Eton college can boast of educating more than a third of Britain’s 57 prime ministers over its 583 years. Less impressive is the fact that the number of its pupils winning places at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge fell by more than half between 2014 and the 2021-2022 school year. Some parents pick private schools in the hope that their kids will benefit from more attention or less bullying. Others bet that these institutions will lead to a better education, higher grades and a place at a venerable university. But soaring costs and changing university admissions policies are prompting discussion of whether the crests and crenellations are worth it.

In many rich countries, traditional private schooling is in decline. Across 30-odd members of the oecd, a club of mostly wealthy countries, the share of children in schools that get less than half their funding from government fell from about 8% in 2000 to some 5% in 2018. Private schools in Britain and America have fared better, and the debate over them remains particularly politically charged in both countries.

Recent evidence suggests that for most privately schooled children in Britain and those who attend elite private institutions in America, the advantages of an expensive education remain robust. The benefits are probably bigger in America than they are in Britain, at least for pupils sitting in the swankiest private classrooms. That is because their alumni continue to enjoy access to the best universities at rates which would cause a furore in the old country. That might surprise anyone who assumes that American society is less ridden by class than British society.

Private schools in Britain serve around 6.5% of kids, about the same share as they did in the 1960s. (Hockey sticks and rice pudding appeal across the ages.) America’s ones teach about 9% of children, a share that had held steady for a decade by the time of the covid-19 pandemic. In America about 75% of private-schoolers go to institutions with religious affiliations (a big chunk of which operate on fees that are similar to, or less than, per-pupil funding in government schools). But that country also has an exclusive subset of schools, often called “independent” schools, which most closely mimic fee-paying ones in Britain. These educate less than 2% of American youngsters.

Costs in Britain are among the highest in the world. A family there can expect to cough up more than £16,000 ($20,000) a year to put one child through a private day school. That is three times what they were paying in the 1980s; it is around half the median household income in Britain, whereas it was once one-fifth. Fees in America are lower on average, but also rocketed by 60% in the first decade of this century, according to the most recent good government data. The most snooty schools bill parents on average $28,000 each year for a day pupil.

Measuring what benefits flow from these outlays matters both to critics of private schooling—who accuse posh schools of perpetuating elites—and to those who pay for it. At first glance, the pay-offs are clear: all around the rich world privately educated pupils do better in exams, go to better universities and end up with better-paid jobs. But some of that success derives from advantages outside the classroom, such as having wealthy, encouraging or intelligent parents. Understanding the boost from private education involves comparing pupils’ fortunes with those of otherwise similar peers in government schools. Good research of this sort is easiest to find in Britain.

Getting the abacus out

By the time they turn 25 Britons with private education earn 17% more than other workers from similar homes, according to a study from 2015. The pay premium widens by the age of 42, according to earlier research, to around 21% for women and 35% for men. In part this is because privately schooled people are more likely to enter high-earning professions, such as finance. Alumni networks may help in this, but peer pressure and parental expectations probably play a big role, too.

A larger reason for higher incomes is because private-schoolers get more and better academic qualifications than they otherwise would. They enjoy a “modest” boost in test scores when compared with children from similar homes who enroll in government classrooms, reckons Francis Green at University College London. This advantage accumulates with every additional year they spend in private schooling. One study finds that the edge they enjoy by the time they are 18 is roughly the equivalent of moving from grades of aab to aaa (school-leavers on England’s academic track commonly take nationally standardised exams in three subjects).

The critical point is that even a modest boost in results can have a big effect on the size of additional earnings. That is because better grades might secure a pupil a slot at a more prestigious university than they would have gone to otherwise, or a slot at a university at all. In 2021 more than half of privately educated pupils who started a degree in Britain attended one of the 24 “Russell Group” universities (a club that includes most of the best ones). Such pupils are more likely to spend their last years at school studying the tough, traditional subjects that very selective universities most want to see on applications. They are also more likely to get extra help so as to ace interviews and admissions tests.

Private-schoolers no longer nab quite such unfair shares of top university places as they once did. They comprise around 18% of all pupils aged 16-19 in England, as well as about 25% of all those with top grades in school-leavers’ exams. Last year they were 20% of new undergraduates at Russell Group universities.

