A senior master at Eton is joining forces with teachers from other top public schools to launch their own sixth-form institution to address “unaffordable” private education.
Joe Francis, who is also a former headmaster of Hampton Court House School, plans to set up the school for 250 students in London by 2020. He has teamed up with teachers from the £39,750-a-year Winchester College and the £42,680-a-year Dulwich College to cater for middle-class families who are no longer able to pay the cost of tuition fees.
The new school, Scholar 6, will charge about £13,000 a year for four A-level courses and will reduce costs by partnering with local clubs and societies.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph he said: “My wife is a doctor, I’m a teacher: even for reasonably prosperous people like us, most private education is unaffordable without bursaries. Fees have risen so rapidly we can’t afford to send our children to independent schools.”
Scholar 6 is proposing to use online and interactive textbooks and a virtual library. If successful, the group plans to open more schools in the capital and other big cities.
