New book argues Britain's public schools can be formidable engines of social mobility 'Parents made to feel like social lepers,' says leading head Dr Tim Hands But 57 per cent of parents would go independent if they could afford it School fees have risen by up to 80 times the level of 40 years ago The private education system is seen as providing 'excellent' exam results Half of Oxbridge places go to pupils from 200 independent schools By Tony Rennell Tony Little, the headmaster of Eton, was himself educated at Eton - and that alone is compelling evidence for some people that independent schools are rotten bastions of self-perpetuating privilege. Throw in the Old Etonian origins of Tory "posh" boys David Cameron and Boris Johnson, and the elite school credentials of George Osborne (St Paul's) and Nick Clegg (Westminster) and it's case closed. Floreat benificium - which the patrician-educated (but not the plebs) will translate effortlessly as Long Live Privilege. Pilloried: Parents who educate their children independently are treated like 'social lepers', according to a new book. Pictured, pupils at Eton College enjoy the Eton Wall Game Old boy: Current Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron completed his education at Eton College Indeed, Dr Tim Hands, the chairman of the Headmasters" and Headmistresses" Conference (HMC), which represents 250 of Britain's leading fee-paying schools, said in a speech this week that parents were increasingly made to feel like "social lepers" for privately educating their children. State versus independent education, it would seem, is a fault line - a chasm, indeed - that runs through class-obsessed Britain every bit as much now in 2013 as it has done for generations. The facts, though, are more complicated than that. The suave and sophisticated Little - white-bow-tied mentor to Prince Harry in his opulent Tudor establishment by the Thames (fees: £11,000 a term) - is the son of a baggage handler at nearby Heathrow airport. A full scholarship was his passport to the world he now inhabits, not rich parents. He broke barriers, being the first in his family to be educated beyond the age of 14. That makes him a pioneer and a role model - yet, along with the entire sector he works in, he is more likely to be dismissed as a pariah in so-called progressive quarters. "We're fair game these days," laments another head, Edward Elliott, of The Perse School in Cambridge. We're right up there with the Master of the Foxhounds for them to have a go at. Eton College: The school is considered one of the finest and has educated Royalty and Prime Ministers The "them" he refers to are politicians across the spectrum - champions of elusive social mobility yet too embarrassed to praise the excellence of independent schools and the opportunities they offer. And yet Elliott is another boy of lowly origins whose life was transformed by what many deride as a privileged education. "I was born into an agricultural family and I have a twin brother who's still a farm labourer," he says. My father began life as a bus driver. His way ahead was via a grammar school, "when they still existed." Learned: BBC journalists Susanna Reid (left) and Stephanie Flanders (right) were both educated privately The same went for Dr Christopher Ray, until recently High Master of the independent Manchester Grammar. Born in a poor part of Rochdale that today is home to the most deprived estate in the country, with 75 per cent unemployment, he flourished in his local grammar school. So did Marion Gibbs, whose childhood ambition was to be a hairdresser. "The fact that I did not get married and have children at 18 is quite remarkable," says the woman who now heads James Allen's Girls" School in South London. I'm the only person in my family to have an O-level, let alone an A-level or a degree. All three were products of the genuine social mobility that existed for clever youngsters before direct grant schools were abolished, state grammars curtailed, and the future of education in this country handed over to comprehensives - a principled experiment in social engineering that failed generations of kids and, in far too many places, is still doing so. Independent schools have flourished in this vacuum - and still do. Prestigious: Harrow School in Middlesex has also produced its fair share of leading figures in public life A new book, by writer Dominic Carman (ex-Manchester Grammar), canvasses the views of heads and documents the challenges facing them - not least the still-prevailing mindset of "a nation strangely discomforted by educational success," as he puts it. For politicians, the high-level academic achievement of independent schoolchildren is an embarrassment. They rarely speak about it - nor the attendant benefits for our society - because they are afraid of the opprobrium that would follow. And though the independently educated dominate our TV screens - from Jeremy Paxman, David Dimbleby and Bill Turnbull to George Alagiah, Nick Robinson and Andrew Marr - they speak little of their schooling. Nor do Susannah Reid, Sophie Raworth and Stephanie Flanders, three same-vintage products of St Paul's Girls" School in West London, a flagship for independent schooling if ever there was one. Products of public schools dominate sports, technology and arts, says Dr Tony Sewell, founder of Generating Genius, a charity focused upon getting children from disadvantaged backgrounds into universities. "Because private schools have a culture of independent thinking and give students a sense that they are knowledgeable and confident," he says. Public school: Westminster School sits in the shadow of the Palace of Westminster in central London In too many comprehensives, though, it is the reverse: "to be ignorant is to be the star." Which is why much of the country's independent sector survives despite soaring fees and an economic slow-down which has bitten savagely into disposable incomes. This week, the heads of the 200 leading schools meet for their annual conference, with some despondent about the future. Distinguished: Churchill was arguably Harrow's most noteworthy pupil A few independent schools have been forced to close due to the recession, and there may yet be more casualties. Some others have thrown in the towel of independence by taking state money and re-inventing themselves as academies and free schools. Alex McGrath, head of King's Ely Senior School, Cambridgeshire, warned this week that some schools are on the verge of losing one in ten of their pupils because parents are struggling to pay. "Price increases in the independent school market are in danger of becoming unsustainable," he said. It is a fair point. On the other hand, underlying demand has not slackened. Research by the Independent Schools Council suggests that 57 per cent of parents would choose an independent school for their child if money was no object - up from 48 per cent a decade ago. They are more desirable than ever. But only seven per cent can afford the fees - which implies that the remaining 50 per cent stay in the state