I went to a grammar school. My parents (postman and housewife) could afford it; it was free. My son was failing at his comprehensive school. My wife and I took him out, and at great personal expense have placed him in the private sector. It works! He will now have qualifications. Lesson learnt

DLL, London,

i did private school, while young but money in family ran out, so did state, i was bright kid top in maths, 2 yrs running and the idiots would not, ( even though i dragged my mum to school), advance me into GCE stream, so i made teachers pay with abuse last 2 yrs at school, even though i got caned!

jonathan rose, great torington, uk

stop dumbing down the best who go to state schools and start teaching classes based upon willingness to learn/ability. most state high schools in the U.S. have basic level, honors, and Advanced Placement which gives those wanting to learn the opportunity to.

Alex, London, England

For many years our Parliament was packed with ex-grammarians who provided one PM after another. With the death of grammar schools most of the top posts are back with those who were privately educated.

Victor Southern, Swanley, UK

A. Sedon does not realise that majority of children in state schools need a completely different approach. There is so many children who come from problematic families and see the world in a completly different light. Some school ethos and things like that will mean nothing to them!

Dara, Ripon,

Anthony Seldon with all his ingenious ideas misses the simplest and best solution. Abolish all state-run schools - make them all independent. The market will work out the best way to provide - probably through a variety of institutions.

The only issue then is how best to assist parents to pay.

HJ, Reading, UK

'..the ones of rare talent who will inspire other children in that state school, and give the whole school pride and status'. No. We're the ones left to be unpaid teaching assistants, left to stagnate and be bullied. It turns us in nasty pieces of work, bitter and angry at the way we were neglected.

Peter Baldwin, Cambridge, UK

Well funded independent schools primarily means that teachers are better paid than those in the state sector. This means that all the best ones are already at independent schools. Attracting the best of what's left for academies will not enhance standards in the state schools losing these teachers.

Alan Gooch, Honiton,

Give it up. The huge imbalances and unfairnesses in the British education system are as much a part of British culture as the royal family, beer and fish and chips. Go to Eton and observe the future leaders of this country.

Tim, Leatherhead, UK

Not sheer fantasy. Between them my 3 boys, deemed gifted, have 33 years of state school life. Two minor bullying incidents, one dealt with by other boys in his class standing up for him, the other by an armwrestling contest. They were never target practice.

Diana, Derby, uk

Get civil servants and political activists out of managing education. Have teachers take an oath similar to the Hippocratic for doctors. Then let educators educate and stop politicians and civil servants from meddling. Professionalism always trumps politicisation for results.

KR, Stockport,

Mr Seldon, you were clearly not educated in a state comprehensive if you buy the rose-tinted theory that bright children inspire the others. I was a bright kid in a comp. I endured seven years of non-stop bullying from start to finish, and still have the broken nose to prove it. Get real.

Chris, Liverpool, England

Shrina of Chiselhurst. Perhaps your parents ought to put in a claim for a refund as the education they bought you does not seem to have helped with your spelling .

E Heath, Odiham, england

Dr Seldon, has made just about the best case I have ever heard for the return of a Grammar School, [ with variable admission ages] in every UK town.

David Vinter, Louth, Lincs., UK.

The State schooling system in this country is in crisis. Parents who care have no alternative but to opt out. They scrim and save-so that their children may have the best possible start. State schools are filled with poor calibre teachers-whom are not fit for the job of teaching.

Shrina, Chislehurst, uk

There are a number of straight forward reforms which would transform state education and give independent schools a run for their money:
Secondary school education should be based on selection by ability.
Allow schools to chose what to teach
Break the stranglehold of the NUT over teachers

Jon Burgess, Douglas, Isle of Man

How delightful to hear that Wiltshire is allowing the opening of a new academy. It will be of great benefit to all pupils and parents in the area.

Contrast this with Tower Hamlets refusal to allow a new academy funded by Goldman Sachs. To think we have two more years of this nonsense.

Andrew Martin, London,

There is an immutable truth upon which all these schemes must founder: one-half of all British school children are of below average intelligence. That's a simple, mathematical fact. You can improve education for some, but not all. The challenge is to identify the "some."

peter, miami, usa

Sheer fantasy. Bright kids in state schools aren't an inspiration to the thick kids. They're target practice.

Mikey, Bromley, Kent

Selective education works not by skimming off the most able, but by excluding the distruptive pupils. Those whom consume disproportionate amounts of teachers time. Exceptionally talented pupils will excel anywhere, but they don't have a halo effect that can benefit other pupils. Whereas classroom hooligans negatively impact the majority whom want to learn by depriving them of a constructive learning environment.

J Rogers, Warwick, UK

In the US we have many wonderful "independent" schools for those of us who do not wish our children to mingle with the lower class in the public school system, which is dismal and teaches to the "lowest common denominator". My children never attended public school at any level, even university.

