sons of members of guilds, trades or livery companies. In 1382
William of Wykeham William of Wykeham (; 1320 or 1324 – 27 September 1404) was Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England. He founded New College, Oxford, and New College School in 1379, and founded Winchester College in 1382. He was also the clerk of ...
,
Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...
and Chancellor of England, founded
Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
. In 1440 Henry VI founded Eton College. These schools had significantly larger foundations than the existing local grammar schools, had high level political patronage and also accepted "non-local" pupils. This was "the start of a new kind of school". Elizabeth I refounded Westminster School in 1560, with new statutes to select 40 King's Scholars.This created a "triad" of privileged schools—Winchester, Eton and Westminster. From the 16th century onward, boys' boarding schools continued to be founded or endowed for public use.
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in it ...
in ''The Compleat English Gentleman'' of 1728, writes of "the great schools of Eton, Winchester, Westminster,
Felsted Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Gr ...
, Bishop Stortford (sic),
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...
and others, where the children—nay, the eldest sons—of some of the best families in England have been educated." By the end of the 17th century the London day schools St Paul's and Merchant Taylors', together with the charitable foundations Christ's Hospital and Charterhouse had developed an elevated "standing in popular regard". By the end of the 18th century two local grammar schools, Harrow and Rugby, had achieved national fame. In the case of Harrow, political sponsorship by aristocratic Whig politician James Brydges (later Duke of Chandos) played a significant role but also, as was the case too with Rugby, an exemplary headmaster was a key factor in raising the status of the school. This phenomenon was also seen at
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Shr ...
where Samuel Butler was headmaster between 1798 and 1836. In 1801 William Vincent, headmaster of Westminster published ''A Defence of Public Education''. It contains the text "...comprize under the expression of Public Schools? Are we to understand only Winchester, Eton and Westminster? or are we to extend our notion, as we ought to do, to the other three great schools in the Metropolis; to Harrow, Rugby,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
,
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
and many more of equal magnitude in the North?" In 1816 Rudolph Ackermann published a book which used the term "History of the Public Schools" of what he described as the "principal schools of England", entitled ''The History of the Colleges of Winchester, Eton, and Westminster; with the Charter-House, the Schools of St. Paul's, Merchant Taylors, Harrow, and Rugby, and the Free-School of Christ's Hospital''. In 1818 Nicholas Carlisle published a two-volume survey entitled ''A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales''. The survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire sent to the schools. The description of 475 schools range from one or two paragraphs to many pages of detail. Included in the survey are the renowned nine schools which forty three years later became the subject of the 1861
Clarendon Commission The Clarendon Commission was a royal commission established in 1861 to investigate the state of nine leading schools in England, in the wake of complaints about the finances, buildings, and management of Eton College. It was chaired by the 4th ...
. In 1828
Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wid ...
became headmaster of Rugby School. The reforming actions he took during his fourteen years (1828–1842) of tenure established a new model for the nineteenth and early twentieth century public school. Arnold developed the ''
praepostor Praepostor (sometimes spelt Praepositor) is a term now used chiefly at English independent schools, such as Aldenham, Brentwood School, Clifton, Eton, Giggleswick, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Tonbridge and Uppingham as well as at other schools such ...
'' (or
prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...
) system, in which a group of senior boys were given disciplinary powers of other pupils. This became a standard method to establish good order in the public schools, which had developed a reputation for rowdiness and on occasion, serious disorder.
King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...
was founded in 1829 and
University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...
in 1830. Separate preparatory schools (or "prep schools") for younger boys developed from the 1830s, with entry to the senior schools becoming limited to boys of at least 12 or 13 years old. The first of these was
Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory schoo ...
, established with support from
Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wid ...
, the headmaster of Rugby School between 1828 and 1841.


