Private Education Policy Forum (PEPF) is a think tank focused on reducing inequalities relating to UK private schools and fee-paying education. [email protected]
United Kingdom
Joined September 2019
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🚨 New PEPF Research!
Liv Shaw, Tom Fryer, and Kathryn Telling have explored the relationship between types of elite private schools and elite universities, including noting the difference between day and boarding schools.
Read here 👇
pepf.co.uk/publications/elit…
"I have been humbled"
A privately-educated parent writes for @theipaper about her neurodivergent daughter's positive experience in a state school [PAYWALL]
Might many private school parents be pleasantly surprised by state schools, if they tried them?
inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/…
"Sending your child to private school encourages them to believe that they are better than other children."
@guardian's Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett writes of classism at UK universities and praises @93percentclub
Do her experiences resonate with yours?
theguardian.com/commentisfre…
"A very mixed picture"
Our chair @MikeTrace61 tells @SimonMarksFSN that private school closures have been accompanied by new openings which complicate the narrative that the addition of VAT to fees has heavily damaged the sector
Listen back 👇
share-gp.globalplayer.com/ca…
"I think private schools are the biggest conspiracy in this country"
@sophpender of @93percentclub explains her problems with private schools and makes the case for "phasing them out", with @amolrajan
What do you make of her points?
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002yl…
📰 Liv Shaw explains PEPF's latest research report on the relationship between elite private schools and university destinations.
Read here 👇
pepf.co.uk/opinion/even-more…
Key findings:
The wealthiest private day schools send around 15% of uni entrants to Oxbridge, compared with 1.7% at the least affluent
68% of affluent boarding school alumni go to a top 25 uni other than Oxbridge, compared to 51% of those from the least affluent day schools
🚨 New PEPF Research!
Liv Shaw, Tom Fryer, and Kathryn Telling have explored the relationship between types of elite private schools and elite universities, including noting the difference between day and boarding schools.
Read here 👇
pepf.co.uk/publications/elit…
Only 3.4% of entrants from the richest private boarding and day schools progress to universities outside of the top 50
pepf.co.uk/publications/elit…
About a third of children in private schools receive 'some form of financial aid', but 30% of scholarships go to the wealthiest families.
As PEPF research has revealed, too, only 1% of pupils receive full support.
@KasiaLDelgado in @theipaper:
inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/…
A @BBCPolitics panel is split on the addition of VAT to private schools fees...
Is describing the policy as a "security threat" hyperbolic?
Is it inaccurate to call the absence of VAT a "subsidy"?
Can pupils moving to the state sector be viewed as a positive?
The taxpayer shouldn't be "subsidising private institutions and private schools"
Labour MP Lola McEvoy defends the government's decision to add VAT to private school fees as figures show the number of pupils in private schools is falling
bbc.in/4v31nQI
Private Education Policy Forum retweeted
I concede my bet as agreed to @Samfr - £100 (ex-Gift Aid) to the @TrussellUK Trust, over the percentage of OVERALL private school students leaving the system.
This was 5.6%, against my forecast 10%.
More nuance to come on @BBCRadio4 with @TimHarford on Wednesday.
Analysis by @Tom_Richmond has revealed that the average size of private schools which have closed has been rising following the introduction of VAT on fees. Covered by
@GLJourno in @thetimes
How much weight should be placed on the VAT factor?
thetimes.com/article/9df3b63…
Watch back our live event on the financial implications of the addition VAT to private school fees back in 2024 with @Tom_Richmond and @TheIFS' Luke Sibieta, chaired by our founder @StaufenbergJ
youtube.com/watch?v=aMxfp-nN…
Looking for a brief, digestible summary of the @IOE_London @ucl research on private school bursaries and scholarships which hit headlines last week?
Check out our new research explainer 👇
pepf.co.uk/research/diluting…
New @IOE_London research shows more private school scholarships and bursaries go to high-income families than lower-incomes ones
Could these schools distribute the discounts they offer in a more progressive fashion?
ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/may/thir…
View Research Explainers of dozens more research papers on private schools on our website: pepf.co.uk/research/
A statement on criticism of recent @IOE_London research we have shared on private school scholarships and bursaries...🧵
New @IOE_London research shows more private school scholarships and bursaries go to high-income families than lower-incomes ones
Could these schools distribute the discounts they offer in a more progressive fashion?
ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/may/thir…
For those who did receive a bursary or scholarship, the average grant was 57% of total school fees in 1997-2000. By 2021-24 it was 27%. The allocation of funds to bursaries and scholarships together was just 3.4% of fee income, remaining steady for the last 25 years. 7/8
Drawing on our findings and on historical evidence from the 20th century, the paper concludes that bursaries and scholarships are unlikely to bring forth a significant reform of the socio-economic sectoral divide in Britain’s school system. 8/8
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
