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118-480: Oakham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Oakham , Rutland , England. The school was founded in 1584 by Archdeacon Robert Johnson , along with Uppingham School , a few miles away. They share a common badge design (and a strong rivalry), but while Uppingham's colours tend towards blue and white, Oakham's are black and red. Under headmaster John Buchanan, in 1971 Oakham

236-641: A Committee on Public Schools under the leadership of David Fleming . The committee was tasked to "consider means whereby the association between the Public Schools and the general educational system of the country could be developed and extended". The Fleming Report (1944) entitled The Public Schools and the General Education System defined a public school as a member of the Governing Bodies Association or

354-644: 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

472-422: A "direct grant" from central government, or be "grant-aided" by their local authority. By 1932 there were 240 secondary schools receiving a direct grant, compared with 1138 aided by local authorities. Although this division was intended purely as an administrative convenience, local authorities gradually gained more influence over the schools they aided, in part because of the schools' weak financial position during

590-577: A broader range. These included the 23 schools of the Girls' Public Day School Trust (now the Girls' Day School Trust ). During the post-War period, many parts of the world moved from selective education to comprehensive schools catering for children of all abilities. Dissatisfaction with the Tripartite System grew during the 1950s, with concern over the harsh division of the school population at

708-460: A campaign by parents. Elsewhere the plans proceeded over local objections, with schools closing or becoming comprehensive schools or sixth form colleges , often by merging with other schools. Dr Williams School , a small school for girls in Dolgellau , northwest Wales, also closed at this time. The remaining schools, including all of the large secular ones, became independent when their grant

826-697: 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. Direct grant grammar school The status was introduced in England and Wales by the Education Act 1944 as a modification of an existing direct grant scheme to some long standing endowed grammar schools. There were 179 direct grant grammar schools, which, together with almost 1,300 grammar schools maintained by local authorities , formed

944-422: A dual-award science course, and a foreign language (French, German or Spanish) to GCSE , as well as at least two of history, geography and RP (Religion & Philosophy). Pupils then choose two subjects from a selection, including a second foreign language, drama and theatre studies, Textiles, Painting, Sculpture, Design & Technology, sports science and a combined Greek and Latin course. There are ten houses in

1062-580: A further 25% of places to be paid for by the LEA if required. The remaining ("residuary") places would attract fees, but no child would be admitted unless they had achieved the required standard in the eleven plus. The schools would be inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools , would have one third of their governing bodies appointed by the LEA, and would require the approval of the Secretary of State to raise fees or carry out building work. The scheme

1180-537: A grant from central government. The direct grant grammar schools would henceforth receive partial state funding (a "direct grant") in return for taking between 25 and 50 percent of its pupils from state primary schools. Other grammar schools were funded by Local Education Authorities . The Labour government in 1965 made major changes to the organisation of state maintained schools issuing Circular 10/65 which directed local authorities to phase out selection at eleven years of age. It also fulfilled its pledge to examine

1298-650: A great want in Cork—namely, a good public school, and with the object of inducing persons who had been sending their children to England, to educate them at home'. In 2020 6.7% of the school population in the Republic of Ireland attended 'elite' fee charging schools. In 1892 Haileybury alumnus Charles Rendall, founded Haileybury "altera terra" in Melbourne, Australia. In the 20th and 21st centuries, several public schools opened affiliates in other countries, especially

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1416-406: A list of notable alumni, see List of Old Oakhamians . Public school (United Kingdom) A public school in England and Wales 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

1534-638: A new accommodation with the voluntary schools. In response, the Headmasters' Conference persuaded the President of the Board of Education, R.A. Butler , to establish a commission under Lord Fleming in July 1942 "to consider means whereby the association between the Public Schools ... and the general education system of the country could be developed and extended". The Education Act 1944 aimed to introduce