Victorian period

A Royal Commission, the
Clarendon Commission The Clarendon Commission was a royal commission established in 1861 to investigate the state of nine leading schools in England, in the wake of complaints about the finances, buildings, and management of Eton College. It was chaired by the 4th ...
(1861–1864), investigated nine of the more established schools, including seven boarding schools (
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
, Eton, Harrow, Rugby,
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Shr ...
,
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
and
Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lon ...
) and two day schools ( St Paul's and Merchant Taylors').
Howard Staunton Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Am ...
's book of 1865 entitled ''The Great Schools of England'' considered those nine schools plus
Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent SchoolDay and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...
,
Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...
, and
Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...
. The Public Schools Act 1868 subsequently regulated and reformed the seven boarding schools investigated by Clarendon, and in summary established and granted autonomy to new governing bodies for the seven schools and as part of that, released them from previous obligations under their founding charters to educate "boys on the Foundation" ie scholarship boys who paid nominal or no fees. The Act gave the seven schools independence from direct jurisdiction or responsibility of
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...
, the
established church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
, or the government. Henceforth each of these schools was to be managed by a
board of governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...
. St Paul's School and the Merchant Taylors' School claimed successfully that their constitutions made them "private" schools, and were excluded from the requirements of this legislation. The Taunton Commission was appointed in 1864 to examine the remaining 782 endowed
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary sch ...
s, and in 1868 produced recommendations to restructure their endowments; these recommendations were included, in modified form, in the
Endowed Schools Act 1869 The Endowed Schools Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 56) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Endowed Schools Acts 1869 to 1948. It was passed during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry, to restructure endowed gr ...
. In that year Edward Thring, headmaster of
Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headmas ...
, wrote to 37 of his fellow headmasters of what he considered the leading boys' schools, not covered by the Public Schools Act of 1868, inviting them to meet annually to address the threat posed by the Endowed Schools Act of 1869. In the first year 12 headmasters attended; the following year 34 attended, including heads from the Clarendon schools. The
Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Unite ...
(HMC), now the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, has grown steadily and by 2021 had 298 British and Irish schools as members. Many new schools were established in the mid-part of the nineteenth century including the day schools
City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...
(1837) and
Liverpool College Liverpool College is a school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). History Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian E ...
(1840). New boarding schools included
Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral ...
(1841), Marlborough (1843),
Rossall Rossall is a settlement in Lancashire, England and a suburb of the market town of Fleetwood. It is situated on a coastal plain called The Fylde. Blackpool Tramway runs through Rossall, with two stations: Rossall School on Broadway and Rossall Sq ...
(1844),
Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...
(1847),
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
(1847), Lancing (1848),
Hurstpierpoint Hurstpierpoint is a village in West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an area of 2029.88 ha and a population o ...
(1849), Bradfield (1850),
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
(1852),
Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
(1855), Ardingly (1858), Clifton (1862), Malvern (1862), Haileybury (1862),
Cranleigh Cranleigh is a village and civil parish, about southeast of Guildford in Surrey, England. It lies on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. It is in the north-west corner of the Weald, a large remnant forest, the mai ...
(1863) and
Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4,016 in 2019. Nearby villages include Ear ...
(1864). In 1881 C.Kegal Paul & Co published ''Our Public Schools'' with chapters on seven schools i.e. Eton, Harrow,
Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lon ...
, Rugby,
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
, Marlborough and
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
. In 1887 the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal determined that the
City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...
was a public school. The ''Public Schools Yearbook'' was published for the first time in 1889, listing 30 schools, mostly boarding schools. The day school exceptions were St Paul's School and Merchant Taylors' School. By 1895 there were entries for 64 schools. The 1902 edition included all schools whose principals qualified for membership of the Headmasters' Conference. In 1893 Edward Arnold published a book entitled ''Great Public Schools'' with a chapter on each of Eton, Harrow,
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
,
Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral ...
, Rugby, Clifton,
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
, Marlborough, Haileybury, and
Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lon ...
. The Bryce Report of 1895 (i.e. ''Report of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education'') described the schools reformed by the 1868 Act as the "seven 'great public schools'".