In 2016 about 6% of all private-schoolers who began a degree in Britain won places at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge; that share has since fallen to about 4% (it is around 2% for those from government schools). Last year private-schoolers made up 32% and 27% of the pair’s new British undergraduates, down from 43% and 39% a decade before. This shift has rocked the handful of elite private schools which once sent hordes of pupils to the two universities.

Picking apart the benefits of private education in America is difficult, because its schools are a more motley bunch than Britain’s. Since religion is banned from government schools, many pious parents pick private classes for reasons other than academic performance alone. Overall, evidence to suggest that America’s private-schoolers learn more than they would if they went to government schools is less secure than it is in Britain.

A study published in 2018 by two academics at the University of Virginia, Robert Pianta and Arya Ansari, analysed the test scores of 1,000 children who were born in the 1990s. It found that by age 15 the ones who attended American private schools were getting no better grades, after adjusting for their backgrounds. There is not much good research, however, singling out the extra benefits rich children gain from attending America’s subset of “independent” schools. But it is reasonable to think that they boost a child’s prospects by at least as much as their British cousins.

America’s universities welcome those from grand schools with open arms. In 2021 James Murphy of Education Reform Now, a think-tank in Washington, dc, collected data from 35 of America’s highest-ranked universities and liberal-arts colleges. He found that on average about 34% of their new undergraduates were educated in private high schools (see chart). That is astonishing given that the private sector educates just 8.5% of American high-schoolers. Pupils from “independent” schools do brilliantly. The most recently published data suggest they made up about one-third of new undergraduates at Dartmouth and more than a quarter at Princeton. “Legacy” preference, whereby the relatives of alumni get a leg-up in admissions, may explain some of this. Nothing so brazenly unfair happens at British universities.

Green lawns and greenbacks

Money helps, too. Whereas English universities charge every domestic student the same tuition fees (though those from abroad pay more), America’s best universities vary the cost according to means. This allows exceptional pupils from poor backgrounds to study for little or nothing. But it also gives universities good reason to keep in with dependable “feeder” schools, full of clever pupils with ample wealth.

It follows that Britain’s private schools are pointing more of their leavers overseas. Last year about 6% of those who went to university chose to study abroad, up from 4% in 2016. America is the most popular destination. Its universities demand top grades, says Barnaby Lenon of the Independent School Council, which represents British private schools. But he adds that they also value non-academic achievements, such as those obtained through extra-curricular activities of a kind that private schools try hard to provide.

The edge enjoyed by private-schoolers is much less discussed in America than it is in Britain, in part because questions of race, rather than class, tend to take centre stage in debates about university admissions. Political battles that have broken out over the teaching of race, sex and history are benefiting private providers, in part because states are choosing to put money into private “school-choice” programmes. These involve local governments paying for some private-school places (commonly only for poor children and usually in the cheapest kinds of private institutions).

America may be on the verge of change, however. Imminent rulings from its Supreme Court could ban the use of affirmative action in university admissions. And if colleges and universities can no longer boost applicants from underrepresented minority groups, the advantages enjoyed by posh pupils may receive greater scrutiny. Private schools in Britain face a bumpy ride, too. The Labour Party, which looks likely to win power at elections due in the next 18 months, talks of abolishing private schools’ charitable status and stripping them of tax breaks. That could cause tuition fees to jump. Meanwhile, the paths to Oxford and Cambridge will keep narrowing. Expect a growing gang of Brits to head across the Atlantic. ■

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline "Should you send your children to private school?"

Oil prices climbed further on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday Brent crude rose above $90 a barrel—the first time it has breached that level this year. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s second- and third-largest producers, said they would continue to limit output. Saudi Arabia is constraining supply at around 9m barrels per day, 25% below its declared maximum output. It has said it will continue to do so until the end of 2023.

The White House said that arms negotiations between North Korea and Russia are advancing. Jake Sullivan, the Biden administration’s national-security adviser, said that North Korea would “pay a price…in the international community” if it provided weapons to Russia. On Tuesday the Kremlin declined to comment on reports that Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin.