1652-544: 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

1770-629: A number of charitable institutions, including the two free grammar schools at Oakham and Uppingham . As someone on the Puritan wing of the Church of England he had a strong belief in the benefits of education. According to Johnson's statutes for the school, "the schoolmaster shall teach all those grammar scholars that are brought up in Oakham, freely without pay, if their parents be poor and not able to pay, and keep them constantly to school." The master of

1888-552: A quarter of them. The second group consisted of 30 schools (23 for boys and 7 for girls) with a significant proportion (over 25%) of boarders. Boarders made up the majority of pupils at 15 schools (all but one for boys), including five of the six Methodist schools. Boarding schools tended to be smaller and less academically selective than other direct grant schools, and to take a larger proportion of fee-paying pupils. They also tended to be more socially selective, with nearly three quarters of their pupils having fathers in management or

2006-501: A reorganisation of their schools. The Circular also requested consultation between LEAs and direct grant schools on their participation in a comprehensive system. For this reason, direct grant schools were excluded from consideration by the Public Schools Commission set up in 1965, even though 152 of them would otherwise have fallen within its remit. There was little progress in the local negotiations proposed in

2124-558: 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

2242-580: A result of the Endowed Schools Act 1869 that threatened the continued existence of the school, there were just 2 day boys and 2 boarders in the school. The exhausted headmaster, William Spicer Wood (1846–75), retired and the new headmaster lasted just three years before being dismissed. All classes were still taught in the one room - the original old school, which still exists next to the parish church . The school did see some development. Science and modern languages had recently been added to

2360-450: A small number of Roman Catholic former direct grant schools entered the state sector as grant-maintained schools . A few secular schools have subsequently become academies . Those that remain independent are typically highly selective, and have strong academic reputations. In 2001, they included 61 of the 100 highest performing independent day schools. No longer a bridge between state and private sectors, these schools have become part of

2478-568: A sot or dunce, Lascivious, headstrong, or all these at once; That in good time the stripling's finish'd taste For loose expense and fashionable waste Should prove your ruin, and his own at last; Train him in public with a mob of boys, Childish in mischief only and in noise, Else of a mannish growth, and five in ten In infidelity and lewdness men. ..." —Extract from William Cowper 's 1784 Tirocinium or A Review of Schools In 1801 William Vincent , headmaster of Westminster published A Defence of Public Education . It contains

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2596-595: A universal system of secondary education for England and Wales . Under the Tripartite System , there were to be three types of schools, with pupils sitting an eleven plus exam to determine which type of school they would be sent to. The most academic tier would be the grammar school , and the Act revised the terms of the direct grant to operate alongside LEA-maintained grammar schools, many of which were former LEA-aided schools. The latter schools, unable to cope with

2714-635: A voluntary basis, both the Combined Cadet Force and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award ; in the latter it has gained over 5000 awards at the three levels of bronze, silver and gold, and is the leading educational establishment in terms of awards gained. In November 2000 the Duke of Edinburgh came to the school to present the 1000th Gold Award. Oakham have won the National Schools cup final in rugby three times, 2002 , 2003, and 2023. For

2832-430: 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

2950-408: Is co-educational throughout the whole age range (10-18), with an approximately 50:50 split at all levels (ca. 550 boys and 500 girls in 2011–12). There are an equal number of girls' houses (8) to boys' houses. When Buchanan retired in 1977 the school was 950 in total size (ca. 550 boys and 400 girls), and the next headmaster, Richard Bull (1977–84, before he went on to be headmaster of Rugby ) continued

3068-578: 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. The perception of a top tier of public schools is long standing but with some debate on membership. Howard Staunton 's book of 1865 entitled The Great Schools of England considered

3186-466: 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

3304-501: 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 schools that are called public schools are not funded from public taxation . Sydney Smith in an 1810 article published in The Edinburgh Review suggested