Early and mid 20th century

There was a further expansion in public school education in the interwar years. New schools such as
Rendcomb Rendcomb is a village in the Cotswold local authority area of the English county of Gloucestershire. It is about five miles north of Cirencester in the Churn valley. History Etymology Remdcomb is thought to get its name from the stream run ...
(1920), Stowe (1923), Canford (1923),
Bryanston Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 925. The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an ind ...
(1928) and
Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...
(1935) were established. In 1942 the then President of the Board of Education
Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary ...
appointed a ''Committee on Public Schools'' under the leadership of David Fleming. The committee was tasked to "consider means whereby the association between the Public Schools and the general educational system of the country could be developed and extended". The Fleming Report (1944) entitled ''The Public Schools and the General Education System'' defined a public school as a member of the Governing Bodies Association or the
Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Unite ...
. The Fleming Committee recommended that one-quarter of the places at the public schools should be assigned to a national bursary scheme for children who would benefit from boarding. A key advocate was the post-war Minister of Education
Ellen Wilkinson Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. Earlier in her career, as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow, sh ...
, but the proposed national bursary scheme never got into legislation in that post-war age of severe budget constraints. The Conservative government elected in 1951 did not adopt the proposal. It failed because it was not a high priority for either party, money was tight, there was wavering support from both public schools and local education authorities, and no consensus was reached on how to select the pupils to participate. Based on the recommendations of the Fleming Report, the
Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historian ...
, also known as "the Butler Act", did, however, establish an enhanced status for endowed
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary sch ...
s receiving a grant from central government. The
direct grant grammar school A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...
s would henceforth receive partial state funding (a "direct grant") in return for taking between 25 and 50 percent of its pupils from state primary schools. Other grammar schools were funded by
Local Education Authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...
. The Labour government in 1965 made major changes to the organisation of state maintained schools issuing Circular 10/65 which directed
local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
to phase out selection at eleven years of age. It also fulfilled its pledge to examine the role of public schools, setting up a Royal commission "to advise on the best way of integrating the public schools with the State system". The commission used a wider definition than that of the Fleming Committee. The Public Schools Commission produced two reports: the Newsom Report of 1968 entitled ''The Public Schools Commission: First Report'' covering boarding schools and the Donnison Report of 1970 entitled ''The Public Schools Commission: Second Report'' covering day schools, including also direct grant and maintained grammar schools. The report presented by John Newsom in 1968 was supportive of boarding school education and made 52 recommendations, including state funding of up to 45,000 places. No action was taken by the then Labour government (or successive administrations). The report presented by David Donnison in 1970 made 25 recommendations for England and Wales and 22 for Scotland. The commission was divided on many issues so several of the recommendations were not made with full consensus. No action was taken by the incoming (1970) Conservative government but five years later the direct grant scheme was terminated by Labour.


Late 20th century

The social changes of the 1960s were felt in the public schools; the new headmaster at
Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...
noted that "student protests and intellectual ferment were challenging the status quo". These challenges later coincided with the mid-1970s recession and moves by the Labour government to separate the independent and state sectors. The direct grant scheme was abolished in 1975 and the HMC schools within the scheme became fully independent.
Local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
were ordered to cease funding places at independent schools. This accounted for over quarter of places at 56 schools, and over half the places at 22 schools. Between 1975 and 1983 funding was also withdrawn from 11 voluntary-aided grammar schools, which became independent schools and full members of the HMC. State funding was however revived between 1981 and 1997 with the introduction of the Assisted Places Scheme, which provided support for 80,000 pupils attending schools not part of the state maintained sector. Many boarding schools started to admit day pupils for the first time, and others abolished boarding completely. Some started accepting girls in the
sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A- ...
, while others became fully
co-education Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
al. Corporal punishment, was abolished in state schools in 1986, and had been abandoned in most public schools by the time it was formally banned in independent schools in 1999 in England and Wales, (2000 in Scotland and 2003 in Northern Ireland). The system of
fagging Fagging was a traditional practice in British public schools and also at many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the eldest boys. Although probably originating earlier, the first account ...
, whereby younger pupils were required to act to some extent as personal servants to the most senior boys, was phased out during the 1970s and 1980s.


