Labour’s decision to add VAT to school fees shows that the party has an irrational hatred of posh schools. Hiking fees might bring in relatively little money, but that hardly matters when there is a class war to be fought. While the targeting of private schools has grabbed the headlines, another story – with equally disastrous consequences – has gone under the radar. Hellbent on hurting private schools, the government has made a decision that will deny our brightest kids the best possible future.
For years, Eton College, the world’s most famous school, had hoped to make a difference in overlooked English towns, in a partnership with Star Academies, a leading academy trust whose students achieve top exam grades. Their plans were complete and, within months, Eton was set to begin building three sixth form free schools in areas of low academic attainment (Middlesbrough, Dudley and Oldham). The schools could have ensured that children there had a chance to get a world-class education, win places at the most selective universities and go on to great things.
To ensure these new sixth forms had top-notch facilities and an inspiring extra-curricular offer, Eton had pledged millions of its own money, on top of agreed government pupil funding. Predictably, the public loved this plan. But not Labour. In October, the government put the project on ice by announcing a review of the sixth form colleges. Five months on, there has been no proper update on the project. There was no word on what was happening in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement this week.
This lukewarm reaction to the plans is bizarre and upsetting. Opponents to the scheme ignore the fact that bright kids from poorer backgrounds would have benefited, instead choosing to bandy about cliches about privilege and elitism.
Before Eton’s plans went public, I worked closely with them, highlighting the opportunities in Middlesbrough and securing an ideal site for the new school. While local parents were thrilled at the prospect of a free Eton education, some local sixth form heads felt threatened by the arrival of a new option, fearing it might be harder to retain top students.
Their defensiveness was perhaps understandable; it is not unusual for people to resist competition, even though it often fuels a race to the top, their own standards rising to keep up or ahead. But this wasn’t about them. It was about Middlesbrough’s brightest poor kids. Similarly, the Eton/Star plans weren’t about Labour or Conservatives; they were about bringing excellence to forgotten places and kids who consistently underperform their abilities.
But that didn’t stop Labour’s Middlesbrough’s MP Andy McDonald from dismissing the plans with tired class-war clichés about Eton’s ‘stifling elitism’.
Sadly, the class warriors seem to have won this battle. The government’s decision to pause the free schools programme, including the Eton/Star initiative, has effectively killed off the chance for bright but poor kids from Middlesbrough, Oldham and Dudley to benefit.
Labour’s damaging hatred of private schools has struck again. The government will be pleased that they’ve scuppered Eton’s plan, and may think it’s given the school a bloody nose. But the real losers here are the kids, their families and the communities who have had the chance to thrive ripped from them.
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