3422-833: 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), Radley (1847), Taunton (1847), Lancing (1848), Hurstpierpoint (1849), Bradfield (1850), Wellington (1852), Epsom (1855), Ardingly (1858), Clifton (1862), Malvern (1862), Haileybury (1862), Framlingham (1864) and Cranleigh (1865). In 1887

3540-479: The Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907 , secondary schools in receipt of grant were required to admit a specified proportion of their intake, usually 25%, free of charge from state elementary schools. Suitable pupils were selected using a scholarship examination. Circular 1381, a directive issued by the Board of Education in 1926, required that schools choose a single source of grant: they could receive

3658-435: The Education Act 1902 gave counties and county boroughs responsibility for schools, designating them as local education authorities (LEAs). Secondary schools controlled by voluntary bodies could receive a grant from either the Board of Education or their local authority, or both. In return they were required to meet the Board's regulations, and were subject to the same system of inspections as state-funded schools. Under

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3776-561: 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

3894-593: The First World War . The Memorial Library was opened in 1955 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester as a memorial to the 82 old boys who were killed in the Second World War . John David Buchanan took over from Talbot Griffith in 1958, and played himself in quietly until the Circular 10/65 which demanded comprehensivisation of maintained schools, of which Oakham was one as a direct grant school for

4012-555: The Girls' Public Day School Company (later Trust), set up to provide an affordable academic education for girls, which had established 32 schools by 1894. In the latter part of the century, many of the less wealthy schools received annual grants from the Department of Science and Art and from their county councils. The grant system was restructured when the Board of Education was created in 1901 to fund early secondary schools, and

4130-469: 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

4248-485: The Great Depression . The Depression and the falling birth rate in the pre-war years had also weakened independent schools and schools receiving the direct grant. At the same time, the state-funded sector had grown to the point where universal secondary education seemed achievable, and changes in society had made the idea more popular. Proposals were made for a reorganisation of the maintained sector, including

4366-643: The Headmaster's Conference . The archetype of the direct grant grammar school, was the largest, The Manchester Grammar School , whose High Master from 1945 to 1962, Eric James (elevated to the peerage in 1959), was an outspoken advocate of the "meritocracy". In 1968 the school sent 77% of its boys on to university, a rate surpassed only by the independent Winchester College . Close behind were such schools as Bradford Grammar School , Leeds Grammar School , Haberdashers' Aske's School and Latymer Upper School . A large girls' school of similar academic attainment

4484-462: The Headmasters' Conference . The Fleming Committee recommended that one-quarter of the places at the public schools should be assigned to a national bursary scheme for children who would benefit from boarding. A key advocate was the post-war Minister of Education Ellen Wilkinson , but the proposed national bursary scheme never got into legislation in that post-war age of severe budget constraints. The Conservative government elected in 1951 did not adopt

4602-660: 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

4720-711: 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

4838-540: The (then) United Kingdom. The 1895 Public School Yearbook included Loretto School (1827), Glenalmond College (1847) and Fettes College (1870). In Ireland, of the Royal Schools, The Royal School, Armagh 1608 was described as offering an excellent public school education and being the equal of any school in the British Isles. Cork Grammar School 1881 was established for 'the purpose of supplying

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4956-693: 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. 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

5074-492: 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

5192-727: The Circular. Two Catholic girls' schools, St Anne's Convent School , Southampton and St Anthony's School , Sunderland, converted to a fully comprehensive intake, expanding to over 1000 pupils each. A few others proposed minor adjustments, but the vast majority were unchanged. In view of this lack of progress, the Public Schools Commission was asked in October 1967 to add direct grant schools to its investigation. The commission, now chaired by David Donnison, issued its second report in 1970, concluding that "Grammar schools of

5310-513: The Clarendon nine, four are (or are soon to be, in the case of Westminster) fully co-educational ( Rugby , Charterhouse , Shrewsbury and Westminster ), two remain as boys-only day schools ( St Paul's and Merchant Taylors' ) and two retain the full-boarding, boys-only tradition ( Eton and Harrow ). Winchester was formerly part of the last group. By the end of the 19th century the "public school movement", had extended to all parts of

5428-668: The Conservative Education Secretary, raised the level of grant, which had been lowered by the Labour government. Labour returned to power in 1974 and enacted the Direct Grant Grammar Schools (Cessation of Grant) Regulations 1975, which required schools to choose whether to become LEA-maintained comprehensive schools or independent schools without grant. Of the 174 remaining direct grant grammar schools, 51 (two Church of England and

5546-673: 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

5664-878: The Direct Grant Scheme, the Act also made provision for LEAs to fund places at independent schools in areas where there was a shortage of appropriate places in maintained schools. For example, there might be a lack of selective places, or of selective places in Roman Catholic schools. In the late 1960s, 56 independent schools had over 25% of their places funded by LEAs in this way, with seven of them over 75% LEA-funded. In 1966, when direct grant schools were at their height, they educated 3.1% of secondary pupils across England and Wales, while independent schools accounted for 7.1%. For A-level students, these proportions rose to 6.2% and 14.7% respectively. Before Culford School became coeducational in 1972, all but 2 of

5782-623: 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. Frederick William Sanderson , Headmaster of Oundle School , initiated educational reforms at

5900-803: 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

6018-579: The HMC. State funding was however revived between 1981 and 1997 with the introduction of the Assisted Places Scheme , which provided support for 80,000 pupils attending schools not part of the state maintained sector. Many boarding schools started to admit day pupils for the first time, and others abolished boarding completely. Some started accepting girls in the sixth form , while others became fully co-educational . Corporal punishment ,

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6136-558: The Labour government to separate the independent and state sectors. The direct grant scheme was abolished in 1975 and the HMC schools within the scheme became fully independent. Local authorities were ordered to cease funding places at independent schools. This accounted for over a quarter of places at 56 schools, and over half the places at 22 schools. Between 1975 and 1983 funding was also withdrawn from 11 voluntary-aided grammar schools, which became independent schools and full members of

6254-474: The Middle and Far East. The schools are typically founded in partnership with a local business person or organisation with the "home" school maintaining control of curriculum and staffing. 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

6372-520: The Royal Commission on Secondary Education ) described the schools reformed by the 1868 Act as the "seven 'great endowed schools'". 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

6490-555: The Rutland dayboys. He and the Rutland Local Education Authority did not agree on the possibilities of re-organisation of Rutland's schools, and as a result in 1970 the school (then 700 in size, all boys) reverted to full independence from the local authority, and in 1971, Oakham admitted female pupils for the first time, with the intention from the beginning of being co-educational throughout. The school

6608-604: The Schanschieff day site. The Girls transitional boarding house, Stevens, is located alongside the boys counterpart, Wharflands, in the center of the campus. The boys full-boarding houses Chapmans and Haywoods are on Kilburn road ( the western-most part of the campus) Oakham offers both the International Baccalaureate (IB) and AS/A2 levels. Most students take four subjects at AS Level and continue to A2 level in at least three of those subjects. In

6726-557: The UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found that 50 prominent public schools were in breach of the Competition Act 1998 through their exchange of details of planned fee increases over three academic years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04. The Independent Schools Council claimed that the investigation had been "a scandalous waste of public money". Three-quarters of HMC schools are now either partially or fully co-educational. Of

6844-675: 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

6962-546: The age of 11, and the loss to the economy of the "submerged three-quarters" in secondary modern schools . Experiments with comprehensive schools spread from Anglesey to the Midlands and Yorkshire . In 1964, a Labour government was elected promising "to reorganise the State secondary schools on comprehensive lines". In the following year, the Department of Education and Science distributed Circular 10/65 , requesting that Local Education Authorities prepare plans for such

