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A record number of British private schools are opening or licensing overseas offshoots, according to a report this week.

A total of 14 international schools linked to top British private schools have opened this term, including schools in China, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Most of the overseas pupils take GCSEs and A-levels and are keen to win places at top British universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

Scotland’s Merchiston Castle School is opening its first sister institution in China. Andrew Hunter, Merchiston’s former headmaster, who is now based in China as educational adviser to the new school in Shenzhen, said the idea came after a Chinese pupil successfully boarded in Scotland. Hunter said: “All the staff are British — the Chinese parents want that.” He said maths and science teachers recruited from the UK were attracted by tax-free salaries and teaching highly motivated, clever pupils.

Read more at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-09-16/news/private-schools-lure-state-maths-teachers-to-foreign-offshoots-nq9wj5m0c

Swindon Town professional footballer reflects on going to Harrow school and walking into the ‘lion’s den’ of professional football

Michael Doughty breaks the mould when it comes to the stereotypical footballer. The 25-year-old is a straight-A student for a start (literally - he has 14 A grades on his CV) and was educated at Harrow.

Although he is thoroughly enjoying his football with Swindon, one of his biggest frustrations is that people continue to question whether someone with his upbringing possesses the hunger and desire to succeed in the game. “It’s a misconception and it’s something that still faces me today,” says Doughty, who has scored five goals in seven league games this season, including three on the opening day.

“I wouldn’t use the word prejudice, but it’s a preconception of who I am and probably based on some caricature in the Times of Boris Johnson. Just because you’re from a background of X doesn’t mean you don’t have any hunger. I think anyone that has worked with me in football, or outside of that, wouldn’t label that against me.”

Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/sep/13/swindon-michael-doughty-son-nigel-nottingham-forest-owner-harrow-school