21st century

In September 2005 the UK
Office of Fair Trading , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Office of Fair Trading (United Kingdom) (logo).png , logo_width = 255px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , ...
(OFT) found that 50 prominent public schools were in breach of the
Competition Act 1998 The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition law in the United Kingdom, along with the Enterprise Act 2002. The act provides an updated framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse of ...
through their exchange of details of planned fee increases over three academic years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04. The Independent Schools Council claimed that the investigation had been "a scandalous waste of public money". Three-quarters of HMC schools are now either partially or fully co-educational. Of the Clarendon nine, two are fully co-educational ( Rugby and
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Shr ...
), two admit girls to the sixth form only (
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
and
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
), two remain as boys-only day schools ( St Paul's and Merchant Taylors') and two retain the full-boarding, boys-only tradition ( Eton and Harrow).
Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lon ...
was formerly part of the last group. However, it is currently undergoing the transition to co-ed status.


Scotland and Ireland

By the end of the 19th century the "public school movement" had extended to all parts of the (then) United Kingdom. Schools established in Scotland include
Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum R ...
(1824),
Loretto School Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. History The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...
(1827),
Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled a ...
(1828),
Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational independent day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully independent ...
(1845),
Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...
(1847) and
Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...
(1870). In Ireland some ancient grammar schools followed the pattern of gaining elevated status and other prestigious boys' boarding schools (both Catholic and Protestant) were founded in the 19th century. Examples include
The Royal School, Armagh The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school, founded in the 17th century, in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. It has a boarding department with an international intake. It is a member of the Headmasters' and He ...
1608,
Bandon Grammar School Bandon Grammar School () is a Church of Ireland secondary school situated in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. Established in 1642, it is one of the oldest schools in Ireland. General Bandon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and da ...
(1642),
Midleton College Midleton College is an independent co-educational boarding and day school in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. In past centuries it has also been called Midleton School. Although founded in 1696, the school did not open until 1717. It went th ...
(1696),
The King's Hospital The Hospital and Free School of King Charles II, Oxmantown, also called The King's Hospital (KH; ) is a Church of Ireland co-educational independent day and boarding school situated in Palmerstown, Dublin, Ireland. It is on an 80-acre campus bes ...
(1669),
Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today i ...
(1814),
Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a You ...
(1814),
Castleknock College Castleknock College ( ga, Coláiste Caisleán Cnucha) is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one ...
(1835) and St Columba's College (1843).


Overseas expansion

In 1892 Haileybury alumnus Charles Rendall, founded Haileybury "altera terra" in Melbourne, Australia. In the 20th and 21st centuries, several public schools opened affiliates in other countries, especially the Middle and Far East. The schools are typically founded in partnership with a local business person or organisation with the "home" school maintaining control of curriculum and staffing. Examples include: Brighton with affiliates in Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Dubai and Singapore; Bromsgrove in Bangkok; Cranleigh in Abu Dhabi; Dulwich College in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
,
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, Shenzhen,
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, Shuzou, Xi'an and
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bo ...
; Epsom in Malaysia; Harrow in Bangkok, Beijing and Hong Kong; Haileybury in Almaty and Astana; King's College School in Bangkok and Hangzhou King's College Taunton in Doha; Marlborough in Malaysia; Repton in Dubai; Sherborne in Doha; Shrewsbury in Bangkok; Wellington in Bangkok, Hangzhou, Tianjin and Shanghai.


