Should schools like Eton keep their charitable status? Photograph: John Stillwell/PA
According to the latest polls, the public have contradictory feelings about private schools. Separate surveys suggest more than 70% of parents are opposed to them on principle, but that almost 60% would consider enrolling their children in one if they could afford to.
But the opinion that really matters to the schools themselves is that of the Charities Commission. It is responsible for deciding whether the 2,000 private schools in England and Wales should retain their charitable status - and will do so by determining the 'public benefit' they provide.
The commission insists that to qualify as a charity an organisation must ensure those on low incomes can benefit from it - a tall order for private schools, given average annual fees are £9,633 for day pupils and more than £20,000 for boarders.
Most do not have large endowments to fund bursaries, which leaves income from fees as the only possible source of funding for efforts to widen access.
If the public-benefit test requires a significant increase in the financial support given to low-income families, schools may have to charge other parents more.
But over the past decade fees have already increased hugely - up by 40% in the past five years alone - and parents may struggle to afford further increases.
Private schools argue that they get less value from their charitable status than they provide in bursaries and scholarships - the tax benefits amount to £100m a year while the help they give with fees is worth more than £300m.
We'll be exploring the issues in Observer Cash this weekend, but we would like to know what you think. Should schools be allowed to keep their charitable status? And should better-off parents subsidise places for children from low-income families?
