Private school changed my life… but here’s why Labour is right to now rinse them
I’m grateful to have won a bursary to attend Yorkshire’s answer to Hogwarts, says Sufyan Ahmed. But Labour’s plan to impose a 20 per cent tax on fee-paying schools is only fair – even though it means some will go to the wall
From the age of seven, my weekends revolved around one thing: tutoring sessions to get me through the 11-plus, at the behest of my mother, who had her heart set on me attending the local private school.
I grew up in Bradford, one of the most deprived cities in Yorkshire – so Bradford Grammar School felt like an elusive, Hogwarts-esque dream, completely out of reach for someone like me. However, thanks in no small part to my parents’ determination, I defied the odds and attained an offer from this prestigious school.
I was only able to take it up thanks to a bursary that covered 70 per cent of the school fees, and which made it just about affordable for my family. This meant I avoided having to attend one of the city’s many failing state schools, where two in five schools are considered sub-standard by Ofsted.
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