Opinions

Under attack (again)

Michael Gove’s programme of school reforms to give teachers greater freedom to innovate and empower headteachers to drive improvement in the quality of education is a challenge to the independent sector. James Croft reports

Mr Gove has been explicit that the impact of his programme of reforms ought to mean much greater competition for independent schools. With mounting OECD PISA evidence that the consequence of families of higher socioeconomic status taking up the independent state school option tends to be that the independent (private) school (test score) advantage slips away, independent heads and their governors, particularly those of mid-fee range schools, are getting nervous.

Numbers rising
The number of state-funded academies has multiplied rapidly this year (from 203 in May 2010 to 1,072 at the beginning of August this year). While free schools have not materialised in the numbers once anticipated, the Government is hopeful that they will make up in terms of quality what they lack in numbers, becoming incubators of innovation for the system as a whole.

Though there may well be a time-lag in academies actively exploring their newfound independence (polling suggests a significant proportion of headteachers and governors are more interested in the short-term financial gains), some mid-range independent schools in areas where free schools are proposed report that they are already feeling the impact in terms of falling enquiries. Despite the rejection of 281 of the initial batch of 323 free school proposals submitted by parents and other community-based groups, the idea retains much of its intrinsic appeal for many families. 

Clearly, the conviction that greater autonomy at school level, and attendant freedoms over curriculum and pedagogy, will make a significant difference to the quality of learning outcomes is already becoming an important driver in the market.

In the short- to medium-term, based on polling for its 2008 Missing Million report, mtm consulting has estimated that the independent sector could lose up to 26,000 buyers, or 7 per cent of its total roll. While the consultancy stresses that long-term there is plenty of room for growth in pupil numbers (the sector is currently selling to less than a quarter of its target market and that market is growing), competition with independent state schools is likely to force a degree of consolidation in the mid-market. In the coming years, many potential buyers will opt for a state education, and will remedy, supplement or enhance their children’s experience if needs be.

But the independent state school challenge could provide new opportunities for the low-cost proposition too. While in the short-term wider exploration of the portfolio option will lend further impetus to the already burgeoning market for independent tutors, virtual learning resources, after-school clubs and holiday camps, it will also serve to highlight the irrepressible nature of parents’ aspiration for the fuller, more rounded preparation for life for which British independent schools are known – the value-added that the state system has failed to deliver.

Setting classroom learning in the context of a more holistic commitment to human flourishing doesn’t have to cost the earth either: in a recent Adam Smith Institute study of the performance of proprietorial schools, it was discovered that those at the bottom end of the fee spectrum, providing for (we may suppose) a higher percentage of less well-off buyers, not only outperformed more expensive proprietorial schools in terms of the quality of provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, but also (by a significant margin) the all-independent school group of which they are a subset (ie including all charitable trust schools).

Finger in the wind
Mr Gove has successfully tapped in to a brooding dissatisfaction with state schooling and widespread frustration with the declining affordability of independent education, and his message has clearly resonated with parents. But, as Mr Blair did before him, he may well have raised expectations to an unsustainable level. With prospective buyers feeling the pinch, “good enough” may be good enough for now, but the sector is resilient and long-term growth prospects, particularly for the low-cost schools proposition, are continuing to attract the attention of investors.

James Croft is director of The Centre for Market Reform in Education.

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