Hank, Houston, USA

Perhaps if the money currently wasted in charitable status for Public Schools was directed at schools providing education for the poor of the parish( the original reason for many public schools) the state schools might be able to cut class sizes to public school levels.

E Heath, Odiham, england

Long live the state grammar schools!

Helen, Maids, UK

Given the large number of public school students at the best universities, I believe that there is a very simple funding solution that would help universities and perhaps fund more bursaries for students from state school. Charge students that have gone to independent schools international fees.

Martin Garthwaite, New Malden, UJ

Which version of an Academy school is Seldon running - the 'original' version had no LEA control or need to follow the National Curriculum; the newer Brown version ties them to both. Academy backers are not sponsors. Sponsors invest for specific business goals not for CSR or philanthropic reasons.

Richard Taylor, London,

Why does hte state need to run schools? The independent sector and other voluntary groups seem to provide more than adequate educational services. Privatise education!

Mike, Northampton,

Independent schools should be entitled to their traditional tax break as "charities" on the grounds that they are non-profit making organisations. In addition to that, they save the taxpayer the cost of educating their pupils. The fees are paid by parents on top of taxation for state education.

Edmund Burke, Kingston upon Thames, England

The truth is the experiments have failed!
We can not afford to go back to the systems that worked!
This leaves the government to thrash about in the most unlikely areas to lay blame and hope for a miracle - this is not Balls!

Jim, Prudhoe, England

All schools should be independent, paid for by vouchers and entry by competitive exam only. Independent schools are good because they have no LEAs, no inspectorate, no eye catching initiatives - just parents and children. We don't need the government except to pass on the money. They only ruin it!!

R Mason, London, UK

I was appalled by the narrow curriculum and outlook of nearby independent schools and send all four of my children to state schools. My kids are quite bright, their schools inner- city don't top any league tables but I am extremely happy with the education and pastoral care they are recieving.

Helen Greaves, London, UK

Simon from Birmingham is spot on. A little hope is admirable: Seldon's claims are optimistic to the point of foolishness.

Nick, London,

The problem with state schools is not the funding or any particular problems with the standards of teaching. The biggest problem is political correctness dictates we don`t the lack of care for their childrens education from a significant minority of parents( around 40%)

mo, birmingham, uk

The pain of the payment is part of the commitment. What we really need is for State Schools to develop an ethos and stop trying to be so horribly accommodating to the supposed distortions of ethnicity, ability and background. All that the money does is to demand a quid pro quo, a lot of quids in fact.

Malcolm Turner, Alsager, England

Dr Seldon's assumption that all state schools have orchestras and sports teams simply shows how little he know about the state system. Bright state school pupils don't inspire their fellow pupils - they get bullied for trying to buck the trend.

Simon, Birmingham,

Mr Finlay of Lanark, I could not agree more with you if I tried, you are 100% correct. Getting rid of Grammer Schools was a grave mistake, it should be acknowledged as such and the decision reversed for the good of future generations. It won't be of course, simply to allow politicians to save face

Observer, Stavanger, Norway

Until expectations on state schoolchildren matches that on those who are educated in private schools, we will always have the anti-learning culture that dominates the state system. It is turning out incompetent, socially inept, emotionally immature, incurious drones.

John, Maidstone,

Private schools are now funded in the majority by parents who work long hours, make sacrifices, and stack supermarket shelves to afford this privilege for their children, it is not only the uber rich who use this service anymore, if you want this - get a second job - and PAY FOR IT.

JP, MANCHESTER,

It is simply a class issue. We must realise & accept that the traditional ways of advancement lie in 'speaking proper' & that education helps & to adopt middle class values help even more. There is too much nonsense with political correctness to enable children to have a proper education.

Ian cheese, london, uk

Simple - abolish state schools and provide vouchers. Not only do all parents finally have choice over where to educate their children, but private schools have a much better record of removing incompetent teachers.

John Scott, London,

I pay a fortune for my sons to have a decent education because politicians of all parties have ruined an underfunded state system. At the same time I support the state system by paying taxes.
The answer is stop meddling and leave parents to fix the state system.

Tom, Huddersfield, uk

Leave Independent schools alone.
The government resents their success and keeps trying to bother them.
The governement stupidly got rid of Grammar schools.

Gene, Sydney,

it is not that independent schools should do more but that state schools should. The excellent state education system that existed in Scotland 50 years ago in which all could realise their potential regardless of parental income was destroyed by the socialists. Bring it back, with discipline!

Findlay, Lanark,

The problem here is socialists' ludicrous insistence on placing fairness and equality about all other criteria. Let the independent schools continue to pursue excellence and charge for it while the public sector pursues and funds proper education, reform and humanisation of the rowdies and dropouts.

Rosemary, Germany,

No. The government should set up many more independent schools.

R Mason, London, UK

The notion of class is nonense. Sociologists find that less than a fifth of the population meet all the criteria of any social class. In liberal democracies classes are nothing more than lines drawn by intellectuals through statistics on education, wealth or accent, and have no place in our society.

R Mason, London, UK