This article is about a number of older, fee-charging schools in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. For other fee-charging schools, seePrivate schools in the United Kingdom. For publicly funded schools, seeState school.
The playing fields ofRugby School, 1567, reestablished 1828. The rules ofrugby football were codified here in 1845.
Apublic school inEngland and Wales is a type of fee-chargingprivate school[1] originally for older boys. The schools are "public" from a historical schooling context in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality,denomination or paternaltrade orprofession or family affiliation with governing or military service, and also not being run for the profit of a private owner.
Though most public schools were originally founded under true charitable purposes for poor pupils, by the modern age conversely they have become elite institutions and are associated with theruling class.[6][7][8] Historically, public schools produced many of the military officers and administrators of theBritish Empire.[9][10] In 2019, two-thirds ofcabinet ministers of theUnited Kingdom had been educated at such fee-charging schools.[11]
The term is rarely used inScotland, where "public school" has been used since the early 18th century to refer topublicly funded schools, and was defined by theEducation (Scotland) Act 1872 as including those managed by the school board of a parish, or of a burgh.[12][13] There are instances of the term being used to refer to elite Scots private fee-paying schools.[14]
There is no single or absolute definition ofpublic school, and the use of the term has varied over time and according to context. The starting point was the contrast between apublic school andprivate teaching (eg., provided by a hired tutor).[2]In England and Wales schools that are called public schools are notfunded from public taxation, generally called "state schools".[15]
"By a public school, we mean anendowed 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 satisfiedPorphyry orDuns-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 ...".[16]
Arthur Leach, in hisHistory 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".[17] Edward C. Mack in 1938 proposed the simple definition of "a non-localendowed boarding school for the upper classes".[18]
Vivian Ogilvie inThe 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."[19]
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.'[20]
In November 1965, the UKCabinet considered the definition of a public school for the purpose of the Public Schools Commission set up that year. Its starting point was the 1944Fleming Committee definition of Public Schools, which used schools that were members of the thenHeadmasters' Conference, theGoverning Bodies Association or theGirls' Schools Association.[21] 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 alongside 22maintained and 152direct grant grammar schools.[22]
In 2023, using the 1965 Public Schools Commission definition or the 1944 Fleming Committee definition,[23] there are 302 independent secondary schools belonging to theHeadmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (78% of HMC schools are co-educational, 9% are boys only and 13% are girls only),[24][25] and 152 independent girls' secondary schools belonging to theGirls' Schools Association.[26]
A minor public school is defined inBrewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable[32] 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[33] is a factor in the perception of a "great" (or "major") versus "minor" distinction.[34]
Public schools emerged fromgrammar schools[39] 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,[40] in contrast to private schools which were run for the personal profit of the owner(s).[41] The origins of schools in England were primarily religious, although in 1640 theHouse of Commons invited the reformer and promoter ofuniversal educationComenius 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.[42] TheEnglish Civil War prevented any such reform.[43][44]
A bird's eye view ofEton College, founded 1440, byDavid Loggan, published in hisCantabrigia Illustrata of 1690
In 1382William of Wykeham,Bishop of Winchester andChancellor of England, foundedWinchester College. In 1440Henry 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".[47]Elizabeth I refounded Westminster School in 1560,[48][49] with new statutes, to select fortyQueen's Scholars.[50] This created a "triad" of privileged schools—Winchester, Eton and Westminster.[51] From the 16th century onward, boys' boarding schools continued to be founded or endowed for public use.[40]
Daniel Defoe inThe Compleat English Gentleman of 1728,[52] writes of "the great schools of Eton, Winchester, Westminster,Felsted, Bishop Stortford (sic),[b]Canterbury and others, where the children—nay, the eldest sons—of some of the best families in England have been educated."[54]
By the end of the 17th century, the London day schools St Paul's and Merchant Taylors', together with thecharitable foundations of Christ's Hospital and Charterhouse, had developed an elevated "standing in popular regard".[55] By the end of the 18th century, two local grammar schools, Harrow and Rugby, had achieved national fame.[56] In the case of Harrow, political sponsorship by aristocraticWhig politicianJames Brydges (later Duke of Chandos) played a significant role,[57] but also, as was the case too with Rugby, an exemplary headmaster was a key factor in raising the status of the school.[58] This phenomenon was also seen atShrewsbury, whereSamuel Butler was headmaster between 1798 and 1836.[59]
"Would you your son should be 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 fromWilliam Cowper's 1784 Tirocinium or A Review of Schools
In 1801William Vincent, headmaster of Westminster publishedA Defence of Public Education.[60] 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;[c] 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",[61] entitledThe 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 1818Nicholas Carlisle published a two-volume survey entitledA Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales.[62] The survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire sent to the schools. The description of 475 schools[63] 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 1861Clarendon Commission.
