Rise In Support For State-Funded Access

Public support for the use of government funds to enable children from low income families to attend independent schools has risen to its highest level since Labour came to office, a new survey shows.

Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of British adults now support the idea according to the survey, carried out by MORI for the Independent Schools Council. Support has risen by two percentage points since last year and stands at its highest level since 1997.

The survey, an annual snapshot of public attitudes to independent schools, also shows that

• More than half the population (54 per cent) believe that independent school standards are higher than those in state schools - the highest proportion since 1996.
• More than two-thirds of British adults believe there would be a role for independent schools, even if their standards were no higher - again the highest proportion for ten years.
• More than half of all parents (53 per cent) would choose an independent school for their children if they could afford it - four points up on last year and the second highest proportion recorded. Only 40 per cent of parents say they would not choose an independent school.
• Seven out of ten of those parents who would choose an independent school cited higher standards as their main reason.

The survey results were disclosed today (25 October 2001) as the Independent Schools Council announced its plans to further debate on the issue of publicly-funded access to its member schools with a major one-day conference in London early next year. A discussion paper (OASIS: Open Access to Schools in the Independent Sector) was published by ISC in March.

General secretary Alistair Cooke said: "The latest MORI figures make it clear that there is widespread public support for the use of public funds to make the education provided by our schools available to a much wider cross section of the population. Support is uniformly high, regardless of the political party people support."

"For the ISC, widening access to the excellence of our schools is the most important partnership issue of all. It is to ensure that the issue stays on the political agenda that we are organising a conference in February 2002 which will explore a range of possible ways forward."

The MORI survey was carried out amongst nearly 2,000 adults in early September. The latest in a long series of annual surveys MORI has conducted for ISC (and formerly ISIS), its main findings are summarised below.

Q1 Do you believe that educational standards in state schools are higher, lower or about the same as independent schools?

Q2 If educational standards were the same in state schools as in independent schools, do you agree or disagree that there would still be a role for independent schools?

Q3 To what extent would you support or oppose the use of government funds to enable children from lower income families to attend independent schools?

* Conservative: 69%; Labour: 62%; Liberal Democrats: 66%

Q4 (To parents) If you could afford it, would you send your child to an independent school or not?

Q5 (To those saying yes) Why would you send your child to an independent school?

Technical details

The survey was carried out between 6th and 11th September at 195 sampling points across Great Britain. 1,934 adults aged 18 and over were interviewed, in their own homes. Further information about the survey is available from: