There's one thing missing in the debate about private schools, and why many of the 7% of parents wealthy enough to send kids there do so. It's fear of poorer children, who they fear as dangerous, as drains on educational resources, and as potentially corrupting to their offspring

This will set some people off, but it's true. Private education taps into the fears of the privileged in a society not just scarred by inequality, but defined by it: it's as much about "fear of the other" as anything else.

According to OECD research, children from privileged backgrounds tend to do as well at state schools as they do at private schools. Teaching at private schools is often of a lower standard: some teachers aren't even qualified.