Credit crunch starts killing off independent schools

State schools are back in fashion. The FT reports that the formerly rich have begun to abandon private schools. From today's FT....

Competition for places at many grammar schools, often oversubscribed by a factor of 10, has become even tougher in the credit crunch, research by the Financial Times suggests. The number of applicants to the schools that form the elite of the state system has risen strongly this year in some local authorities contacted by the FT, in spite of a decline in the overall number of pupils applying. Several schools cite financial insecurity caused by the recession.

Their views, and the figures behind them, support anecdotal evidence that an increasing number of parents previously intent on their children being educated in the private sector are exploring the option of a free education at grammar schools.

It is extraordinary how attitudes change. It wasn't that long ago that a state education was a mark of shame. Not no more it ain't.