Playing fields sold off, swimming pools closed down – state-school children don’t have a sporting chance | Robert Verkaik

Playing fields sold off, swimming pools closed down – state-school children don’t have a sporting chance | Robert Verkaik

A Guardian report has revealed the huge areas of outdoor space owned by UK private schools. It’s time for this inequality to end

Revealed: students at top private schools have 10 times more green space than state pupils

It was during the worst months of Covid that the playing fields of Eton and the vast grounds owned by hundreds of other private schools first became a matter of serious public concern. Social-distancing rules meant many children attending state schools were corralled into concrete playgrounds or sent home while their wealthier counterparts were enjoying acres of spatial freedom in gated communities.

It wasn’t long before the cry went out for private schools to open their gates to their state school neighbours. Very few schools answered that call. Today we learn the true extent of the inequality between the green-space premium enjoyed by fee-paying pupils over state-school children. A Guardian investigation has found that children at the top 250 English private schools have more than 10 times as much outdoor space as those who go to state schools.

Robert Verkaik is an author and journalist specialising in extremism and education

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