7080-414: The age of thirty-six, with University honours and university experience, to give it fresh life, and to set a mark on it which it never quite lost". Even so, numbers attending were well below 50, and while Uppingham flourished in the second half of the nineteenth century, Oakham did not to the same extent. Even so, in 1869 Oakham was one of the founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). In 1875 as

7198-665: The average proportion was 86%. They also tended to be more socially mixed, with 37% of their pupils from managerial and professional homes and 16% children of semi-skilled or unskilled workers. These schools were thus similar to the LEA-maintained Roman Catholic grammar schools, which they outnumbered. Lacking endowments and having lower fee income, they were less financially secure than other direct grant grammars. The fourth group were non-denominational local grammar schools, often with an intake more able on average than in maintained grammar schools, but covering

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7316-499: 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

7434-404: 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. "Would you your son should be

7552-486: 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

7670-527: The classroom. Oakham offers a range of sports to its pupils; main sports for boys are rugby (Daily Mail champions twice), hockey, cricket and athletics, and for girls are hockey, netball, tennis and athletics. The school has won the Ashburton Shield in shooting on three occasions. OO RSF Shouler won the Queens Prize at the imperial meeting in 2021 Sovereign's Prize . The school offers, on

7788-459: The co-education process; but it was not until 1990 that the process was completed during the headmastership of Graham Smallbone (1985–96) and equality of numbers gained. When Tony Little , later headmaster of Eton , took over in 1996 there were 528 boys and 510 girls in a school of 1038. Furthermore, the school is evenly spread between boarders and day, although there do exist "day boarders" from 13 and "transitional boarders" from 10 to 13. In 1981,

7906-501: The core subjects (mathematics, English, science, history and geography) as well as French and either German or Spanish, religious education, Latin, Design & Technology and ICT. There is also a carousel system of creative and performing arts courses, which include textiles, 2D art and sculpture, and a separate carousel for drama and dance, and pupils take part in a physical education scheme of swimming and general ball skills. All pupils study English (language and literature), mathematics,

8024-624: The costs of the reorganisation required by the 1944 Act, had been offered the status of voluntary controlled or voluntary aided schools , under which the state would pay all their running costs and all or most of their capital costs. They were thus integrated into the state system. The new direct grant scheme was a modification of proposals in the Fleming Report of 1944. A direct grant grammar school would provide 25% of its places free of charge to children who had spent at least 2 years in maintained primary schools, and would reserve at least

8142-643: The curriculum. The subjects examined for a scholarship within the school were English history (1066-1603), geography of the British Isles, English grammar, arithmetic , English composition and dictation . A more successful headmaster, E. V. Hodge, headmaster from 1879 to 1902, saw numbers increase, to 125 in 1896, with slightly more boarders than day boys. Then followed onto the scene three successful headmasters - Walter Lee Sargant (1902–29) under whom numbers rose to over 200 with consequent new buildings, Francis Cecil Doherty (1929–34), who went on to be headmaster of Lancing ), and Grosvenor Talbot Griffith (1935–57) who took

8260-729: 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

8378-445: 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,

8496-519: 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

8614-480: The meantime a range of other schools had appeared. After the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 and mid-century Irish immigration, Catholic teaching orders from Ireland and mainland Europe began to establish their own grammar schools. New proprietary schools were established, initially as joint-stock companies , converting to charities if they were successful. One of the largest such companies was

8732-448: The middle school, six boarding and four day houses, split evenly between boys and girls. The day houses are located at the north end of campus, in the grounds of the former Oakham Workhouse , later Catmose Vale Hospital. The main building houses the two girls' houses, Gunthorpe and Hambleton, while the boys' houses, Barrow and Clipsham, are in a newer house alongside. The Girls Full-boarding houses, Rushbrokes and Buchanans, are just south of

8850-533: The most academic tier of the Tripartite System . They varied greatly in size and composition, but, on average, achieved higher academic results than either maintained grammar schools or private schools . State secondary education was reorganised on comprehensive lines in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The direct grant was phased out from 1975 and the schools were required to choose between becoming maintained comprehensive schools or fully independent schools. Forty-five schools, almost all Roman Catholic , joined

