Jump to content

Private schools in the United Kingdom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Runic code (talk | contribs) at 11:21, 27 January 2005 (→'Public schools' in modern Britain). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A public school, in common English usage, is a prestigious school which charges fees and is not financed by the state. In Scotland a public school is a state school, a fee-paying school is a private school. It is traditionally a single sex boarding school (although many now accept day pupils and are coeducational). The majority date back to the 18th or 19th centuries, and several are over 400 years old.

The English usage is in direct opposition to what any foreign English speaker would expect. In English usage, a government-run school (which would be called a 'public school' in other areas, such as Scotland and the United States) is called a state school.

The term 'public' (first adopted by Eton College) refers to the fact that the school is open to the paying public, as opposed to a religious school, which was open only to members of a certain church. It also distinguished it from a private education at home (usually only practical for the very wealthy who could afford tutors).

Origins of public schools

Some public schools are particularly old, such as Westminster (founded 1179), Winchester (1382), Eton (1440), Bedford (1552), Royal Shrewsbury School (1552), Rugby (1567), Harrow (1572), Uppingham (1584) and Charterhouse (1611). These were often established for male scholars from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds. The educational reforms were particularly important under Arnold at Rugby, and Butler and later Kennedy at Shrewsbury, emphasizing the importance of scholarship and competitive examinatons.

Most public schools, however, developed during the 18th and 19th centuries, and came to play an important role in the development of the Victorian social elite. Under a number of forward-looking headmasters leading public schools created a curriculum based heavily on classics and physical activity for boys and young men of the upper and upper middle classes.

They were schools for the gentlemanly elite of Victorian politics, armed forces and colonial government. Often successful businessmen would send their sons to public school as a mark of participation in the elite. Much of the discipline was in the hands of senior pupils (in some schools, known as prefects), which was not just a means to reduce staffing costs, but was also seen as preparation for military or public service.

To an extent, the public school system influenced the school systems of the British empire, and recognisably 'public' schools can be found in many Commonwealth countries.

Differing definitions

For a fuller listing of public and other independent schools in Britain, see List of UK Independent Schools.

The head teachers of major British independent boys' and mixed schools belong to the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), and a common definition of a public school is any school whose head teacher is a member of the HMC. However some do not consider every HMC school to be a typical public school, and thus other definitions are sometimes employed. Nor does this definition does include any girls' schools; it is debatable as to whether girls' schools can be considered public schools.

Prior to the Clarendon Commission, a Royal Commission that investigated the public school system in England between 1861 and 1864, there was no clear definition of a public school. The commission investigated nine of the more established schools: two day schools (Merchant Taylors' and St. Paul's) and seven boarding schools (Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster and Winchester). A report published by the commission formed the basis of the Public Schools Act 1868. These 9 are sometimes cited as the only public schools, albeit mainly by those who attended them.

Some suggest that only particularly old independent schools should be afforded the dignity of "public school". Amongst the oldest independent schools in the UK are (chronologically):

The Public Schools Yearbook, published in 1889, named the following 25 boarding schools:

However, it notably omitted the Merchant Taylors' and St Paul's day schools.

Criticisms

While, under the best circumstances, these schools were superb examples of education, the reliance on corporal punishment and the prefect system could also make them a cruel and hostile environment. The classics-based curriculum was also criticised for not providing skills in sciences or engineering.

It was Martin Wiener's opposition to this tendency which inspired his 1981 polemic "English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit: 1850-1980". It became a huge influence on the Thatcher government's opposition to old-school gentlemanly Toryism and, by default, a key reason for the recent upsurge of privately-educated pop singers in the UK.

'Public schools' in modern Britain

Today most public schools are highly selective on academic grounds, as well as financial grounds (ability to pay high fees). Despite such current prejudices against public school education in present day Britain, many parents continue to make immense sacrifices to be able to send their children to these schools, and the notion that these schools predominantly serve the rich or the privileged has become a national myth (not among the poor it hasn't). Indeed many politicians of all parties, including Prime Minister Tony Blair (Fettes), are products of public schools.

Defining a British public school is as complex today as it has ever been. Many fee-paying schools in the UK today do not refer to themselves as 'public schools', preferring the term 'independent school'. This may partly be due to the fact that they do not share the centuries of social associations and traditions of the public school system.

Slang peculiar to or originating from public schools

The following list includes some commonly used slang terms, and some historic slang, used at public schools in the UK:

Term Meaning Specificity
ABROAD Out of the sick room. Winchester
BAD EGG A nasty and unpleasant person. -
BEARDS! An exclamation of surprise. The Leys School
BEDDER A bedmaker and cleaner. Also used in Cambridge University
BIBBLING Six strokes of the cane Winchester
BRUSHING Flogging. Christ's Hospital
CARRELL A booth for private study St Paul's School; also used at universities
CHEESE A dandy. Cambridge
CHINNER Wide grin Winchester
CLIPE To tell tales. -
CORPS Combined Cadet Force -
COXY Conceited -
EXECUTION Flogging by the Head Master with a birchrod. Eton
FAG A junior boy who acts as servant for a sixth-former. -
GOD A prefect or sixth former. Eton
GOOD EGG A trustworthy or reliable person (later inversion of BAD EGG). -
MAJOR Such as Smith Major, the elder brother. -
MAXIMUS Such as Smith Maximus, the eldest brother (of three or more). -
MINIMUS Such as Smith Minimus, the youngest brother (of three or more). -
MINOR Such as Smith Minor, the younger brother. -
MONITOR Prefect. Bedford, Harrow
MUZZ To read. Westminster
NEWBIE New boy. Now a general term.
PEPPER To fill in the accents on a Greek exercise. -
PLEB A junior boy. -
QUILL To flatter. Winchester
RAG A misdemeanour, hence: -
RAG WEEK where sponsored 'misdemeanours' are common. Also used at some universities
SAPPY Severe flogging. -
SHELL A boy in the youngest year Harrow, St. Edward's, Marlborough, Winchester;
org. from Westminster.
SWIPE A sweater in House colours used for sports Marlborough
TITCHING caning Christ's Hospital

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=9701971"