Pupils get the equivalent of ‘two years extra education’ at private schools
Pupils who attend private schools receive the equivalent of two extra years of education by the time they are 16 compared to their state school peers, new research suggests.
Research from Durham University found that private school pupils are consistently ahead of pupils in state schools at ages four, eight, 10 and 16.
The study was commissioned by the Independent Schools Council and aimed to analyse the difference in attainment between private and state school pupils.
It found that by the age of 16, the equivalent of two years more education had helped boost their grades by almost two thirds of a grade at GCSE.
The largest discrepancies were found in French, history and geography, with the gap in attainment the smallest for chemistry, physics and biology.
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