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Boarding school boys rule Britain, at what cost?

For both the survivors of these institutions and for the whole country.


In March, Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, published his memoir – A Very Private School. This recounted, in devastating detail, the abuse, both mental and physical, that he had been subjected to at his elite prep boarding school. The brutality is laid bare.

For centuries in the UK, a private education has been the pathway to opportunity. Today those who attended private schools are five times more likely to hold top jobs in politics, the judiciary, media, and business. 

Boarding school boys in particular, who represent less than 1% of the population, have been in charge of the country for most of the past 14 years. But at what cost? For both the survivors of these institutions and for the whole country.

Read: A boyhood built on fear, The price of private education


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