Thomas Arnold became headmaster of Rugby School in 1828, and the reforming actions he took during his fourteen years of tenure established a new model for the nineteenth and early twentieth century public school.[64] Arnold developed thepraepostor (orprefect) system, in which a group of senior boys were given disciplinary powers of other pupils.[65] 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.[65]King's College School was founded in 1829 andUniversity College School in 1830.
Separatepreparatory 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 wasWindlesham House School, established with support fromThomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School between 1828 and 1841.[66][67]
ThePublic 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.[69] The act gave the seven schools independence from direct jurisdiction or responsibility ofthe Crown, theestablished church, or the government. Henceforth each of these schools was to be managed by aboard 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.[70]
TheTaunton Commission was appointed in 1864 to examine the remaining 782 endowedgrammar schools, and in 1868 produced recommendations to restructure their endowments; these recommendations were included, in modified form, in theEndowed Schools Act 1869. In that yearEdward Thring, headmaster ofUppingham School, wrote to 37 of his fellow headmasters of what he considered the leading boys' schools, not covered by the Public Schools Act 1868, inviting them to meet annually[71] to address the threat posed by the Endowed Schools Act 1869. In the first year 12 headmasters attended; the following year 34 attended, including heads from theClarendon schools. TheHeadmasters' Conference (HMC), now the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, has grown steadily and by 2021 had 298 British and Irish schools as members.[72]
ThePublic Schools Yearbook[d] was published for the first time in 1889, listing 30 schools,[76] mostly boarding schools. The day school exceptions wereSt Paul's School andMerchant Taylors' School. By 1895 there were entries for 64 schools.[77]
Frederick William Sanderson, Headmaster ofOundle School, initiated educational reforms at the turn of the century. Oundle became the first school to create an engineering curriculum as well as teaching biochemistry and agriculture.[78]
There was a further expansion in public school education in the interwar years. New schools such asRendcomb (1920),Stowe (1923),Canford (1923),Bryanston (1928) andMillfield (1935) were established.[79]
In 1942 the then President of the Board of EducationRab Butler appointed aCommittee on Public Schools under the leadership ofDavid 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".[80] The Fleming Report (1944) entitledThe Public Schools and the General Education System defined a public school as a member of theGoverning Bodies Association or theHeadmasters' Conference.[23] 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 EducationEllen 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 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.[81]
Based on the recommendations of the Fleming Report, theEducation Act 1944, also known as "theButler Act", did, however, establish an enhanced status for endowedgrammar schools receiving a grant from central government. Thedirect 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.[82] Other grammar schools were funded bylocal education authorities.
The Labour government in 1965 made major changes to the organisation of state maintained schools issuingCircular 10/65 which directedlocal authorities to phase out selection at eleven years of age. It also fulfilled its pledge to examine the role of public schools, setting up aroyal 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.[22] The Public Schools Commission produced two reports: the Newsom Report of 1968 entitledThe Public Schools Commission: First Report[83] covering boarding schools and theDonnison Report of 1970 entitledThe Public Schools Commission: Second Report[84] covering day schools, including also direct grant and maintained grammar schools. The report presented by John Newsom in 1968 was supportive of boarding school education and made 52 recommendations, including state funding of up to 45,000 places.[85] 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.[86] The commission was divided on many issues so several of the recommendations were not made with full consensus. No action was taken by the incoming (1970) Conservative government but five years later the direct grant scheme was terminated by Labour.[87]
School and pupil numbers presented to Cabinet in November 1965
Direct grant maintained schools within the HMC (out of the total 179 grant maintained schools) In addition there were 27 Direct Grant schools which are not within the HMC.
