The Positives of a Private Education

What are some of the benefits associated with a private education? As well as being able to draw on more resources and generally better facilities than state schools, independent schools that offer aprivate education can also deliver smaller classes, more exam focused work, and a wider range of extra-curricular activities. These clear benefits, and the uptick in academic standards that this produces, make private education recommended if you can manage the investment.

Choice

In terms of choosing between different schools, private education gives you a lot more choice than a local state school; you can opt for girls’ and boys’ schools or co-ed establishments, as well as schools with boarding, particular reputations for key subjects, and schools that offer support for non English language speaking children.

Academic Excellence

With private education, you effectively get what you put into fees - the pass rate of five or more GCSE passes is 80 per cent and above in independent schools, compared to around 49 per cent in state schools; about 90 per cent of students that are privately educated also go on to university.

Extra-Curricular Activities

The resources and extra staff that private schools can attract means that students can gain access to a lot of different clubs, sports clubs, and travelling opportunities, giving them a broader and more well rounded education.

Enhanced Discipline

Again, this positive largely comes down to resources - private schools, and particularly boarding schools, can provide a more structured environment for children, with smaller classes, more one to one tuition and mentorship reducing problems with discipline.

Special Needs Support

Private education can also provide a space for children with learning disabilities to receive extra care and attention; this can provide an alternative to state schools, where it can often be difficult for teachers to devote time to individual needs in large classes.

Smaller Class Sizes

Just having smaller class sizes can make a significant difference to the quality of education provided at a private school; teachers can focus more on individual students, and can also tailor work much more to higher abilities and interests; this focus can also help students to form closer friendships with their peers.

Enhanced Eligibility for University

Privately educated students, on average, have a better eligibility rate for going to the top Russell Group universities and Oxbridge, with specialist tuition, interview practice, and strong A Level results contributing towards this success.

Tuition

Fee paying private schools can devote the time to encouraging and inspiring particularly bright students that might be restricted by the curriculum and class sizes in other schools; this also applies to independent and private colleges, where intense tuition can be given for completing extra A Levels, or for raising standards for retakes.

In this context, private education has many benefits, and does demonstrate that being able to have the resources to pay for private schooling can work out to a more tailored environment for students, without the many challenges that state secondaries have to deal with on a regular basis.

Author Bio

Dav is an education blogger who is fascinated by the changes currently occurring in British schools and colleges. He particularly benefited from tuition at a private college like Lansdowne College in London while doing his A Levels.
 
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