Ministry of Education of the Republic of

Azerbaijan
Baku Business University
REFERAT
Faculty: Economics and management
Group: 822C
Specialty: Social work
Course: II
Topic: Schools in the U.K
Subject: Business and academic communication in a
foreign language - 3

Sientific leader: Musayeva Solmaz

BAKU - 2023
Introduction
Plan
1. Definition
2. Early history
3. Curriculum and Charitable status
4. Victorian period

Introduction
The education system in the UK is divided into four main parts,
primary education, secondary education, further education and higher
education.
The education system in the UK is also split into "key stages" which
breaks down as follows:
Key Stage 1: 5 to 7 years old
Key Stage 2: 7 to 11 years old
Key Stage 3: 11 to 14 years old
Key Stage 4: 14 to 16 years old

1. Definition
This article is about a number of older, fee-charging schools in the
United Kingdom and Commonwealth. For other fee-charging schools,
see Private schools in the United Kingdom. For publicly funded
schools, see State school.
In England and Wales, a public school is a type of fee-
charging private school originally for older boys. They are "public" in
the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of
locality, denomination or paternal trade or profession, nor are they run
for the profit of a private owner.
Although the term "public school" has been in use since at least the
18th century, its usage was formalised by the Public Schools Act
1868. which put into law most recommendations of the
1864 Clarendon Report. Nine prestigious schools were investigated by
Clarendon ( including two day schools, Merchant Taylors' and St
Paul's ) and seven subsequently reformed by the
Act: Eton, Shrewsbury, Harrow, Winchester, Rugby, Westminster,
and Charterhouse. Public schools are associated with the ruling
class. Historically, public schools produced many of the military
officers and administrators of the British Empire. In 2019, two-thirds
of cabinet ministers of the United Kingdom had been educated at such
fee-charging schools. In Scotland, a public school has a different
significance; there the term is typically synonymous with state
school in England and Wales. Fee-charging schools are referred to
as private or independent schools.
There is no single or absolute definition of public school, and the use
of the term has varied over time and according to context. The starting
point was the contrast between a public school and private
teaching (eg., provided by a hired tutor). In England and Wales what
are called public schools are not funded from public taxation.
Sydney Smith in an 1810 article published in The Edinburgh
Review suggested the following. "By a public school, we mean
an endowed place of education of old standing, to which the sons of
gentlemen resort in considerable numbers, and where they continue to
reside, from eight or nine, to eighteen years of age. We do not give
this as a definition which would have satisfied Porphyry or Duns-
Scotus, but as one sufficiently accurate for our purpose. The
characteristic features of these schools are, their antiquity, the
numbers, and the ages of the young people who are educated at
them ...".
Arthur Leach, in his History of Winchester College (1899), stated:
"The only working definition of a Public School...is that it is an
aristocratic or plutocratic school which is wholly or almost wholly a
Boarding School, is under some form of more or less public control,
and is ... non-local".
Edward C. Mack in 1938 proposed the simple definition of "a non-
local endowed boarding school for the upper classes".
Vivian Ogilvie in The English Public School (1957) suggests five
"characteristics commonly associated with a public school" (while
allowing that these are not absolute or definitive): "it is a class school,
catering for a well-to-do clientèle; it is expensive; it is non-local; it is a
predominantly boarding school; it is independent of the State and of
local government, yet it is not privately owned or run for profit."
Oxford Dictionary of English: 'In England, originally, a grammar -
school founded or endowed for use or benefit of the public, either
generally, or of a particular locality, and carried on under some kind
of public management or control; often contrasted with a "private
school" carried on at the risk and for the profit of its master or
proprietors.'
In November 1965, the UK Cabinet considered the definition of a
public school for the purpose of the Public Schools Commission set
up that year. It started with the 1944 Fleming Committee definition of
Public Schools, which consisted of schools which were members of
the then Headmasters' Conference, the Governing Bodies
Association or the Girls' Schools Association. At that time, there were
276 such independent schools (134 boys and 142 girls), which the
1965 Public Schools Commission took in scope of its work and also
considered 22 maintained and 152 direct grant grammar schools.
