Myths and misconceptions about independent schools abound. Alistair Lexden addressed some of them in a letter published in The Daily Telegraph on February 9.
SIR--Alison Pearson (article, Feb.3) perpetuates the potent myth that parents need to “fork out north of thirty grand” to send their children to independent schools.
Roughly 14 per cent of the 520,000 places in schools belonging to the Independent Schools Council cost this amount, which has come to be regarded as typical. It is in fact the average fee in boarding schools-- of which Britain now has very few.
The vast majority of pupils in the independent sector are in day schools, where average fees are around £13,000. Most of these schools are small, teaching fewer than 350 pupils. The image of independent schools as grand, expensive and elitist is out of date. Twenty-nine per cent of pupils in these schools are from a minority ethnic background, the same as in the state sector. Partnership schemes of all kinds are growing steadily; more than 700 are listed on the new Schools Together website, a joint venture between the state and independent sectors.
It is unsurprising that the Labour Party clings to the old myth. The rest of the country should discard it.
Lord Lexden
General Secretary, Independent Schools Council, 1997-2004
London SW1