Curriculum

The almost exclusive teaching of grammar (
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
and to a lesser extent ancient Greek) prevailed until well into the 19th century. Most schools were legally obliged to do so by the terms of their original endowment. As a response to the perceived need to modernise such a curriculum in line with commercial needs, the Grammar School Act 1840 was passed. This allowed schools to make an application to a court of law (rather than Parliament) to deviate from the wishes of the original founder and teach "other branches of literature and science". The new public schools established in the early and mid-19th century were not constrained by early endowments and therefore were able from foundation to offer a wider range of taught subjects. From the 1850s organised games became prominent in the curriculum, based on the precedent set at Rugby by
Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wid ...
, forming a keystone of character development through teamwork, sportsmanship and self-sacrifice. Hely Almond headmaster at Loretto 1862–1903, in stating 'Games in which success depends on the united efforts of many, and which also foster courage and endurance are the very lifeblood of the public school system', encapsulated the thinking of the era. The prominence of team sports prevails to the current day and is a feature by which public schools still distinguish themselves from state maintained schools. By the latter part of the 19th century 'modern' subjects such as mathematics and science feature in many schools listings in ''The Public Schools Yearbook''.


Charitable status

Within English law a
charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...
is defined as an institution established for a charitable purpose and providing a public benefit. The "advancement of education" is a long-standing charitable purpose. The UK's oldest charity is
the King's School Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...
. Charitable status for schools outside of the state maintained sector confers various tax benefits. This means schools are not liable for
corporation tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...
or
capital gains tax A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. Not all countries impose ...
and receive an 80% reduction in
business rates Rates are a tax on property in the United Kingdom used to fund local government. Business rates are collected throughout the United Kingdom. Domestic rates are collected in Northern Ireland and were collected in England and Wales before 1990 and i ...
(a local property tax). Donations by individuals to such schools are considered "tax free". Fee-charging schools having the status of charities are not totally tax exempt as they pay some business rates,
VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
on procured goods and services and staff pay
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...
on earnings. The public benefit that a charity is obliged to provide is not defined in law. Typically schools provide this public benefit by offering
bursaries A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awa ...
to pupils of families with limited financial means and supporting local state maintained school(s) and institutions, including allowing public access to school facilities. Charitable status is politically controversial. The
UK Labour Party The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all ...
leader
Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...
in 2021 pledged to remove charitable status for fee-charging schools. Removal of charitable status would enable the UK government to levy
VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
on school fees, a policy introduced in 2017 by the previous leader
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
. In support of the case for maintaining the
status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. ...
, in 2022 the Independent Schools Council published a report which stated that the independent education sector contributed in 2021 £16.5 billion to the UK economy and generated £5.1 billion of tax revenue.


