Teachers launch school aimed at middle classes unable to pay ‘greedy’ private school fees
TEACHERS from leading institutions are opening a sixth form school in London costing £13,000 a year aimed at middle class students priced out of private school education by “corporate greed”.
Joe Francis, a senior master at Eton, in partnership with Neil Croally, from the £42,680-a-year Dulwich College and another teacher from the £39,750-a-year Winchester College, wants to make privateeducation more accessible.
Mr Francis told The Daily Telegraph: “My wife is a doctor, I’m a teacher: even for reasonably prosperous people like us, most private education is unaffordable without bursaries.
“Fees have risen so rapidly, we can’t afford to send our children to independent schools.”
Mr Francis, who has worked at Eton for 20 years, criticised private schools of being “hungry for cash” to invest in West End-standard theatres and sports facilities.
He added: “We are just a bit sceptical about that whole money-hungry process of development funds, selling brands abroad - these schools seem to be living beyond their means.”
Neil Croally, a classics teacher and head of scholarship at Dulwich College, said the new school would have a strongly academic ethos and would focus on delivering “high quality education”.
School 6 will adopt new technologies to modernise learning and keep rocketing costs down for middle class parents.
It plans to cap costs by using e-books rather than paying for a bricks and mortar library, along with partnering with clubs and societies rather than ploughing funds into state-of-the-art facilities.
The first school is to be set up in London by 2020 with space for 250 sixth form students.
If successful, they plan to open more in the capital as well as in cities including Oxford, Birmingham, Cambridge and Manchester.