Can anyone explain the private school culture in Edinburgh? No other city in Scotland/UK (or even the world I think) is anywhere close to this 30% figure
by No-Professional7453
Can anyone explain the private school culture in Edinburgh? No other city in Scotland/UK (or even the world I think) is anywhere close to this 30% figure
by No-Professional7453
20 comments
Edinburgh is a fairly affluent town with a tradition of private merchant schools. The day schools are more affordable than many private schools south of the border.
Why don’t you click that link and find out – [Link to wikipedia page, all the references are right there.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_schools_in_Scotland#cite_note-7)
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These are both the articles cited for that figure:
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**”25% in Edinburgh are privately educated” – 2009 article.**
*Click the wikipedia link you took a screenshot of and look up the reference which leads you to this:* [https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/sep/22/parents-campaign-schools-edinburgh](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/sep/22/parents-campaign-schools-edinburgh)
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**It’s gone up to 30% in 2018 -** with many of the students coming from around the globe [https://www.scotsman.com/education/scotlands-private-schools-eye-international-expansion-as-market-booms-284201](https://www.scotsman.com/education/scotlands-private-schools-eye-international-expansion-as-market-booms-284201)
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Additionally according to this recent UK wide 2023 article private school attendance is becoming more common:
[https://tutorful.co.uk/blog/private-school-statistics-uk-independent-schools](https://tutorful.co.uk/blog/private-school-statistics-uk-independent-schools)
For example
– 33% in London go to private school. So your headline is rubbish
– There are 16.9% more pupils in independent schools today than there were in 1990
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It’s affluent city with many international folks, and lots of private schools. What’s the point you’re trying to shoehorn in here?
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Edit: And with your posting history being so ridiculously biased, are you suggesting that in 2009 Scotland – in the context that the SNP had just taken on a majority government after 30+ years of a Labour led Scotland. Are you trying to insinuate that the SNP suddenly caused a mass exodus from state education?
As I understand, it comes down to a few things:
* That figure considers all school pupils who go to school in Edinburgh, not live in Edinburgh – so you’ll have a solid chunk of students who commute in from further afield to go to an Edinburgh private school, and for that purpose it’s quite a central city to get to with a lot of private schools available.
* Inertia – especially compared to many other parts of Scotland/the UK, there’s more private schools around so it’s seen as a more typical thing to go to one of them, whereas in other parts of Scotland you might be well off but it’s less typical socially. [In other words – if a lot of people you know send their kids to a private school, you’re more likely to send your kids to private school as well. Otherwise, you might spend your money in other things that improve your child’s education, say extracurricular activities or tutoring].
* Edinburgh has quite a tradition with private schools, particularly with merchants way back when.
* Another comment makes the excellent point that other parts of Scotland have some excellent state schools, but in practice the cost of these isn’t in fees, but buying property in the catchment area.
I can only think this includes aw pupils that attended Edinburgh schoools, so boarders and pupils who live outwith Edinburgh. Also, the figure comes from a Scotsman article but doesnae site fae where so who even kens if it’s true? Growing up in Edinburgh I certainly didnae think every 4th person I met went tae private school.
It’s worth noting that in Glasgow/surrounding counties, there are some very high achieving state secondary schools. Bearsden, Jordanhill, schools in East Renfrewshire. The cost of getting children in to many of these schools is property, as can be seen in property prices in the catchments. It’s a different way of spending the same money, to a degree.
We live 30 miles from Edinburgh and quite a few pupils attend Edinburgh schools. In fact there is a bus also picks up for a school in Berwick upon Tweed as well.
If parents want to spend money on what they perceive as a better education for their children then carry on as far as I’m concerned.
Quite simply more money. Place is now full of English Civil Servants (don’t let the term Scottish Parliament fool you) who moved up with huge salaries having also sold their 1 bedroomed flat in London and outbid all the locals on house buying.
And that’s not to mention their relocation payments etc etc.
They don’t want their spoiled brats having to rub shoulders with the great unwashed as they see it. And God forbid they lose their accents
I like the fact private schools are there (and I didn’t go to one or my kids) as it does mean less kids in a public school- even though class sizes are too big.
Where else would we get out future politicians, senior civil servants, bankers, chief executives, lawyers and feted artists from?
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It’s rather self perpetuating – if you went to private school, and your parents went to private school, you’re probably going to strongly consider sending your own kids to one too.
My figures are massively out of date but I believe that in 2010 about 25% of high school kids in Edinburgh are in private school, compared to 7% throughout Scotland. But I was under the impression that something like 22% if high school kids in England were privately educated. It might just be that Glasgow has hardly any private schools.
School I went to had the entire bottom floor flood with piss and it had to get aired out with fans and half our school never even did exams because of staff shortages. These snobby posh cunts have never done a day of hard work. Working-class people built this country.
If state schools lag so far behind private schools it’s up to the Government to bring them up to the same standards. The Scottish Government were quick enough to throw money at teachers to stop them striking so now it’s time they earned that money.
Your opinion. Perhaps you should read some history.
If you can pay to send your kids to private schools – perpetuating elitism – then you should pay to send them to university too. No state support at all. The ‘arguments’ attempting to justify this figure are risible. All schools should be state schools.
Posh folk can’t be bothered with their children, so they send them to boarding schools.
I know a young lass who’s father obviously has money, an older man with a much younger trophy wife, they send their daughter to boarding school in Edinburgh.
The family stay in Livingston south, plenty options for travelling to and from school but they choose to send their daughter away for most of the year.
Personally I have found parents who send their kids to private schools/boarding schools are selfish arseholes.
Unfortunately private schools have a major problem, they can offer great education but pupils who attend them have more social problems and personal development issues than kids who attend their local schools with their friends.
All the kids I know who have attended private schools are very awkward in literally every social situation as they feel different amongst their peers.
This is the subject of frequent debate. I’ll give my 2p worth. For transparency I went to one.
There’s a lot of money in Edinburgh and it’s used differently to say Glasgow. A huge generalisation I know. But in Glasgow there’s a show and spend culture and in Edinburgh it’s subtle and conserved. Wages are higher and property values are higher and there’s a lot of wealth passed down.
So the money is there in Edinburgh more than in many other cities.
Then you have so many private schools that the middle classes who would be in state schools opt up to private schools and the kids that are left are less typical of normal state schools as the aspiring middle classes have opted out. There are exceptions – Royal High, Balerno, etc – but in general most state schools have a gap in the mix.
Then you have the social networks of Edinburgh and the desire to stay in cliques that often operate around the schools. If you’re part of the Fettes, Merchy or Watsons community then your social life and that of your kids will be driven by that. Sports, holidays and at a stretch some business activities… all of that gets influenced by being in these communities.
So it’s a bit of supply of money, fear of being in a less socially diversified state school and a bit of a desire to socialise in the right places.
Was it / is it worth it? Impossible to say but any discussion I have with new people in Edinburgh (I don’t live there now) quickly gets to what school my own children go to and what school I went to. It’s a bit cringe.
I’m sure others will have a very different view.
There is a great number of schools that all operate under the Merchants Guild of Edinburgh which is an incredibly affluent group. So many pupils travel in from outside of Edinburgh to these schools. It’s really just that Edinburgh is a concentration of many private schools where the surroundings are almost empty of them.
Have you noticed how posh Edinburgh is? It’s had a ton of private schools for over a century now, it’s just part of the city dna.