Associations with the ruling class

The 19th-century public school ethos promoted ideas of service to Crown and Empire, exemplified in tropes such as "Play up! Play up! And play the game!" from
Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vit ...
's 1892 poem ''Vitaï Lampada'' and "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton", the latter popularly attributed to
the Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
. Many ex-pupils, like those from other schools, had, and still have, a nostalgic affection for their old schools (
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...
remembered being "interested and happy" at Eton,) and a public school tie and an "
old boy network An old boy network (also known as old boys' network, ol' boys' club, old boys' club, old boys' society, good ol' boys club, or good ol' boys system) is an informal system in which wealthy men with similar social or educational background help ...
" of former pupils were useful in advancing a career. The English public school model influenced the 19th-century development of Scottish elite schools, but a tradition of the gentry sharing their primary education with their tenants kept Scotland more egalitarian. Former Harrow pupil
Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
wrote that when he first became Prime Minister in 1923, he wanted to have six Harrovians in his government. "To make a cabinet is like making a jig-saw puzzle fit, and I managed to make my six fit by keeping the post of
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
for myself". Until the war, the role of public schools in preparing pupils for the gentlemanly elite meant that such education, particularly in its classical focus and social mannerisms, became a mark of the
ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and by exte ...
. Acceptance of social elitism was reduced by the two world wars, but despite portrayals of the products of public schools as "silly asses" and "
toff In British English slang, a toff is a stereotype for someone with an aristocratic background or belonging to the landed gentry, particularly someone who exudes an air of superiority. For instance, the Toff, a character from the series of advent ...
s", the old system continued well into the 1960s. Postwar
social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...
has, however, gradually been reflected across Britain's educational system, while at the same time fears of problems with state education have pushed some parents, who can afford the fees or whose pupils qualify for bursaries or scholarships, towards public schools and other schools in the independent sector. By 2009 typical fees were up to £30,000 per annum for boarders. As of 2019, 20 Prime Ministers attended Eton, seven Harrow, and six Westminster. From 2019 to 2022, two Prime Ministers
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 20 ...
(Eton) and
Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...
(Winchester) were educated at Clarendon public schools. Conservative former cabinet minister
Iain Macleod Iain Norman Macleod (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. A playboy and professional bridge player in his twenties, after war service Macleod worked for the Conservative Resea ...
wrote in 1964 in "The Tory Leadership" that a conspiracy by an Etonian "magic circle" had made
Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative politician who se ...
prime minister. The assertion was so powerful that until Cameron, being an Etonian was a disadvantage to becoming a party leader, as
Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and political secretary to ...
learned in the
1990 Conservative Party leadership election The 1990 Conservative Party leadership election was called on 14 November 1990 following the decision of Michael Heseltine, former defence and environment secretary, to challenge Margaret Thatcher, the incumbent Prime Minister of the United ...
. While Home had been educated at Eton and the incoming Labour Prime Minister in 1997 (
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
) at
Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...
, all six British Prime Ministers in office between 1964 and 1997 and from 2007 to 2010 were educated at state schools (
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
,
Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
, Margaret Thatcher, and
John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Huntin ...
at grammar schools, and
James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
and
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
at other state secondary schools).
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
's secondary school education also was primarily in the state sector.
Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fi ...
was educated at a state comprehensive school. While members of the
aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word ...
and
landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...
no longer dominate independent schools, studies have shown that such schools still retain a degree of influence over the country's professional and social elite despite educating less than 10% of the population. A 2012 study published by the Sutton Trust noted that 44% of the 7,637 individuals examined whose names appeared in the birthday lists of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its s ...
'', ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...
'', ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' or ''
The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'' during 2011 – across all sectors, including politics, business, the arts and the armed forces – were educated at
independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
s. It also found that 10 elite fee-charging schools (specifically Eton,
Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lon ...
,
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
, Rugby,
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
, Marlborough,
Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...
, Harrow, St Paul's, and
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
) produced 12% of the leading high-flyers examined in the study. The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission came to a similar conclusion in a 2014 study of the professions: 71% of senior judges, 62% of senior armed forces officers, 55% of Whitehall permanent secretaries and 50% of members of the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
had been educated at fee-charging schools.


Literature and media

Public schools have long provided content for artistic and factual media productions.


Literature

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
inspired a whole new genre of literature, i.e. the
school story The school story is a fiction genre centring on older pre-adolescent and adolescent school life, at its most popular in the first half of the twentieth century. While examples do exist in other countries, it is most commonly set in English boardi ...
.
Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel '' Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended ...
's ''
Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...
'', published in 1857 was set there. There were however as many as 90 earlier novels set in British boarding schools, taking as an example just girls' school stories, published between
Sarah Fielding Sarah Fielding (8 November 1710 – 9 April 1768) was an English author and sister of the novelist Henry Fielding. She wrote ''The Governess, or The Little Female Academy'' (1749), thought to be the first novel in English aimed expressly at child ...
's 1749 '' The Governess, or The Little Female Academy'' and the seminal 1857 ''Tom Brown's School Days''. Such stories were set in a variety of institutions including private boarding and prep schools as well as public schools. ''Tom Brown's School Days'' influence on the genre of British school novels includes the fictional boarding schools of
Talbot Baines Reed Talbot Baines Reed (3 April 1852 – 28 November 1893) was an English writer of boys' fiction who established a genre of school stories that endured into the mid-20th century. Among his best-known work is '' The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's ...
's St Dominic's,
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
's '' Stalky & Co.'' at "the College", Frank Richards'
Billy Bunter William George Bunter is a fictional schoolboy created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, a fictional English public school in Kent, originally published in the boys' weekly ...
at
Greyfriars School Greyfriars School is a fictional English public school used as a setting in the long-running series of stories by the writer Charles Hamilton, who wrote under the pen-name of Frank Richards. Although the stories are focused on the Remove (or l ...
, James Hilton's
Mr Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
at Brookfield, Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings at Linbury Court,
P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeev ...
's St. Austin's and girls' schools Malory Towers and St. Trinian's. It also influenced
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
's ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at H ...
'' series, set at the fictional boarding school
Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional Scottish boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series and serves as a ma ...
. The series' first novel ''
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers h ...
'' has many direct parallels in structure and theme to ''Tom Brown's School Days''.
Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Fo ...
said of his 1962 novel, ''The IPCRESS File'', that it is "about spies on the surface, but it's also really about a grammar school boy among public school boys and the difficulties he faces."