Adding to the gloom surrounding the German economy, industrial orders fell by 11.7% in July compared with the previous month, a substantially sharper drop than expected. The decline was in part the result of big aerospace orders flattering June’s figures, according to the German Federal Statistics Office. But orders were down in a number of sectors in July, including computing, electrical equipment and machinery.

The past three months have been the hottest ever measured, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an EU-funded programme. Last month was the warmest August on record—and the second hottest month ever, after July 2023—with temperatures an estimated 1.5°C above preindustrial averages. In August sea-surface temperatures also hit 20.98°C, their highest monthly average.

Britain will designate Wagner, a Russian mercenary outfit, as a terrorist group. Suella Braverman, the home secretary, described Wagner’s presence in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa as “a threat to global security” and “a military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia overseas”. In Britain it will become a criminal offence to support or be a member of the group.

A cyclone in southern Brazil killed 22 people, flooded cities and forced thousands to flee their homes. It is the worst-ever weather disaster in Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state, according to its governor. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, said the federal government would provide help. Aid workers in helicopters are rescuing people from their rooftops, but the death toll may still climb.

Venice will charge €5 ($5.35) to day tourists over the age of 14 hoping to visit the city from next year, according to its council. Famed for its glittering canals and domed basilicas, Venice has long suffered from overtourism: in July UNESCO, a United Nations body, recommended it be categorised as a “world heritage in danger” site, in part due to excessive numbers of tourists.

Figure of the day: 15, the number of premium games that feature combat in the top-selling 20. Read the full story.

China bolstered efforts to boost economic growth and prop up its currency. The central bank announced it would lower the foreign-exchange reserve-requirement ratio for financial institutions. The policy is typically used to increase the amount of dollars in the economy and to boost the yuan. At least 11 banks also cut interest rates on several deposits. The lenders are also reportedly preparing to lower rates on existing mortgages to help revive the ailing property sector.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said his country has built a new long-range weapon that can hit targets 700km away. The remarks, made on social media, came days after the Kremlin accused Ukraine of launching an aerial attack on Russia. Mr Zelensky did not provide any more details about the weapon, but said his country was working towards increasing its range.

Xi Jinping, China’s president, is reportedly planning to skip next week’s G20 summit in India. China’s foreign ministry refused to comment, but Mr Xi’s decision is believed to be a result of tensions between the two countries. Earlier this week India lodged a formal objection to China over an official Chinese map that shows internationally recognised Indian territory in the Himalayas within China’s borders.

Joseph Biggs, the former leader of Proud Boys, an American far-right group, was sentenced to 17 years in prison over his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6th 2021. Mr Biggs was convicted for seditious conspiracy; his prison term is among the longest handed out in the 1,100 cases stemming from the Capitol riots.

The Philippines imposed a price cap on rice amid rising inflation. The office of Ferdinand Marcos junior, the country’s president, said the move would alleviate the “considerable economic strain on Filipinos”. It blamed “hoarding”, among other things, for the recent increase in the grain’s price. India’s partial ban on rice exports has also pushed up global prices.

Prisoners in Ecuador took 57 prison guards hostage, hours after two car-bombs exploded in the capital, Quito. Both incidents are believed to be muscle-flexing by organised-crime gangs. The unrest came a day after authorities carried out an extensive search for weapons in one of the country’s biggest jails, in the Andean city of Latacunga. Over 400 inmates have died in Ecuadorian prisons since 2021.

Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering brought against him by prosecutors in Georgia, who accuse him of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Mr Trump waived his right to be present at an arraignment next week, as did several of his 18 acolytes also charged in the case. In total, Mr Trump is facing four prominent indictments.

Figure of the day: 14, the number of attempted or successful coups globally since 2020. In the 2000s there were just 22. Read the full story.

Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, cautioned that inflation was still “too high” and said that America’s central bank would be prepared to raise interest rates again “if appropriate”. During an eagerly awaited speech at the annual conference at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Mr Powell pledged to “proceed carefully” based on the available data. The Fed has raised interest rates from near zero in March 2022 to a range of 5.25-5.5% in July. But annual inflation was 3.2% last month—well above the Fed’s 2% target.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, said it was a “complete lie” that his government was behind the private-jet crash on Wednesday that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner Group that mutinied in June, and nine others. He earlier described Mr Prigozhin as a “talented businessman” who had “made serious mistakes”. American officials are reportedly assessing the crash’s potential causes.