8968-430: 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

9086-555: The nine Clarendon schools plus Cheltenham College , Christ's Hospital , and Dulwich College . In 1881 C.Kegan Paul & Co published Our Public Schools with chapters on seven schools: Eton , Harrow , Winchester , Rugby , Westminster , Marlborough , and Charterhouse . In 1893 Edward Arnold published a book entitled Great Public Schools with a chapter on each of Eton , Harrow , Charterhouse , Cheltenham , Rugby , Clifton , Westminster , Marlborough , Haileybury , and Winchester . The Bryce Report of 1895 ( Report of

9204-440: The numbers to over three hundred - before the advent of John Buchanan. The 125 of Hodge's time was a temporary peak - by 1905 numbers had fallen back to 66. Sargant's response to the obvious financial difficulties which accompanied this decline (there were just 80 boys in the school when he commenced his headmastership) was to apply in 1910 for direct grant status, and to become in effect the boys' grammar school for Rutland at

9322-411: 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

9440-523: The other groups of schools. There was a great deal of variation between direct grant grammar schools. According to the Donnison Report (discussed in the next section), the schools were of four types, though the boundaries between them were not always clear-cut. Donnison called the first group "regional schools": large, highly academically selective day schools with large sixth forms, located near large cities, and mostly boys' schools belonging to

9558-452: The professions. The third group, Roman Catholic schools, made up nearly a third of the direct grant schools (19 for boys and 37 for girls). They were predominantly day schools, though 10 of them took a small proportion of boarders. Their fees were about 15% lower than other direct grant grammars, and they tended to take a much higher proportion of LEA-funded pupils. In 1968, 40 of these schools took over 80% of their pupils from their LEAs;

9676-569: 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

9794-558: 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

9912-444: The proportion also varied greatly between schools. Direct grant schools had similar teacher/pupil ratios to the maintained grammar schools, as their fees were regulated to match costs at the latter schools. The proportion of teachers with first and second class degrees was slightly lower than in their maintained counterparts. The principal difference from the maintained schools was greater freedom from LEA influence. Although there

10030-571: The proposal. It failed because it was not a high priority for either party, money was tight, there was wavering support from both public schools and local education authorities, and no consensus was reached on how to select the pupils to participate. Based on the recommendations of the Fleming Report, the Education Act 1944 , also known as "the Butler Act", did, however, establish an enhanced status for endowed grammar schools receiving

10148-423: The rest Catholic) applied to join the state sector, of which 46 were accepted. These schools had become dependent on state funding, and the move to comprehensive education was also supported by the Roman Catholic hierarchy, often over the objections of those connected with the schools. One school, St. Joseph's College, Stoke-on-Trent , was approved to join the state system, but became independent instead following

10266-792: The role of public schools, setting up a Royal commission "to advise on the best way of integrating the public schools with the State system". The commission used a wider definition than that of the Fleming Committee. The Public Schools Commission produced two reports: the Newsom Report of 1968 entitled The Public Schools Commission: First Report covering boarding schools and the Donnison Report of 1970 entitled The Public Schools Commission: Second Report covering day schools, including also direct grant and maintained grammar schools. The report presented by John Newsom in 1968

10384-422: The same time as continuing as a public school for the boarders. New facilities for science teaching were created, boarding accommodation was improved with new building and extensions, and then a new school house was built. Pupil numbers rose again, to 105 in 1910, and to 200 in 1923. The Memorial Chapel was dedicated on 29 October 1925; it was built as a memorial to the 68 old boys and masters who were killed in

10502-414: The scheme, starting with Trinity School of John Whitgift , which became independent in 1968, but still had half its places funded by the LEA. It was followed in 1970 by Oakham School , which became co-educational in the following year, and Queen Victoria High School, which merged with The Cleveland School to form Teesside High School . A respite was provided in the early 1970s, when Margaret Thatcher ,