In 2023, using the 1965 Public Schools Commission definition or the
1944 Fleming Committee definition, there are 302 independent
secondary schools belonging to the Headmasters' and Headmistresses'
Conference (78% of HMC schools are co-educational, 9% are boys
only and 13% are girls only), and 152 independent girls' secondary
schools belonging to the Girls' Schools Association.
The majority of public schools are affiliated with, or were established
by, a Christian denomination, principally the Church of England, but
in some cases the Roman Catholic and Methodist churches. A small
number are non-denominational or inherently secular,
including Oswestry School, Bedales and University College School.
A minor public school is defined in Brewer's Dictionary of Modern
Phrase and Fable as "a somewhat demeaning term dating from the
1930s for an English public school that is not one of the ancient
foundations, such as Eton, Harrow, Rugby or Winchester". Public
school rivalry is a factor in the perception of a "great" (or "major")
versus "minor" distinction.
 2. Early history
Public schools emerged from grammar schools established to educate
pupils, usually destined for clerical orders, in Latin grammar. Thus,
concerned with educating boys. The term "public" came into use
because over time access to such schools was not restricted on the
basis of home location, paternal occupation or status, and that they
were subject to an element of public management or control, in
contrast to private schools which were run for the personal profit of
the owner(s). The origins of schools in England were primarily
religious, although in 1640 the House of Commons invited the
reformer and promoter of universal education Comenius to England to
establish and participate in an agency for the promotion of learning. It
was intended that by-products of this would be the publication of
"universal" books and the setting up of schools for boys and
girls. The English Civil War prevented any such reform.
Some schools are particularly old, such as The King's School,
Canterbury c. 597, The King's School, Rochester c. 604, St Peter's
School, York c. 627, Sherborne School c. 710, (refounded 1550
by Edward VI), Warwick School c. 914, King's Ely c. 970 (once the
Ely Cathedral Grammar School, then the King's School Ely when
refounded in 1541 by Henry VIII, subsequently adopting the current
name in 2012) and St Albans School c. 948. Until the Late Middle
Ages most schools were controlled by the Church; and had specific
entrance criteria; others were restricted to the sons of members of
guilds, trades, or livery companies.
In 1382 William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor
of England, founded Winchester College. In 1440 Henry VI founded
Eton College. These schools had significantly larger foundations than
the existing local grammar schools, had high level political patronage,
and also accepted "non-local" pupils. This was "the start of a new kind
of school".Elizabeth I refounded Westminster School in 1560, with
new statutes, to select forty Queen's Scholars. This created a "triad" of
privileged schools—Winchester, Eton and Westminster. From the
16th century onward, boys' boarding schools continued to be founded
or endowed for public use.
Daniel Defoe in The Compleat English Gentleman of 1728, writes of
"the great schools of Eton, Winchester, Westminster, Felsted, Bishop
Stortford (sic), Canterbury and others, where the children—nay, the
eldest sons—of some of the best families in England have been
educated."
By the end of the 17th century, the London day schools St Paul's and
Merchant Taylors', together with the charitable foundations of Christ's
Hospital and Charterhouse, had developed an elevated "standing in
popular regard".
By the end of the 18th century, two local grammar schools, Harrow
and Rugby, had achieved national fame. In the case of Harrow,
political sponsorship by aristocratic Whig politician James
Brydges (later Duke of Chandos) played a significant role, but also, as
was the case too with Rugby, an exemplary headmaster was a key
factor in raising the status of the school. This phenomenon was also
seen at Shrewsbury, where Samuel Butler was headmaster between
1798 and 1836.
In 1801 William Vincent, headmaster of Westminster published A
Defence of Public Education. It contains the text "...comprize under
the expression of Public Schools? Are we to understand only
Winchester, Eton and Westminster? or are we to extend our notion, as
we ought to do, to the other three great schools in the Metropolis; to
Harrow, Rugby, Manchester, Wakefield and many more of equal
magnitude in the North?"
In 1816 Rudolph Ackermann published a book which used the term
"History of the Public Schools" of what he described as the "principal
schools of England", entitled The History of the Colleges of
Winchester, Eton, and Westminster; with the Charter-House, the
Schools of St. Paul's, Merchant Taylors, Harrow, and Rugby, and the
Free-School of Christ's Hospital.