The social changes of the 1960s were felt in the public schools; the new headmaster atOundle School noted that "student protests and intellectual ferment were challenging the status quo".[88] These challenges later coincided with themid-1970s recession and moves by the Labour government to separate the independent and state sectors.[89]
The direct grant scheme was abolished in 1975 and theHMC schools within the scheme became fully independent.[89]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.[90] Between 1975 and 1983 funding was also withdrawn from 11voluntary-aided grammar schools, which became independent schools and full members of the HMC.[91] State funding was however revived between 1981 and 1997 with the introduction of theAssisted Places Scheme, which provided support for 80,000 pupils attending schools not part of the state maintained sector.[92] Many boarding schools started to admit day pupils for the first time, and others abolished boarding completely.[93][94] Some started accepting girls in thesixth form, while others became fullyco-educational.[95]
Corporal punishment, 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,[96] (2000 in Scotland and 2003 in Northern Ireland).[97] The system offagging, whereby younger pupils in some schools were required to act to some extent as personal servants to the most senior boys, was phased out during the 1970s and 1980s.[98]
Three-quarters of HMC schools are now either partially or fully co-educational.[101] Of the Clarendon nine, three are fully co-educational (Rugby,Charterhouse andShrewsbury), while two have begun to admit girls on a limited basis with plans to move to full co-education (Westminster andWinchester). Four remain as boys-only schools, two day schools (St Paul's[e] andMerchant Taylors') and two retaining the full-boarding, boys-only model (Eton andHarrow).
By the end of the 19th century the "public school movement",[103] had extended to all parts of the (then) United Kingdom.[104] The 1895 Public School Yearbook includedLoretto School (1827),Glenalmond College (1847) andFettes College (1870).[77]
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.[105][106][107]Cork Grammar School 1881 was established for 'the purpose of supplying 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'.[108] In 2020 6.7% of the school population in theRepublic of Ireland attended 'elite' fee charging schools.[109]
In 1892 Haileybury alumnus Charles Rendall, foundedHaileybury "altera terra" in Melbourne, Australia.[110] In the 20th and 21st centuries, several public schools opened affiliates in other countries, especially the Middle and Far East.[111][112][113] The schools are typically founded in partnership with a local business person or organisation with the "home" school maintaining control of curriculum and staffing.[114][115]
The almost exclusive teaching of grammar (Latin and to a lesser extentancient Greek) prevailed until well into the 19th century.[116] Most schools were legally obliged to do so by the terms of their original endowment.[117] As a response to the perceived need to modernise such a curriculum in line with commercial needs, the Grammar School Act 1840 was passed.[118] 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".[119] 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,[120] based on the precedent set atRugby byThomas Arnold, forming a keystone of character development through teamwork, sportsmanship and self-sacrifice.[121][122]Hely Almond headmaster atLoretto 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',[123] 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.[124] By the latter part of the 19th century 'modern' subjects such as mathematics and science featured in many schools listings inThe Public Schools Yearbook.[76][77]
Within English law acharity is defined as an institution established for a charitable purpose and providing a public benefit.[125] The "advancement of education" is a long-standing charitable purpose. The UK's oldest charity isthe King's School Canterbury.[126] Charitable status for schools outside of the state maintained sector confers various tax benefits. This means schools are not liable forcorporation tax orcapital gains tax and receive an 80% reduction inbusiness rates (a local property tax).[127] Donations by individuals to such schools are considered "tax free".[128] 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 payincome tax on earnings.[129] The public benefit that a charity is obliged to provide is not defined in law.[125] Typically schools provide this public benefit by offeringbursaries to pupils of families with limited financial means and supporting local state maintained school(s) and institutions, including allowing public access to school facilities.[130]