10620-534: The school was the subject of an action brought by Novello & Co and the Music Publishers Association (UK) for photocopying sheet music for Christmas carols. This was the first case of its kind in the UK. The High Court settlement ordered the school to pay £4250 in damages plus costs. In 1984 the quatercentenary of the school was celebrated by a visit from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh . In 2005 Oakham School

10738-480: The school was to teach Hebrew , Latin and Greek . Although the schooling was free, permanent attendance meant the loss to a family of an income, so not many very poor would have attended, or wanted the education. The master could supplement his income of £24 per year by taking in boarders. Johnson was careful to ensure that his schools were sufficiently endowed. This endowment was confirmed by royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I . The original school building

10856-574: The schools were single sex, with a slight majority of girls' schools. There were 56 Roman Catholic schools, 14 Church of England and 6 Methodist . Many of the schools were in the north of England, with 46 in the historic county of Lancashire (including Manchester) and 18 in the West Riding of Yorkshire , while there were only 7 in inner London and 4 in Wales. In 1961, an average of 59% of pupils at direct grant grammar schools were state-funded, but

10974-473: 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

11092-490: 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

11210-415: The start of that century, some boarding schools like Eton College and Winchester College thrived educating the sons of the aristocracy, but most endowed grammar schools were in decline, their classical curricula seen as irrelevant to the industrial age. These schools were reformed under the Endowed Schools Act 1869 , which also led to many endowments being diverted to the creation of girls' schools. In

11328-505: 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

11446-421: The state system, while a few closed. The rest (including all the secular schools) became independent and mostly remain as highly selective independent schools. In the 19th century, few boys and very few girls in England and Wales received secondary education, which was typically available only from charity, endowed or private schools. During this time, secondary provision expanded and adjusted to growing demand. At

11564-498: 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

11682-655: 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 elite institutions and are associated with

11800-549: 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

11918-474: The traditional kind cannot be combined with a comprehensive system of education: we must choose what we want. Fee-paying is not compatible with comprehensive education." They recommended that the schools choose between becoming voluntary aided comprehensives and full independence, but the Conservatives came to power before any action had been taken. Meanwhile, a trickle of schools had begun to leave

12036-437: The turn of the century. Oundle became the first school to create an engineering curriculum as well as teaching biochemistry and agriculture. There was a further expansion in public school education in the interwar years. New schools such as Rendcomb (1920), Stowe (1923), Canford (1923), Bryanston (1928) and Millfield (1935) were established. In 1942 the then President of the Board of Education Rab Butler appointed

12154-576: The upper school, all students take six subjects. Usually, students take a literature course in their own language, another modern or classical language, a science and a mathematics course, a humanities and an arts course. These are at standard or higher level. In addition, all students complete an extended essay, take a course in theory of knowledge and complete a programme of creativity, action and service (CAS). In 2019, 49.34% of pupils scored A*-A for their A-Levels examination, whereas 51.88% scored A*-A for their GCSEs. The average IB score for students in 2019

12272-562: 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

12390-433: Was North London Collegiate School , which had been founded in 1850 by Frances Buss . These schools achieved university admission rates that rivalled the older public schools , which in turn moved to raise their academic standards for admission, and to increase their focus of academic achievement. With their high profile, such schools formed the popular image of a direct grant grammar school, but they accounted for only about

12508-519: Was 36.7. Oakham School has a total of 16 houses; 2 in the upper school (1 for boys and 1 for girls), 10 in the middle school (5 boys houses, 5 girls; 4 full boarding, 2 flexi-boarding, 4 day) and 4 in the lower school (Jerwoods) (2 boys, 2 girls). There are two houses for the seventh form, School House for boys and Round House for girls. Both are in Chapel Close. The seventh form houses allows for day and boarding students to fully integrate outside

