schools I attended, and compared to my peers at state schools. I didn't attend a fancy grammar school in high school; I went to a co-ed Lutheran college that had the ugliest uniform in the history of school uniforms. At this stage, I had just come back to living in Australia and had completed my last year of primary school at a local state school. That had been the most distressing and horrible school year that I'd had or ever would have. As a painfully shy 13-year-old, I would have been battered and swallowed up in any of the four big state schools in my (regional) city. My college was consistent, gentle, and did not tolerate behaviours accepted at schools in the state system. Parents should absolutely have the right to select which type of school their children attend if and when they can. As a tutor, I see big problems with the cultures in both the state and private schools in which I work. But I still think that parents should be able to select the culture appropriate to their children. It's not which school you've attended that decides on your University entrance in Queensland (or in any Australian state, right?). It depends on your OP score, which is moderated across the entire state. I wouldn't have a clue whether half the linguistics students in my first University degree went to State or private school. PS I should add that my parents were very working class in terms of