Best Schools - Harrow school sets up online sixth form for global pupils

People from around the world will soon be able to send their children to a top English private school without having to leave home.

Harrow is setting up a virtual sixth form which will teach A-levels online to pupils anywhere in the world.

It will charge £15,000 per year and will initially focus on science and maths subjects, with education firm Pearson providing the technology.

The new Harrow School Online will begin teaching from September 2020.

Principal Heather Rhodes said the historic school was adapting to a "rapidly changing world".

This is the latest attempt to use online technology to sell UK education overseas - with the school's brand being used to attract pupils who want to be taught through the internet.

There will also be one-to-one teaching and extra-curricular projects, said Ms Rhodes, creating a "full-school experience".

Unlike the rest of Harrow, which only admits boys, the online school will teach both boys and girls - with entry depending on passing an admissions test.

The income will be shared between Pearson and Harrow, with the school saying money from online courses will be used to support bursaries for disadvantaged pupils.

BBC staff twice as likely to be privately schooled

BBC staff are twice as likely to have attended private school than the average Briton, according to the first analysis of class in broadcasting. About 14 per cent of the national broadcaster’s employees attended an independent school, compared with a national average of 7 per cent.

At Viacom, which owns Channel 5, the proportion is even higher, at 16 per cent. ITV, Channel 4 and Sky did not supply schooling figures.

Ofcom’s third annual report into television industry diversity, published this morning, is the first to contain data on the social and economic backgrounds of some employees.

The figures show that 61 per cent of BBC staff were raised in homes where the main breadwinner worked in a professional occupation, compared with a national average of 33 per cent. Just 26 per cent came from working-class households, even though they make up 38 per cent of the population. At Channel 4, 50 per cent of employees came from professional homes, and at Viacom 61 per cent.