As of 2020 the nineClarendon schools had a combined asset value of almost £2bn.[131] Eton College is the school with the largest endowment of over £500m.[132] Charitable status is politically controversial. TheUK Labour Party leaderKeir Starmer in 2021 pledged to remove charitable status for fee-charging schools,[133] a policy also ofHarold Wilson, stated in the 1974 Labour election manifesto.[134] Removal of charitable status would enable the UK government to levyVAT on school fees, a commitment (re)made in the 1983 Labour Party election manifesto underNeil Kinnock's leadership,[135] and revived in 2017 byJeremy Corbyn.[136] In support of the case for maintaining thestatus 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.[137][138] The 2019UK Conservative Party election manifesto made no mention of education outside of the state maintained sector.[139] 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.[140]
The 19th-century public school ethos promoted ideas of service to Crown and Empire,[141] exemplified in tropes such as "Play up! Play up! And play the game!" fromHenry Newbolt's 1892 poemVitaï Lampada and "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton", the latter popularly attributed tothe Duke of Wellington.[142] 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,[143]) and apublic school tie and an "old boy network" of former pupils were useful in advancing a career.[144] 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.[145][146]
Former Harrow pupilStanley Baldwin wrote that when he first became Prime Minister in 1923, he wanted to have six Harrovians inhis 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 ofChancellor of the Exchequer for myself".[147] Until theFirst World War, the role of public schools in preparing pupils for the gentlemanly elite meant that such education, particularly in itsclassical focus and social mannerisms, became a mark of theruling class.[148][149] Acceptance of social elitism was reduced by the two world wars,[150] but despite portrayals of the products of public schools as "silly asses" and "toffs", the old system continued well into the 1960s.[151]
2009 photograph of UK Leader of the Opposition and future Prime MinisterDavid Cameron (left), Lib Dem spokesman and future Secretary of State for Energy and Climate ChangeChris Huhne (centre left) and Lib Dem leader and future Deputy Prime MinisterNick Clegg (centre right), all of whom had attended English public schools.
Postwarsocial change has, however, gradually been reflected across Britain's educational system, while at the same time fears of problems with state education have pushed some parents, who can afford the fees or whose pupils qualify for bursaries or scholarships, towards public schools and other schools in the independent sector.[152] By 2009 typical fees were up to £30,000 per annum for boarders.[153] As of 2019, 20 Prime Ministers attended Eton,[154] seven Harrow, and six Westminster. From 2019 to 2022, two Prime MinistersBoris Johnson (Eton) andRishi Sunak (Winchester) were educated at Clarendon public schools.
While members of thearistocracy andlanded gentry no longer dominate independent schools, studies have shown that such schools still retain a degree of influence over the country's professional and social elite despite educating less than 10% of the population. A 2012 study published by theSutton Trust noted that 44% of the 7,637 individuals examined whose names appeared in the birthday lists ofThe Times,The Sunday Times,The Independent orThe Independent on Sunday during 2011 – across all sectors, including politics, business, the arts and the armed forces – were educated atprivate schools.[160] It also found that 10 elite fee-charging schools (specificallyEton,Winchester,Charterhouse,Rugby,Westminster,Marlborough,Dulwich,Harrow,St Paul's, andWellington[160]) produced 12% of the leading high-flyers examined in the study.[161] TheSocial Mobility and Child Poverty Commission came to a similar conclusion in a 2014 study of the professions: 71% of senior judges, 62% of senior armed forces officers, 55% of Whitehall permanent secretaries and 50% of members of theHouse of Lords had been educated at fee-charging schools.[162]
In his 1968 playForty Years On,Alan Bennett used the metaphor of an end-of-term revue at a minor public school to contrast the events of the twentieth century with the routines of public school life. The title alludes to the Harrowschool song,"Forty Years On".[172] The 1968 filmif...., which satirised the worst elements of English public school life, culminating in scenes of armed insurrection, won thePalme d'Or at the1969 Cannes Film Festival.[173][174][175]
'Fly on the wall' television documentaries about schools is an established genre;[177] the following documentaries broadcast in the UK allowed a mass audience to view daily life in public schools:
