From assisted places to free schools: subsidizing private schools for the northern English middle classes

Gamsu, Sol

Abstract

This paper examines how the English educational state has consistently acted to support private schooling in areas where fee-paying schools would be otherwise financially unviable. Educational data on private school participation since the 2008 financial crisis reveals the stark regional divides between London and the South-East of England and the rest of the country. This analysis of contemporary trends is framed within a historical understanding of the spatial dualism of the English middle class in relation to education. The paper traces the policy lineages of the spatial logic of state subsidies for elite models of schooling in northern England, noting the continuity between Direct Grant grammar schools, the Assisted Places scheme and the recent conversion of private schools into state-funded academy or free schools. A review of applications from private schools to become free schools highlights, how differentiated local class structures affect the viability of elite education without state support.

Citation

Gamsu, S. (2020). From assisted places to free schools: subsidizing private schools for the northern English middle classes. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(8), 1093-1114. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2020.1833180

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 3, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 16, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Deposit Date: Jun 19, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2020
• Journal: British Journal of Sociology of Education
• Print ISSN: 0142-5692
• Electronic ISSN: 1465-3346
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1093-1114
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2020.1833180
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1268425