4.Independent Schools⁴

Outside the state system there are thousands of independent schools that are independent of state funding.They include preparatory schools，public schools，and some former direct-grant grammar schools that opted not to merge with the state system under Labour educational policies in the 1960sand 1970s.They rely upon fees and endowments for their income；despite their high fees they account for around 5%of the school population.Supporters of independent schools claim that they enable parents to choose the type of school they wish their children to attend，and that they provide a better education by being able to afford smaller classes，and higher salaries for their teachers.Many，but not all，independent schools also provide boarding accommodation，which very few state schools possess.Opponents of private education maintain that it is socially divisive and breeds elitism.

Preparatory schools are usually called prep schools that prepare children in the age range from 7to 13for entry to public schools.They charge high fees and try to offer a wider range of academic and social opportunities than that is available in the state schools.Links between them and their“target public schools are often informal but close，with the prep schools measuring their success by the numbers of pupils they manage to get through the Common Entrance Examination.They therefore exert strong pressure towards academic achievement.Prep schools are predominantly single-sex；girls’prep schools were established to serve the needs of the girls public schools，some boys prep schools take girls in the junior forms and vice versa.

Public schools are fee-paying schools for students aged 11（or 13）to 18.The English public schools were originally grammar schools，under some form of public control.By the 18th century they had developed into middle or upper class boarding schools.The most famous public schools include Eton College⁵（1440），Harrow School ⁶（1571），Winchester College⁷（1394），and Rugby School ⁸（1567）.Thomas Arnold，headmaster of Rugby（1828-1842），greatly reformed public school methods and his example led to the founding of new schools.Public schools emphasize the importance of character-training，e.g.through the prefect system⁹ of giving responsibility for discipline to boys themselves.The balance of privilege and obligation also included fagging¹⁰，by which junior boys carried out menial duties for their seniors.This has now almost entirely lapsed，along with many of the harsher aspects of former public school regimes.

Most public schools remain boarding schools；and the majority are single-sex，although some boys’schools now have mixed sixth forms.While there exist certain assistance schemes and scholarships to gifted children，the fees are generally very high.Critics of the public school system see them as offering unfair opportunities to 4or 5percent of British children.It is true that most of the members of the British Establishment were graduated from public schools.