Theatre and film

In his 1968 play '' Forty Years On'',
Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and tw ...
used the metaphor of an end-of-term revue at a minor public school to contrast the events of the twentieth century with the routines of public school life. The title alludes to the Harrow
school song A school song, alma mater, school hymn or school anthem is the patronal song of a school. In England, this tradition is particularly strong in public schools and grammar schools. Australia * The Glennie School – '' Now Thank We All Our Go ...
, "Forty Years On". The 1968 film '' if....'', which satirised the worst elements of English public school life, culminating in scenes of armed insurrection, won the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
1969 Cannes Film Festival The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 23 May 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called Directors' Fortnight was added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival. The Grand Prix du Festival International d ...
. ''Tom Brown's School Days'' has been the subject of five cinematic and television productions. ''Goodbye Mr. Chips '' has been the subject of three cinematic productions.
Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's ...
's girls' school St Trinian's has featured in seven cinematic productions. The 1942 film ''
A Yank at Eton ''A Yank at Eton'' is an American comedy-drama film directed by Norman Taurog for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mickey Rooney, Ian Hunter, and Peter Lawford. Released in 1942, it is a kind of junior thematic sequel to MGM's British-made fil ...
'' is a comedy-drama where the protagonist eventually overcomes outdated manners and attitudes. The 1947 stage play and 1950 comedy film ''The Happiest Days of Your Life'', based at fictional minor public school Nutbourne College, were commercial and critical successes. ''The Guinea Pig'', a 1946 stage play and 1948 film, dealt with the experiences of a boy from a modest background being sent to public school. ''The Browning Version'' was a 1948 stage play, 1951 film, 1994 film and subject to several television and radio adaptations. A BBC TV series ''Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School'' ran from 1952 to 1961. ''Another Country'' was a 1981 stage play and 1984 film loosely interpreting the schooldays of Eton-educated spy
Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection in 1951 ...
.


Television documentaries

*1967: ''Eton'', a documentary produced by Anthony de Lotbiniere, narrated by René Cutforth, broadcast on BBC TV. *1979: Edward Mirzoeff produced the BBC documentary entitled ''Public School'' about Westminster School, including footage of John Rae. *1980: Richard Denton produced a ten part documentary about Radley College also entitled ''Public School'', which ran on BBC2, including footage of Dennis Silk. *1981: ''The Gentleman Factory'' about Eton College, directed by Simon Dewhurst was shown on BBC1. *1991: ''Eton – Class of '91'', a Channel 4 documentary about Eton College directed by Simon Shore. *1995: ''Inside Eton'' by Howard Guard, narrated by
Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in ''The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in ''A ...
. *1996: ''True Stories: Gordonstoun'' directed by Penny Woolcock. *2001: ''Harrow:The School on the Hill'', featuring Barnaby Lenon, narrated by
Aden Gillett John Aden Gillett is a British actor. He is best known for playing the role of Jack Maddox on the BBC series '' The House of Eliott''. Biography and career Gillet was born in the city of Aden, Yemen, from which he got his name. He attended E ...
, broadcast by ITV (Carlton). *2003: ''Ampleforth: My Teacher's a Monk'', broadcast on ITV1, narrated by
Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...
, *2008: ''Pride and Privilege: A Year in the Life of Glenalmond College'', a three part series broadcast on BBC2 Scotland produced and directed by Stephen Bennett. *2008: ''My New Best Friend'' about Cheltenham Ladies College, directed by Jo Abel and broadcast on BBC4. *2011: ''Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain'',produced by Matthew Laza and presented by
Andrew Neil Andrew Ferguson Neil (born 21 May 1949) is a Scottish former journalist and broadcaster who is chairman of ''The Spectator'' and presenter of '' The Andrew Neil Show'' on Channel 4. He was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1983 to 1994. He f ...
, broadcast on BBC2. *2013: Hannah Berryman's BBC documentary with alternative titles of ''A Very English Education'' and ''Boarding School: Boys to Men'', a follow-up on the pupils who featured in the 1980 documentary about Radley College. *2013: '' Harrow: A Very British School'', broadcast on Sky1. *2014: ''The Most Famous School in the World'', a BBC documentary about Eton College, produced by Maggie Liang and Sarah Murch as part of the ''My Life'' series for children. *2015: ''Gordonstoun: A Different Class'', a six episode series broadcast on Sky1.


