"There are more A* outstanding pupils in China than there are pupils in the UK."
I spent yesterday afternoon at Goldman Sachs' London HQ discussing the challenges that will face school leavers in 2018. During our wide-ranging discussion it struck me like it had never struck me before, what it means to be preparing young people for a Global Economy.
The danger with the British university entrance system, with separate quotas being offered to UK and overseas pupils, is that it gives the impression to our school leavers that they are only competing with fellow UK pupils for places - but, when it comes to getting a top job this is not the case. Top firms, such as Goldman Sachs, are looking to recruit, not just the cream of British crop, but the best talent in the world - recruitment has gone global!
In many ways Independent Schools have nothing to fear - we offer the best education in the world - but is that enough?
Pupils from Independent Schools have considerable advantages over their overseas competitors in that they have relatively easy access to UK universities. However, the scale of numbers and talent in China and India, and the hunger and drive of pupils from Eastern Europe pose a huge challenge to our students when competing for the world's top jobs.
The danger with the British university entrance system, with separate quotas being offered to UK and overseas pupils, is that it gives the impression to our school leavers that they are only competing with fellow UK pupils for places - but, when it comes to getting a top job this is not the case. Top firms, such as Goldman Sachs, are looking to recruit, not just the cream of British crop, but the best talent in the world - recruitment has gone global!
In many ways Independent Schools have nothing to fear - we offer the best education in the world - but is that enough?Pupils from Independent Schools have considerable advantages over their overseas competitors in that they have relatively easy access to UK universities. However, the scale of numbers and talent in China and India, and the hunger and drive of pupils from Eastern Europe pose a huge challenge to our students when competing for the world's top jobs.
Do Independent Schools really offer the best education in the world? A question I ask myself often,as I privately educate three children, is are all Independent Schools created equal? I think not. After all how many Old Berkhamstedians are up there in the current crop of the political leadership of our country compared with Old Etonians?
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