12626-541: Was abolished in state schools in 1986, and had been abandoned in most public schools by the time it was formally banned in independent schools in 1999 in England and Wales, (2000 in Scotland and 2003 in Northern Ireland). The system of fagging , whereby younger pupils were required to act to some extent as personal servants to the most senior boys, was phased out during the 1970s and 1980s. In September 2005

12744-603: Was attractive to most of the direct grant schools. Of the 231 secondary schools receiving direct grant in 1945, 196 applied to join the new scheme, with the rest becoming independent schools . In addition 31 grant-aided schools applied to join the scheme. Of these, 164 schools (including four formerly grant-aided schools) were accepted as direct grant grammar schools. The list was re-opened between 1957 and 1961, when 44 applications were received, of which 15 were accepted. There were therefore 179 direct grant grammar schools, alongside almost 1300 maintained grammar schools. Beside

12862-443: 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

12980-662: Was much variation, these schools as a group were middle-class institutions, with many tending to move closer to the independent schools in social composition. On average, three-quarters of pupils came from white-collar homes, including 60% with fathers in management or the professions, while only 7% were children of semi-skilled or unskilled workers. On average, the intake of the schools was also more academically selective than either maintained grammar schools or independent schools. Their results were correspondingly high, with 60% of their pupils staying on to age 18 and 38% going on to university, significantly greater proportions than either of

13098-412: Was one of fifty independent schools found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information

13216-805: Was phased out as the remaining state-funded pupils left. This coincided with the mid-1970s recession , a difficult time for independent schools but doubly so for the former direct grant schools, which had just lost 25–50% of their intake. Many local boys' schools became coeducational to replace the lost places. An echo of the direct grant, the Assisted Places scheme, was introduced by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1981, lasting until 1997. Approximately two-thirds of these places were held at former direct grant grammar schools. The independent sector soon recovered, and prospered without competition from state grammar schools. From 1993

13334-402: Was restored in the eighteenth century and remained the sole classroom for 300 years. In 1749 a case involving payment of rates recorded that "the school of Uppingham is not nor hath been of equal repute with that of Oakham." The headmastership of John Doncaster (1808–46), himself a previous pupil at the school, saw the school advance academically: "This was the man who returned to his old school at

13452-418: Was shared. The current school set-up comprises three distinct "levels" of education. The lower school, for children aged 10–13, is also known as "Jerwoods" after the benefactor Old Oakhamian John Jerwood . The buildings that comprise it mostly date back to the early 1970s, when the four houses that comprise the area were established, but the main building, now part of the boys' boarding site known as 'Hodges',

13570-441: Was supportive of boarding school education and made 52 recommendations, including state funding of up to 45,000 places. No action was taken by the then Labour government (or successive administrations). The report presented by David Donnison in 1970 made 25 recommendations for England and Wales and 22 for Scotland. The commission was divided on many issues so several of the recommendations were not made with full consensus. No action

13688-399: Was taken by the incoming (1970) Conservative government but five years later the direct grant scheme was terminated by Labour. The social changes of the 1960s were felt in the public schools; the new headmaster at Oundle School noted that "student protests and intellectual ferment were challenging the status quo". These challenges later coincided with the mid-1970s recession and moves by

13806-527: Was the first boys' independent secondary school in Britain to accept both male and female pupils throughout the whole school and not just in the sixth form . In 1995, it was the first public school to go on-line. Leicestershire County Cricket Club occasionally plays games on the school grounds . Oakham School was founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, Archdeacon of Leicester . Johnson received an income from four church positions and used this wealth to set up

13924-431: Was the old vicarage, which was bought by the school in 1870. The girls' boarding site, formally Lincoln house, is in a round building to the west. The four Houses have both day and boarding students, Sargants and Peterborough for boys and Ancaster and Lincoln for girls, are found on different floors of the main eastern building, which also houses all seven classrooms. During their time in the lower school, pupils study all of

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