Public school (United Kingdom)

A public school in England and Wales is a type of fee-charging private school^[1] originally for older boys. The schools are "public" from a historical schooling context in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or profession or family affiliation with governing or military service, and also not being run for the profit of a private owner.

Although the term "public school" has been in use since at least the 18th century,^[2] its usage was formalised by the Public Schools Act 1868,^[a][3] which put into law most recommendations of the 1864 Clarendon Report. Nine prestigious schools were investigated by Clarendon (including two day schools, Merchant Taylors' and St Paul's) and seven subsequently reformed by the Act: Eton, Shrewsbury, Harrow, Winchester, Rugby, Westminster, and Charterhouse.^[4][5]

Though most public schools were originally founded under true charitable purposes for poor pupils, by the modern age conversely they have become elite institutions and are associated with the ruling class.^[6][7][8] Historically, public schools produced many of the military officers and administrators of the British Empire.^[9][10] In 2019, two-thirds of cabinet ministers of the United Kingdom had been educated at such fee-charging schools.^[11]

The term is rarely used in Scotland, where "public school" has been used since the early 18th century to refer to publicly funded schools, and was defined by the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act as including those managed by the school board of a parish, or of a burgh.^[12][13] There are instances of the term being used to refer to elite Scots private fee-paying schools.^[14]

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