By Gabriel Princewill-
Reputable Eton College, is not on public Rankings because of its decision to keep the result of its students private. The high fly school which has produced prime ministers over the years, told the eye of media.com that it doesn’t make public the results of its students.
A parent contacted the eye of media.com to express disappointment after her request for its rankings and recent G.C.S.E exam results was declined. Amanda Jenkins said she wanted to send her 6 years old daughter to the best school in Britain when she is older, and wanted to identify the school in advance in order to prime her bright child for that school. ”I was surprised to learn that they wouldn’t give me statistics of their student’s performance. I already knew Eton is a very good school, but I wanted to start by targeting the best school, she stated.
However, Ryan from bestschools.co.uk– the education site that collates statistical data of independent schools in the UK, told the eye of media.com that Eton College was still one of the best schools in the country, and had come fourth among the independent schools for boys in the country in 2014.
” We approach Eton College annually to obtain results for ranking among independent schools in Britain, he said. He revealed that Eton College came 13th in 2015, out of over 300 independent boys schools in the country. Addressing their refusal to disclose their student’s academic performance, he revealed said ” Eton college are confident in their ability to attract very good schools, and don’t feel the need to advertise their academic success rate. They don’t need to find people, they have enough people who want to go to the school. For every space available, there are over 10 applications competing for the same spot”.
”Their decision also reflects their view that the quality of a school should not be based on academics alone, but also other extra-curricular activities that contribute to the development of the child, he added. Eton College remains one of the top 15 Independent schools in the UK’.’
With over 2,000 independent schools in the UK, 13th is a respectable position, and a rough guide for it’s ranking in the country. ” There are very good public schools out there, but students from private schools generally do better on the whole than students from public schools, he added”.
Highly regarded with top academic standards, Eton prizes itself on its history of producing prominent members of society, many of whom have risen to the pinnacle of their professional careers. 13 U.K prime ministers have come out of Eton. The students in the school undertake a highly selective process, and are exposed to a high work ethic throughout their formative years at the school. They are traditionally the cream de la cream in terms of the distribution of their mental ability.
Yet in their decision to keep their results private, it gives the impression of an organization that wishes to avoid the intent academic scrutiny that customarily attends to well-known academies. Clearly, the acclaimed institution which charges a £12,000 a term- fees, does not wish to appear under any hierarchical structure of league tables because they belong to the highest bracket of education in the U.K.
Nevertheless, the decision not to put their academic results in the public domain is implicitly reflects their stance remain distinguished from public schools by subscribing to a different treatment afforded to them because of their special elitist status as an outstanding school.
”Children are prepared for selection to Eton College up to 5 years earlier, Ryan from best schools U.K told the eye of media.com. It’s not an overnight process, they will be very good academically”.
The best school academically in the country was Cardiff Sixth form, followed by Guildford high school for girls. Two schools from London appeared in the top 10, Westminster school being 4th and North London collegiate school being 5th in the country. This year’s rankings is expected out in December, after all the evaluation of the thousands of schools in the country has been collated and comparatively assessed.
Academic luminaries from Eton College include David Cameron, Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, and several others. Many factors go into the quality of a school, most notably of which are the quality of teaching, the starting ability of the child, and the level of parental support- all geared towards harnessing the child’s strengths and enabling them to cultivate desirable levels of academic and social development.
Accountability to teachers and parents is an integral feature that plays its part in engendering an optimum level of focus and enthusiasm in the class room, and at their respective places of residence.
Theresa May has pledged her support and commitment to the proliferation of grammar type state schools in the U.K, to enable schools to be selective in their entry requirements, no matter their geographical location. This will certainly put upward pressure on many secondary schools to follow suit, perhaps spilling over to many primary schools who will have to shoulder the pressure to adequately prime their students for the 11 plus exams and other entry requirements that may be stipulated by various schools.
Whilst Eton College remains in the top bracket of private institutions, it may be useful to know what factors come to play in making the higher ranked schools produce even better results than the prestigious Eton. Apart from natural ability, it often also boils down to mental training and conditioning.