1967:Eton, a documentary produced by Anthony de Lotbiniere, narrated by René Cutforth, broadcast on BBC TV.[178]
1979:Edward Mirzoeff produced the BBC documentary entitledPublic School about Westminster School, including footage ofJohn Rae.[179]
1980:Richard Denton produced a ten part documentary about Radley College also entitledPublic School, which ran on BBC2, including footage ofDennis Silk.[180]
1981:The Gentleman Factory about Eton College, directed by Simon Dewhurst was shown on BBC1.[181]
1991:Eton – Class of '91, a Channel 4 documentary about Eton College directed by Simon Shore.[182]
2003:Ampleforth: My Teacher's a Monk, broadcast on ITV1, narrated byAlex Jennings,[187]
2008:Pride and Privilege: A Year in the Life of Glenalmond College, a three part series broadcast on BBC2 Scotland produced and directed by Stephen Bennett.[188][189]
2011:Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain,produced by Matthew Laza and presented byAndrew Neil, broadcast on BBC2.[192][193]
2013: Hannah Berryman's BBC documentary with alternative titles ofA Very English Education andBoarding School: Boys to Men, a follow-up on the pupils who featured in the 1980 documentary about Radley College.[194][195][196][197]
2014:The Most Famous School in the World, a BBC documentary about Eton College, produced by Maggie Liang and Sarah Murch as part of theMy Life series for children.[199][200]
2015:Gordonstoun: A Different Class, a six episode series broadcast on Sky1.[201][202]
^Roach, John (1991).Secondary education in England, 1870-1902 : public activity and private enterprise. London: Routledge.ISBN0-203-40552-8.OCLC252881458.
^Walford, Geoffrey (June 1986). "Ruling-class Classification and Framing".British Educational Research Journal.12 (2):183–195.doi:10.1080/0141192860120207.S2CID146433863.
^Winslow Jr., Stanley Blakeley (1 May 2010).A Boy's Empire: The British Public school as imperial training ground, 1850-1918 (Thesis).doi:10.18130/V3KF83.[page needed]
^Griggs, Clive (January 1994). "The Influence of British Public Schools on British Imperialism".British Journal of Sociology of Education.15 (1):129–136.doi:10.1080/0142569940150108.JSTOR1393353.
^Carlisle, Nicholas (1818).A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales (2019 reprint ed.). London: Forgotten Books. p. xliv.ISBN978-0265990551.
^Ogilvie, Vivian (1957).The English Public School. London: Batsford. p. 138.
^abOgilvie, Vivian (1957).The English Public School. London: Batsford. p. 141.
^ab"The Public Schools Yearbook".Public Schools Year Book and Preparatory Schools Year Book1908, 1909 (via HathiTrust Digital Library ed.). London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co: 29. 1889.
^abc"The Public Schools Yearbook".Public Schools Year Book and Preparatory Schools Year Book1908, 1909 (via HathiTrust Digital Library ed.). London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co: 35. 1895.
^Tyson 1996, p. 484. sfn error: no target: CITEREFTyson1996 (help)
^Hillman, Nicholas (March 2012). "Public schools and the Fleming report of 1944: shunting the first-class carriage on to an immense siding?".History of Education.41 (2):235–255.doi:10.1080/0046760X.2011.598468.S2CID144081906.
^Heffer, Simon (3 October 2013).High Minds: The Victorians and the Birth of Modern Britain. Random House Books. pp. 1–30.ISBN978-1847946775.
^Neddam, Fabrice (September 2004). "Constructing masculinities under Thomas Arnold of Rugby (1828–1842): gender, educational policy and school life in an early-Victorian public school".Gender and Education.16 (3):303–326.doi:10.1080/09540250042000251461.S2CID144365477.
^Mangan, J. A. (2009).Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School: The Emergence and Consolidation of an Educational Ideology. Cambridge University Press. p. 55.ISBN978-0521090391.
^Cookson, Peter W.; Persell, Caroline H. (1985). "English and American Residential Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study of the Reproduction of Social Elites".Comparative Education Review.29 (3):283–298.doi:10.1086/446523.JSTOR1188490.S2CID143570673.
^Steege, David K. "Harry Potter, Tom Brown, and the British School Story".The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon:141–156.
^"If... (1968) film review". BBC. 26 February 2002.if... "taps into the revolutionary spirit of the late 60s. Each frame burns with an anger that can only be satisfied by imagining the apocalyptic overthrow of everything that middle class Britain holds dear
^The Public Schools Act 1868 does not define "public school"; as made clear in its preamble, it is "An Act to make further Provision for the good Government and Extension of certain Public Schools in England."
