Private school confidence ‘hurts society’, says a leading headmaster

There are downsides to the overconfidence instilled by an independent education that can repel people, according to Andrew Halls, the headmaster of King’s College School in London.
Mr Halls said the private sector’s adherence to “old-fashioned” practices such as the house and prefect system gave pupils confidence and a “sense that influence matters”. He added that because teachers were less in thrall to the “dead hand of the state” they could choose teaching methods that made their pupils more self-assured.
The confidence imparted by independent schools into its charges has been praised by the Labour shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, who said this innate belief in one’s own abilities was often lacking in state-educated pupils.
However, Mr Halls said over-confidence could have a downside for society. “Some independent school children can asphyxiate the society they move in because their confidence is so bullish and charmless,” he said. “There are downsides to overconfidence; people can feel a bit repelled by it.”
The headmaster was also critical of the “distasteful” competition between independent schools, which ended up with pupils having “ludicrously extravagant facilities” at their disposal.