See also

*
Rugby Group The Rugby Group is a group of 18 British public schools. The group was formed in the 1960s as an association of major boarding schools within the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. As with the Eton Group, which was formed a few years ...
, a group of eighteen schools within the HMC *
Eton Group The Eton Group is an association of 12 English public schools within the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The Eton Group schools often cooperate with each other, organising events and school matches. For example, the Heads of academic ...
, a group of twelve schools within the HMC * Public Schools Battalions *
Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, and normally includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to "provide ...
*
Fagging Fagging was a traditional practice in British public schools and also at many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the eldest boys. Although probably originating earlier, the first account ...
* Public Schools Club *
Private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
*
Direct grant grammar school A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...
* List of SR V "Schools" class locomotives (named principally after public schools) * List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom (a number of which are public schools) *
List of English and Welsh endowed schools (19th century) This is a list of some of the endowed schools in England and Wales existing in the early part of the 19th century. It is based on the antiquarian Nicholas Carlisle's survey of "Endowed Grammar Schools" published in 1818 with descriptions of 475 s ...
(a number of which are public schools) * List of direct grant grammar schools (list of schools that were part of the scheme, between 1945 and 1976) *
List of independent schools in the United Kingdom This is an incomplete list of independent schools in the United Kingdom. For more, see Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference for a list of 242 leading day and boarding independent boys' and coeducational schools in the United Kingdom, Crow ...
*
Toffs and Toughs ''Toffs and Toughs'' is a 1937 photograph of five English boys: two dressed in the Harrow School uniform including waistcoat, top hat, boutonnière, and cane; and three nearby wearing the plain clothes of pre-war working class youths. The pictur ...
photograph * Armorial of UK schools


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * Dishon, Gideon. (2017) ''Games of character: team sports, games, and character development in Victorian public schools, 1850–1900.'' Paedagogica Historica: 1–1
https://www.researchgate.net
* * * * * * * * Gardner, Brian.(1973) ''The Public Schools: An Historical Survey'' Hamish Hamilton, London * * * Green, Francis and Kynaston, David (2019) ''Engines of Privilege: Britain's Private School Problem'', Bloomsbury Publishing, * * * * * Hope-Simpson, J. B. (1967) ''Rugby since Arnold: A History of Rugby School from 1842'' (1967) * * * * * * Laughton, M., Paech-Ujejski, A., Patterson, A., eds. (2021) ''Men's Accounts of Boarding School: Sent Away'' * * * * overs history and reputation of Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster, Winchester, and Charterhouse.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Simon, B. and Bradley, I., eds. (1975) ''The Victorian Public School: Studies in the Development of an Educational Institution'' * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Primary sources

* * *


External links

{{authority control Education in the United Kingdom Private schools School types Independent schools in the United Kingdom