Study the brochures for schools in the independent sector and the one promise that appears to be constant throughout is that your children can be assured of “individual attention”. Rather like motherhood and apple pie — it seems like an obvious benefit. But what in practice does it actually mean? And how does the individual attention in the independent sector differ from that which is available at a state school?

Mark Parlour, head of Wellington school in Ayrshire, is very clear what it is that differentiates his institution. “Small is undoubtedly beautiful,” he says.“We have about 580 boys and girls and all of them are known to us individually.

“We have a strong welfare system, with form teachers and year heads offering support and guidance to every child and, in addition, there is a very strong relationship between parents and staff which breeds a family atmosphere. Discipline and ethos are also strong.”

The school has grown somewhat from when it first opened its doors in 1836 with 12 girls but there were still only 43 pupils in S5 last year.

Parlour has good reasons to be smiling at the moment as his school makes an exceptionally strong showing in the exam league tables for S5 higher passes. Half of all the school’s presentations at Higher level achieved an A grade. A and B passes accounted for 85% of all presentations.

The coeducational school takes children from three to 18 and can also point to some notable success in extracurricular areas. Head boy Michael Foyle was a finalist in this year’s Young Musician of the Year competition and violinist Nicola Benedetti is a former pupil.

At Loretto in East Lothian the emphasis is on small class sizes. As a general rule there are never more than 15 children in each GCSE class and no more than 11 in A level classes. The overall staff-to-pupil ratio is 1 to 9. (In the state sector, the staff-to-pupil ratio is around one to 22 in primary schools and one to 13 in secondary schools.)

Barry Cooper, the school’s director of studies, says: “The school has achieved excellent grades this year even though Loretto is not particularly selective.

“I believe that this is down to us being a small school (530 pupils aged three to 18), with small set sizes, strong classroom teaching and careful monitoring of our pupils’ progress.

“We also have a ‘generous’ curriculum, with more teaching time allocated to each subject every week than at other schools.”

Cooper also points to daily departmental workshops, clinics in subjects like maths, physics, chemistry and English, one-to-one support from teachers and a tutorial system. If evidence were needed of the effectiveness of this, Cooper cites the school’s success in “hard” subjects, such as maths and the sciences. “Last year, our sixth formers won 12 medals — two at gold — in the UK Senior Maths Challenge.”

Size does appear to be a common thread, according to David Girdwood, the Rector of St Columba’s school in Kilmacolm. His school also posted outstanding Highers results, with 95% of presentations resulting in passes and over 60% of them at A.

“The secret is the size of the school”, says Girdwood. “We are relatively small and all the pupils are known to us individually.

“Their personal qualities are appreciated and their individual needs are recognised. They are motivated to achieve to the very best of their abilities.”

He adds: “We have high expectations and the pupils work hard, but what is important is that they are not just working on their exams. They are also involved in many activities, such as sport, music, the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and so on. Our aim is always to develop well-rounded pupils.”

Head girl, Kirsty Wilson, 16, is one of the pupils who achieved straight As in their Higher results. She says: “We are encouraged to be competitive here, but it’s a healthy form of competitiveness. We push each other to do well.”

George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, with around 2,300 pupils aged from three to 18, makes a virtue of its size. In its junior school, specialist teachers support classroom staff in areas such as modern languages, PE, music, art and science.

“In striving to develop motivated and happy young people who are eager to learn and achieve, we measure success as much by what pupils are as by what they do,” explains principal Gareth Edwards.

It is perhaps the contrast in the kinds of “individual attention” that gives the strongest sense of the enormously diverse spectrum of educational experiences available within the independent sector.

The range is as rich as it is varied, but to really find out what kind of individual attention there is available, parents need to dig a bit deeper themselves by visiting the schools they are considering and seeing what is on offer with their own eyes.

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