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The term public school is commonly used in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to refer to a select group of about 10% of the independent schools in the UK, which are in general older, traditional and are members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, are known as "public schools".

Such schools were originally termed "public" in the sense that they were open to anyone who could pass entrance examinations and afford the fees, without religious or other restrictions. Until the late medieval period most schools were controlled by the church and had specific entrance criteria; others were restricted to the sons of members of guilds, trades or livery companies, for example the Merchant Taylors' School.

The need for professional trades in an increasingly secularised society, particularly from advancements in philosophy, medicine and law, required schools for the sons of the gentry which were independent from ecclesiastical authority and open to all. From the 16th century onward, boys' boarding schools were founded or endowed for public use—schools which were subsequently reformed by the Public Schools Acts.

Amongst the most famous public schools in England are the 'Clarendon Schools' which were the subject of the Public Schools Act 1868: Charterhouse School, Eton College, Harrow School, Merchant Taylors' School, Rugby School, Shrewsbury School, St Paul's School, Westminster School and Winchester College.

See also

• Education in the United Kingdom
• Schools Class locomotives for a class of Southern Railway locomotives that were named after Public Schools in the early 1930s

Notes

1. Public schools were defined in the report of the Fleming Committee in 1942 as "schools which are in membership of the Governing Bodies' Association or Headmasters' Conference".
2. http://www.educationengland.org.uk/history/chapter01.html#04
3. Oxford English Dictionary, June 2010.

• Education in the United Kingdom
• Independent schools in the United Kingdom
• School types