^Defoe is referring to the long defunct Bishop's Stortford Grammar School,[53] notBishop's Stortford College which was established in 1868.
^Published annually asThe Public Schools Yearbook from 1889 to 1934; asThe Public and Preparatory Schools Yearbook from 1935 to 1985; asThe Independent Schools Yearbook from 1986 to date.[75]
^St Paul's admits a small number of boarders.[102]
Airy, Reginald (1900).Westminster (reprint 2016 ed.). London: George Bell and Sons.ISBN978-1356990061.
Bamford, T. W. (1967).Rise of the Public Schools: a study of boys' public boarding schools in England and Wales from 1837 to the present day. London: Nelson.
Benson, A. C. (1902).The Schoolmaster: A Commentary Upon the Aims and Methods of an Assistant-master in a Public School (reprint 2011 ed.). Peridot Press.ISBN978-1-908095-30-5.
Hardy, H.H. (1911).Rugby (Public School Life) (reprint 2019 ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons.ISBN9780267961252.
Hickson, Alisdare (1996).The Poisoned Bowl: Sex and the Public School. Duckworth.ISBN978-0715627099.
Honey, John Raymond de Symons (1977),Tom Brown's universe: the development of the Victorian public school, Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co.,ISBN978-0-8129-0689-9
Hope-Simpson, J. B. (1967)Rugby since Arnold: A History of Rugby School from 1842 (1967)
Hurst, Steve (2007).The Public Schools Battalion in the Great War. Pen & Sword Books Ltd.ISBN978-1844155101.
Lamb, G.F. (1959).The Happiest Days. London: Michael Joseph.
Lambert, Royston; Millham, Spencer (1974).The Hothouse Society: An Exploration of Boarding-school Life Through the Boys' and Girls' Own Writings. Penguin.ISBN978-0140216752.
Laughton, M., Paech-Ujejski, A., Patterson, A., eds. (2021)Men's Accounts of Boarding School: Sent AwayISBN978-0367546823
Lunn, Arnold (1913).The Harrovians A Tale of Public School Life. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.ISBN978-1453809488.
Kalton, Graham (1966).The Public Schools: A Factual Survey. London: Longmans.ISBN978-0582324060.
Mangan, J.A. (2009).Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School: The Emergence and Consolidation of an Educational Ideology. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0521090391.
May, Trevor (2009).The Victorian Public School. Shire Library.ISBN978-0747807223.
Stibbe, Mark (2021).Home at Last: Freedom from Boarding School Pain. Malcolm Down Publishing Limited.ISBN978-1910786413.
Tapper, Ted (1997).Fee-paying Schools and Educational Change in Britain: Between the State and the Marketplace. Routledge.ISBN978-0713040302.
—— (1989), "Bullying in public schools: myth and reality", in Tattum, Delwyin P.; Lane, David A. (eds.),Bullying in Schools, Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books, pp. 81–88,ISBN978-0948080227
Tod, A.H. (1900).Charterhouse. London: George Bell and Sons.
Townsend Warner, Robert (1900).Winchester (Reprint 2016 ed.). London: George Bell and Sons.ISBN9781371142766.
Trelawney-Ross, Alexander (1956).Their Prime of Life: A Public School Study. Warren.
Turner, David (2015).The Old Boys: The Decline and Rise of the Public School. Yale University Press.ISBN978-0300189926.
Tyerman, Christopher (26 October 2000).A History of Harrow School 1324-1991. Oxford: OUP.ISBN978-0198227960.
Webster, F.A.M. (1937).Our Great Public Schools. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Ltd.
Weinberg, Ian (1967).The English Public Schools: The Sociology of Elite Education. Atherton Press.
Wilkins, Harold T. (1925).Great English Schools. London: Noel Douglas.
Wilkinson, Rupert (1964).The Prefects: British Leadership and the Public School Tradition: A Comparative Study in the Making of Rulers. London: Oxford University Press.
Wober, Mallory (1971).English Girls' Boarding Schools. Allen Lane.ISBN978-0713902396.
