When those in power have to educate their children in the same places as the rest of us, then the standard of education will rise for all of us.
I simply do not believe this Martin. The same schools will have the same teachers - they will simply be paid by different people. The same schools will still have the same 'old-boy networks'. The same schools will still get the majority of top university places, not because the children going there are any brighter but because A) their background leads them to expect this outcome and B) because they are taught by teachers who expect them to go to these uni's and instil the same expectations in the pupils. This is not the case with many comp pupils, whose paucity of expectation is a huge hindrance to achievement. This is why grammar schools (even when they do not have entrance requirements) do so much better than most comps in their areas. If you are told from the word go that you are expected to achieve you are far more likely to do so than if you are told that you probably won't - a very good reason why secondary modern schools failed. They shouldn't have, because they should have instiled the idea that a good plumber (or whatever) is just as important as a good banker; but there you go!
Anyway those with money will always find ways of getting into the 'best' schools even if there are only state schools, thus crowding out the parents with less money - ensuring that the school would not change much for a very long time. As I say, the only effect would be an increase in the schools budget. The rich parents would supplement the schools capitation from the govt ensuring that the standards did not fall

    What you need to do is to ensure that universities do not differentiate in favour of private schools
If there were no private schools then you wouldn't need to do this.

Yes you would because someone from Eaton (now a state school) will still be far more likely to be expecting to get to a top uni  - it is very largely a paucity of expectation of the pupils because the teachers do not expect it in the first place and because of the kids backgrounds.

Increasing the state schools which provide boarding houses could indeed be done, but probably only easily by taking over the private schools - and see above for my opinion of what that would do!


Having said that, this is of course a generalisation and, as with all generalisations, there are exceptions, not only in the schools as a whole but also in individual teachers within the schools and indeed in parental expectations/involvement and pupil expectations - actually the parental involvement is one of the biggest single factors I believe.


I believe that there are several of these, even now.  In fact, there is a State Boarding School Association.  http://www.sbsa.org.uk/

I stand corrected...