system under sufferance because they have no alternative. But they clearly yearn for something better than they feel they are getting. For the lucky minority who find the funds, those fees are exorbitant. Since 1971, the average national income has multiplied by 13.5 (from £2,000 a year to £27,000), a pint of beer by 29 and a gallon of petrol by 20. But school fees are now between 50 and 80 times what they were four decades ago. This is partly because of a massive boost in the facilities independent schools offer, including first-class sport, music and drama. For example, North London Collegiate boasts 40 different clubs and societies and puts on 36 productions of one sort or another every year. "Independent heads have gone from selling a quality Ford, with extras, to a high-end Mercedes or Rolls-Royce," says Carman. Elite: Chancellor George Osborne attended St Paul's, while Deputy PM Nick Clegg went to Westminster But the most important return, as parents see it, is their children's excellent exam results and top drawer university entry. In other words, a kick-start in an increasingly competitive world. Half of all Oxbridge places go to pupils from the top 200 independent schools. Nearly half their pupils go on to what are recognised as the five best universities: Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Bristol and Durham. Many parents make big sacrifices to afford this leg-up in life for their loved ones. "They scrimp and save," says Tim Hands of Magdalen College School, Oxford, "because it's what they believe in." A significant minority regularly forgo holidays, or re-mortgage their home. "While we have girls of very highly paid City and legal professionals here," says City of London Girls" head Diana Vernon, "there are an awful lot of parents for whom the fees are an enormous stretch." Seven years of secondary education, including everything from school kit, overseas trips and individual music tuition, could cost £200,000. And yet middle income, middle Britain - not rich, says Carman, "except in aspiration" - busts a gut to find the fees. So what is the magic ingredient these schools have that gives them their massive edge? Partly it's an ethos of cultural appreciation, broad intellectual curiosity, self-confidence, a sense of moral and social responsibility, and good manners. Being able to attract the best staff on top salaries is a key advantage. Heads can hire the cream. Competent teaching ability is just a starter. "I look for warmth," says Gibbs. Staff who actually care about children and their learning. Of course, such schools are not immune from problems with drugs, sex and bullying. In 2001, 40 Winchester boys were disciplined for drug and drink problems. Royal pupil: Prince Harry pictured in 2003 in Eton College school dress Police with sniffer dogs raided the Marlborough dormitories following sex and drug scandals. Tonbridge head Tim Haynes says three boys left his school earlier this year after being discovered smoking cannabis, the first time in his seven years as head. They were caught doing it three times, and all three were involved in procurement of the stuff. But parents can sometimes be a bigger problem than pupils. Being able to afford the fees is no guarantee that they will always behave appropriately or with decorum. Sadly, says James Allen's Girls" School head Gibbs: "We have a generation of parents who would prefer to be their daughter's best friend, rather than their parent." When heads suspect that parental conduct is harming the child, they step in. But they're on a tightrope and need to tread carefully in managing parents with high expectations and well-stuffed pockets. For rather than back the school, the rich and powerful may reach for their lawyers if they don't get their own way. David Levin, City of London Boys" head, remembers parents at a previous school who went to their country cottage at weekends and left their 16-year-old on his own at home. I knew he was dealing drugs (though not at school), and there were some pretty wild parties going on. I called the parents in, and said: "We think your son and his friends are at risk." "The father tore a strip off me and said: "Your responsibility is for when the child leaves home until he gets back. Otherwise, he's my responsibility, and I'm quite happy with the way he is conducting himself. Five weeks later, the boy sold an ecstasy tablet to a friend, who collapsed in a nightclub and died. Levin has been super-cautious ever since. "If, in my view, a boy's wellbeing is imperilled, I will be pretty intrusive," he says. Dealing with problems like this mean independent school heads have to work flat out for their admittedly high salaries - between £150,000 and £250,000 a year for those Carman interviewed, with pension and housing benefits on top. High price: Fewer parents are able to afford the fees, which have increased by as much as 80 fold in 40 years But it's what they manage to achieve for their pupils that matters - the excellence that has parents even in these still uncertain times mortgaging their own futures for their children's. That they do so is an indictment of a state education system that too often doesn't deliver the goods, and which has gone backwards in terms of social mobility. In 1965, there were more working-class Oxbridge undergraduates than today. The politicians promised that progress would be achieved through access to education at the highest level, but over the past 50 years social mobility has regressed - a further waste of talent, rightly deemed disastrous and immoral. And yet, says Carman, the massed ranks of detractors will continue to assault the bastions of privilege, which is how they characterise independent schools. There are many things in our history for which we rightly feel embarrassed and ashamed. Independent education, alive and kicking in the 21st century, is not one of them. Instead, we should be proud of what is achieved. Significantly, it's a product that the rest of the world is desperate to acquire. Pupils from booming China, Russia, Korea and the like are a fast-expanding cohort here. A dozen British independent schools, led by Harrow, have also set up lucrative branches and franchises in the Far East, selling British excellence in education at a premium. Yet, what the world covets, too many in this country continue to carp about. What the detractors ignore is the basic fact that if state education were uniformly excellent - like many of the remaining state grammars, new academies and top-performing comprehensives are - independent schools would have no reason to exist. Bad schools do not exist because there are good ones, says Carman. The good cannot be blamed for the bad being bad. Not until all state schools achieve standards of genuine excellence, and reject a culture of tolerating or even encouraging mediocrity, will the situation change. "Parents, meanwhile, should be free to choose their children's school, and not be pilloried for doing so," he says. Heads Up, by Dominic Carman, is published by Thistle Books, available from amazon.co.uk at £3.99.