Instacart, an American grocery-delivery firm, filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In its filing the firm reported net income of $242m in the first half of the year, but warned that it “may be unable to sustain profitability”. The proposed listing could help revive an IPO market that has been largely dormant since 2022.

France’s ambassador to Niger was asked to leave the country within 48 hours. Niger’s junta accused the envoy of refusing to meet the new foreign minister, who was appointed after a coup on July 26th. France’s foreign ministry said it had “taken note” of the expulsion order but said that the “putschists” lacked the “authority to make this request”.

Denmark plans to ban Koran-burning after far-right groups torched the holy book, souring diplomatic relations with some Muslim countries. A new law would ban the “inappropriate treatment” of objects with religious meaning, including the Bible and the Torah. Breaking it could lead to two years in prison. Opposition leaders have criticised Denmark’s government for curtailing free speech.

Hartwig Fischer resigned as director of the British Museum after a member of staff was sacked over a series of thefts. Mr Fischer said that the museum had failed to “comprehensively” respond to warnings it first received in 2021. Objects dating back as far as the 15th century BC, including jewellery and gems, are thought to be lost.

Members of the Spanish team that won the women’s World Cup last week said they would not play international football while Luis Rubiales remained the head of the country’s football federation. Mr Rubiales sparked outrage when he kissed the forward Jenni Hermoso on her lips after the World Cup final. He has refused to resign, saying the kiss was “consensual”; Ms Hermoso called his claim “categorically false”.

Word of the week: portrait parlé, or “speaking image”, the original name for the modern mugshot, which was invented in France. Donald Trump had his taken on August 24th. Read the full story.

Evergrande, a beleaguered Chinese property giant, filed for bankruptcy in America. The company sought protection under Chapter 15 of America’s bankruptcy code, which shields foreign firms undergoing restructuring from being sued by creditors. In its petition the firm, which has liabilities worth $300bn, said that restructuring proceedings were under way in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands. Evergrande defaulted on its debt in 2021, triggering a property crisis in China that continues to stew.

America has reportedly allowed Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Any transfer of the aircraft requires America’s approval. According to Reuters, Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, will support Danish and Dutch proposals to transfer the jets and train Ukrainian pilots. Ukraine has long sought F-16s to counter Russia’s air superiority.

Officials in Georgia are investigating threats made against the grand jurors who voted last week to indict Donald Trump and 18 of the former president’s associates. Many of the jurors have had their personal details shared on right-wing websites, including Mr Trump’s own social-media platform, Truth Social. The local sheriff’s office did not comment on whether jurors had reported harassment.

Inflation in Japan slowed in July, as energy prices fell. Core consumer prices, which excludes volatile food costs, increased by 3.1% year on year, down from 3.3% in June. The Bank of Japan has continued to maintain an ultra-loose monetary policy, although core inflation has exceeded its 2% target for a 16th straight month.

Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are “on the right track”, according to Iran’s foreign minister. Hossein Amirabdollahian’s remarks came after a meeting with Faisal bin Farhan, his Saudi counterpart, in Riyadh. The kingdom cut ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was attacked. The countries resumed diplomatic ties following a China-brokered deal in March.

Walmart reported revenue of $162bn in the three months to July, a 5.7% increase on the same period last year. The American retail giant revised its sales-growth forecast for this year from 3.5% to 4-4.5%. The firm credited its strong numbers to easing inflation and high demand for low-priced groceries, but warned that rising fuel prices and high borrowing costs could still hurt consumer confidence.

The drinking water of up to 26m Americans is contaminated with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, according to new data from the Environment Protection Agency. PFAS, sometimes called “forever chemicals” because of their durability, are found in household items and have been linked to cancer and infertility. The EPA said it would finalise new PFAS regulations by the end of this year.

Figure of the day: 304, the number of Metro stations in Paris’s underground, 32 more than on London’s Tube. Read the full story.