In 1818 Nicholas Carlisle published a two-volume survey entitled A
Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England
and Wales. The survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire
sent to the schools. The description of 475 schools range from one or
two paragraphs to many pages of detail. Included in the survey are the
renowned nine schools which forty three years later became the
subject of the 1861 Clarendon Commission.
In 1828 Thomas Arnold became headmaster of Rugby School. The
reforming actions he took during his fourteen years (1828–1842) of
tenure established a new model for the nineteenth and early twentieth
century public school. Arnold developed the praepostor (or prefect)
system, in which a group of senior boys were given disciplinary
powers of other pupils. This became a standard method to establish
good order in the public schools, which had developed a reputation for
rowdiness and on occasion, serious disorder.
King's College School was founded in 1829 and University College
School in 1830. Separate preparatory schools (or "prep schools") for
younger boys developed from the 1830s, with entry to the senior
schools becoming limited to boys of at least 12 or 13 years old. The
first of these was Windlesham House School, established with support
from Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School between 1828
and 1841.
 3. Curriculum and Charitable status
The almost exclusive teaching of grammar (Latin and to a lesser
extent ancient Greek) prevailed until well into the 19th century. Most
schools were legally obliged to do so by the terms of their original
endowment. As a response to the perceived need to modernise such a
curriculum in line with commercial needs, the Grammar School Act
1840 was passed.
This allowed schools to make an application to a court of law (rather
than Parliament) to deviate from the wishes of the original founder
and teach "other branches of literature and science". The new public
schools established in the early and mid-19th century were not
constrained by early endowments and therefore were able from
foundation to offer a wider range of taught subjects.
From the 1850s organised games became prominent in the
curriculum, based on the precedent set at Rugby by Thomas Arnold,
forming a keystone of character development through teamwork,
sportsmanship and self-sacrifice. Hely Almond headmaster
at Loretto 1862–1903, in stating 'Games in which success depends on
the united efforts of many, and which also foster courage and
endurance are the very lifeblood of the public school
system', encapsulated the thinking of the era.
The prominence of team sports prevails to the current day and is a
feature by which public schools still distinguish themselves from state
maintained schools. By the latter part of the 19th century 'modern'
subjects such as mathematics and science featured in many schools
listings in The Public Schools Yearbook.
Within English law a charity is defined as an institution established for
a charitable purpose and providing a public benefit. The "advancement
of education" is a long-standing charitable purpose. The UK's oldest
charity is the King's School Canterbury.
Charitable status for schools outside of the state maintained sector
confers various tax benefits. This means schools are not liable
for corporation tax or capital gains tax and receive an 80% reduction
in business rates (a local property tax). Donations by individuals to
such schools are considered "tax free". Fee-charging schools having
the status of charities are not totally tax exempt as they pay some
business rates, VAT on procured goods and services and staff
pay income tax on earnings. The public benefit that a charity is
obliged to provide is not defined in law.
Typically schools provide this public benefit by offering bursaries to
pupils of families with limited financial means and supporting local
state maintained school(s) and institutions, including allowing public
access to school facilities.
As of 2020 the nine Clarendon schools had a combined asset value of
almost £2bn. Eton College is the school with the largest endowment of
over £500m Charitable status is politically controversial. The UK
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer in 2021 pledged to remove
charitable status for fee-charging schools, a policy also of Harold
Wilson, stated in the 1974 Labour election manifesto.
Removal of charitable status would enable the UK government to
levy VAT on school fees, a commitment (re)made in the 1983 Labour
Party election manifesto under Neil Kinnock's leadership, and revived
in 2017 by Jeremy Corbyn. In support of the case for maintaining
the status quo, the Independent Schools Council published in 2022 a
report which stated that the independent education sector contributed
in 2021 £16.5 billion to the UK economy and generated £5.1 billion of
tax revenue. The 2019 UK Conservative Party election manifesto
made no mention of education outside of the state maintained
sector. In September 2023 the UK Labour party announced that, if
elected, it planned to allow public schools to retain their charitable
status (and some associated tax benefits) but did plan to charge VAT
on fees and remove concessions on business rates paid to local
authorities.
