Best Schools - Leading Independent British schools are looking at expanding in Europe to meet post-Brexit demand.

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Leading Independent British schools are looking at expanding in Europe to meet post-Brexit demand.

Many independent schools have opened branches abroad but most are located in the Far East and Middle East. Institutions are now exploring options in European cities as financial firms quit London

Several thousand jobs in financial services are expected to move from London to Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital, before the end of March. The city has used social media adverts to encourage people to relocate.

Richard Cairns, headmaster of Brighton College, told The Times: “We have been looking seriously at Frankfurt and have had positive exploratory meetings there. There is considerable demand for high-quality English-speaking schools in cities with a large international professional class.

Dulwich College, south London, and Wellington College, Berkshire, are also among those said to be considering opening branches within the EU. Dulwich is already linked with nine schools abroad, including four in China, one in South Korea and one in Singapore. Wellington has three international schools in China, one in Thailand and links with two others in China.

Several British schools within the EU are thought to be increasing capacity as a result of Brexit. King’s College Frankfurt claimed to be the city’s first English curriculum school when it opened last year.

Children should be allowed to pick their teachers, according to the leader of the country’s top private schools.

Shaun Fenton, chairman of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, which represents schools including Eton and Winchester, is launching a campaign for children to sit on interviewing panels and select new teachers.

“We all know from our own schooldays that students can sniff out a bad teacher at 50 paces. We did it when we were at school and today’s schoolchildren have not lost that instinct. They get it right,” he explained.

“I want more schools to do this. We can and should trust children to have a voice in their education from homework policy to bullying to choosing teachers.”

Fenton says that in 15 years of headship, including stints at a comprehensive and a grammar school, he has found that pupils always selected the best candidate and that he ignored their views at his peril.

Fenton also said that today’s teenagers had better instincts and a moral compass than many of the adults around them. “Very few of our political leaders demonstrate the qualities that would see them made a prefect or house captain at my school,” he said.

“By contrast the young people coming through our schools delight and impress me every day . . . we should listen to them for their sake and ours.”