For those more ‘normal’ folk who, unlike me, don’t get excited when they see a scatter-graph like the one above from the IFS six days ago , let me explain.
The closer clustering of the dark blue Scottish dots, each representing a local education authority, means that the range of children attending schools in that area is very like, in terms of, in particular, income, parental qualifications, job status and property value, the range of such attributes in the neighbourhood around the school.
Put crudely, children from more affluent homes tend to attend the same school as those from more disadvantaged families, whereas in England the children from more affluent homes will not attend the local school unless it is one with a reputation for higher achievement in terms of exam pass rates.
Where the local school in England does not have a high-achieving profile, pupils from more affluent families will gain places in schools in other areas which do and be driven to them, in 4x4s, perhaps.
The reason is:
One of the most striking differences between education in Scotland and England is how each nation allocates pupils to schools. Parents in England must ‘express a preference’ for the school(s) they would like their child to attend. In Scotland, meanwhile, each address is assigned to a single secondary school and by default children will attend this catchment area school. No parent makes a choice in Scotland unless they submit a ‘placing request’ to attend an alternative school. This is not encouraged, and is used by fewer than 15% of parents in practice. In Scotland, therefore, where you live is a much more important factor for where you go to school than in England.
https://ifs.org.uk/articles/schools-and-segregation-comparison-scotland-and-england
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
What do you make of this from the front page of the Scottish Daily Neil
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12633761/The-cut-price-doctor-Health-chiefs-raise-safety-fears-plans-recruit-doctor-associates-two-years-training-chronic-staff-shortages-NHS.html
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i’ll do something on this
John
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The folks I know who were in high paid jobs sent their kids to state primary schools, but sent them to private secondary schools, (High schools in Scotland’s state system) same with some of the neighbours, well off ones that is. Their kids tend to get the highly paid jobs as well, they follow in their parents’ footsteps. When I first moved to Edinburgh, thirty three years ago, I did some night class teaching at a high school, one with a good reputation. Lovely kids, really good learners but they told me that if they said which school they’d attended they were less likely to get a good job or into uni. I don’t know why I was shocked because attending comprehensive school in NE England, most kids were expected to join the army, or for the girls, to go straight into working at the local shirt factory!
The public/private school system in England is there to make sure the haves and have nots keep to their alloted stations, I’m sure it’s similar in Scotland, just not quite the Eton, Cambridge mentality?
Do private schools still have charity status in Scotland?
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