The private schools now MORE diverse than top state rivals

MANY private schools are more diverse than their top state counterparts because they admit more poor pupils, leading heads say.

The Girls’ Schools Association said some have up to a fifth of pupils from deprived backgrounds.

This is thanks to full bursaries funded by donors, endowment funds and the fees paid by well-off families. According to the Sutton Trust, only 3 per cent of pupils in state grammars are eligible for free school meals – the standard measure for disadvantage.

Wealthy parents are prepared to pay extra for properties next to top schools and, if necessary, pay for tuition to help their children pass entrance exams. Sue Hincks, the GSA’s president-elect for 2019 and head of Bolton School Girls’ Division, said: ‘In a school like ours which offers one in five bursaries, of which the majority are going to children on free school meals, we know we have a very socially diverse population in front of us.

‘Those children are selected on ability, but they also come because we are offering them a funded place, including a free school meal.

‘That is a percentage that compares very favourably with what would be happening in local state grammar schools, where many of the children are there because they are able but they are also in the catchment area.

‘And the catchment area has house prices which are such that you would have to have a relatively good income in order to be able to go to the school.’

The GSA said the same pattern was seen in a number of its schools.

Sally-Anne Huang, head of James Allen’s Girls’ School in South London, said 16 per cent of her pupils were on bursaries. She added: ‘Fee-paying parents, who can easily afford our fees, will tell me that they’ve chosen us over other independent day schools in London because of that.

‘They think it indicates the moral compass of the school and also they prefer for their

‘Selected on ability’

daughters to be educated in a socially diverse community.’ The heads were talking at the annual conference of the GSA in Marble Arch, central London, yesterday.

The charitable status of private schools, which gives them generous tax breaks, is in the spotlight. The Government wants them to prove their worth as charitable institutions to keep the privilege.

The GSA said its schools were already helping disadvantaged children, including partnering with state schools to share teachers and facilities.

Figures from 192.com show that school catchment houses cost up to £70,000 more.

Some parents even rent or buy a second property near their chosen school to ensure their child gets a place.