Message #3467

[Martin]

]So you think we ought to have state-sponsored 'exclusive' schools?  How would you decide which child was most suited to such a school, by the way?

Actually I think the argument for state sponsored schools for the exceptionally gifted has its pros and cons, but essentially, if it is to work,  then children should be selected on the basis of their natural ability rather than their ability to pay.  It's possible to see something similar working in, say, Chethams School.  In that case it's not entirely free but fees are based on the ability to pay.

By the way, the 'best' schools aren't those that necessarily achieve the most GCSEs or A-levels.  Rather, they are those schools that raise the educational achievement of the children they have most.  As a result, most of the truly 'best' schools are in some of the most run-down and deprived areas of the country.

I agree that there are some exceptional schools which operate in deprived areas.  That doesn't alter the fact that, currently the rich can buy a far greater chance of success in education for their children than can the poor.