The 19th-century public school ethos promoted ideas of service to
Crown and Empire, exemplified in tropes such as "Play up! Play up!
And play the game!" from Henry Newbolt's 1892 poem Vitaï
Lampada and "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of
Eton", the latter popularly attributed to the Duke of Wellington. Many
ex-pupils, like those from other schools, had, and still have, a
nostalgic affection for their old schools (George Orwell remembered
being "interested and happy" at Eton,) and a public school tie and an
"old boy network" of former pupils were useful in advancing a career.
The English public school model influenced the 19th-century
development of Scottish elite schools, but a tradition of the gentry
sharing their primary education with their tenants kept Scotland more
egalitarian.
Former Harrow pupil Stanley Baldwin wrote that when he first
became Prime Minister in 1923, he wanted to have six Harrovians
in his government. "To make a cabinet is like making a jig-saw puzzle
fit, and I managed to make my six fit by keeping the post
of Chancellor of the Exchequer for myself".
Until the First World War, the role of public schools in preparing
pupils for the gentlemanly elite meant that such education, particularly
in its classical focus and social mannerisms, became a mark of
the ruling class. Acceptance of social elitism was reduced by the two
world wars, but despite portrayals of the products of public schools as
"silly asses" and "toffs", the old system continued well into the 1960s.
 4. Victorian period
A Royal Commission, the Clarendon Commission (1861–1864),
investigated nine of the more established schools, including seven
boarding schools
(Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster and
Winchester) and two day schools (St Paul's and Merchant Taylors')
The Public Schools Act 1868 subsequently regulated and reformed the
seven boarding schools investigated by Clarendon, and in summary
established and granted autonomy to new governing bodies for the
seven schools and as part of that, released them from previous
obligations under their founding charters to educate "boys on the
Foundation" ie scholarship boys who paid nominal or no fees.
The Act gave the seven schools independence from direct jurisdiction
or responsibility of the Crown, the established church, or the
government. Henceforth each of these schools was to be managed by
a board of governors. St Paul's School and the Merchant Taylors'
School claimed successfully that their constitutions made them
"private" schools, and were excluded from the requirements of this
legislation.
The Taunton Commission was appointed in 1864 to examine the
remaining 782 endowed grammar schools, and in 1868 produced
recommendations to restructure their endowments; these
recommendations were included, in modified form, in the Endowed
Schools Act 1869.
In that year Edward Thring, headmaster of Uppingham School, wrote
to 37 of his fellow headmasters of what he considered the leading
boys' schools, not covered by the Public Schools Act of 1868, inviting
them to meet annually to address the threat posed by the Endowed
Schools Act of 1869. In the first year 12 headmasters attended; the
following year 34 attended, including heads from the Clarendon
schools. The Headmasters' Conference (HMC), now the Headmasters'
and Headmistresses' Conference, has grown steadily and by 2021 had
298 British and Irish schools as members.
Many new schools were established in the mid-part of the nineteenth
century including the day schools City of London School (1837)
and Liverpool College (1840). New boarding schools
included Cheltenham (1841), Marlborough (1843), Rossall (1844), Ra
dley (1847), Taunton (1847), Lancing (1848), Hurstpierpoint (1849),
Bradfield (1850), Wellington (1852), Epsom (1855), Ardingly (1858),
Clifton (1862), Malvern (1862), Haileybury (1862), Framlingham (18
64) and Cranleigh (1865).
In 1887 the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal determined that
the City of London School was a public school.
The Public Schools Yearbook was published for the first time in 1889,
listing 30 schools, mostly boarding schools. The day school
exceptions were St Paul's School and Merchant Taylors' School. By
1895 there were entries for 64 schools.
 Result
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 Literature
1. https://www.brightworldguardianships.com/en/
guardianship/british-education-system/
2. "Local Authorities". local.direct.gov.uk Retrieved 29
May 2014.
3. UK_Government (January)
4. 2017). "National_tables:_SFR28/2017". National
Statistics - Schools, pupils and their characteristics:
January 2017.
5. "Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2017 -
GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2017.