I have taught at state schools but was educated at a privileged independent school. Regular newsletters from my old school show a staggering growth in affluence since I was there.

Yet for all the amazing exam results, extraordinary world trips and beautiful music festivals, the very success of the independent system could be its problem.

These schools are producing young adults more and more removed from the real world. They need contact with the state system more than the state schools need them. Parents may start to believe that a good state school is a better preparation for life than the closeted luxury of the independent system.

Andrew B Strachan

Hillsboro, Chudleigh Knighton

Newton Abbot, Devon