Kids with parents who value education and are prepared to pay for it or home educate the kids themselves are going to do better no matter what schools do. That said, I think it is a travesty of our social and economic fabric that only getting academic qualifications is regarded as being successful. All that happens in reality is the Bell curve of intelligence gets raised up, it bulges a lot more in the middle, sure, a good thing if you want better technology and a cure for cancer sooner than later, but the very intelligent stay brighter than the less no matter how much a parent spends on the child's education. I've said to my family loads of times since I started working with Learning Disabled people that the two leading edges of our civilisation are how well we care for people who have problems of any sort and the science and technology that we get into . The main problem in my view is society has to value and pay for those millions of people who do great jobs in social care but get little reward for it. I don't think the answer lies in higher pay I think it lies in higher privilege in terms of reductions in power bills and housing costs so the pay they get is worth more. Raising taxes specifically for this purpose is the only way.

Private tuition risks 'learning gap'

www.bbc.co.uk

Private tuition for state school pupils is booming, particularly among wealthier families and in London, suggests a poll of 11- to 16-year olds.