Partnership work between Independent School Council (ISC) schools and state schools is at its highest ever level, with new figures revealing an estimated 175,000 state pupils are currently benefitting from initiatives between schools.
Julie Robinson, General Secretary of the ISC, responds to the Labour Party's announcement to extend free school meals to all primary school pupils in England by introducing VAT on private school fees.
The majority of people in Britain think the proposal for independent schools to create up to 10,000 free places a year for children from low income families, through joint funding with government, is a good idea.
Following Michael Gove's comment piece in The Times, which argued for the removal of private schools' tax advantages, ISC rebut his claims and outline the huge contribution ISC schools make to the national education system and the economy.
Pupils in independent schools are controlled, committed, confident and like a challenge, new research into soft skills and mental toughness reveals.
A new system of joint funding by independent schools and government could see 10,000 new school places created every year at no cost to parents.
A quarter of all A level entries for French, German and Spanish come from within the independent schools sector, figures reveal.
Following the Prime Minister's policy speech on education and social mobility which raised the subject of independent schools' partnership work and charitable status, the ISC says schools are happy to continue playing their part.