The State of Independence

Exploring the most significant challenges facing independent schools today, this book asks leading figures from education, economics, politics, philosophy and the arts to give their views on how independent schools can adapt to rapidly changing markets which see them scrutinised as never before.

A best-seller in its first edition, this fully revised second edition includes many new and updated essays, as well as featuring 26 brand new contributions from leading figures from education. How the sector has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic dominates some of the new contributions, but leading thinkers on areas as complex as gender identity and race write about how independent schools will have to change if they are to survive and flourish in the 21st century.

This is a book that, more than ever before, anyone interested in education must read.

David James is a Deputy Head of Lady Eleanor Holles School in London. He is the author of a number of books, as well as a regular contributor to the national press. He is an experienced school inspector and a Governor of a London prep school, and has worked for a number of organisations including the Department for Education and the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

Jane Lunnon is the Head of Alleyn’s School in London. Prior to this, she was the Head of Wimbledon High School and Deputy Head of Wellington College and of Prior’s Field School. She is a Governor of an independent school and a state school, and she is a trustee of the Royal National Children’s Springboard Foundation.