Were Oxford and Cambridge originally public schools?

Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:09 am GMT
Ignoring the cake burning scenario, which was most probably pure legend anyway, I would disagree with your last comment......do some research, please.
Cooper   Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:54 pm GMT
My last comment relates not to the research, but to the non sequitur embedded in this question:

<Which do you think is the most plausible - Alfred's devotion to learning and meaningful academic study for the acquistion of knowledge and his determination to provide such facilities for as many of his able contemporaries as possible - or his ability to allow the cakes to burn in a moment of forgetfulness and absent mindedness? >

Even though Alfred's educational interests may be better documented than the cake-burning episode, that doesn't mean he founded Oxford University.
K Harrold   Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:47 am GMT
:::::::Don't you mean Kuadragesima?:::::::::

Well if Quadragesima tis thy older spelling - then yes. Anything to maketh thoust happy Damian.
Another Guest   Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:56 am GMT
So in Britain, do "public school", "private school", and "independent school" all mean the same thing? What would qualify as not a public school?
Cooper   Fri Feb 19, 2010 7:17 am GMT
An independent school is a school outside the state system.

A private school is a school outside the state system; it charges fees for tuition (but may offer scholarships); it can be a pre-prep, preparatory (i.e. usually for ages 8 to 13) or secondary school.

A public school is a school outside the state system; it charges fees for tuition (but will offer scholarships); it can only be a secondary school. It probably has some kind of endowment, and may have had an illustrious founding entity (e.g. a king, guild or livery company), and often a charitable origin.

However, not all private secondary schools are considered public schools, in general use: the phrase usually implies facilities for boarders, a relatively early foundation date, and an established academic reputation.
Damian in Edinburgh   Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:54 am GMT
I feeleth most happy this cold, fair morn, K Harrold but there really is no need to pander to me in any way...it doth feel as if I am being patronised and being patronised cutteth me down to the kuick and any happiness is immediately kuashed.

As a matter of interest here I often go to work via the Kueensferry Road....always kuite as joy.

I'm not saying that King Alfred was instrumental in the actual foundation of Oxford University, but I believe he did start the ball rolling in a way, in his time, as I have indicated.......the year 872 is mentioned in the history of that particular university - Alfie boy didn't snuff the candle until 899 and it was the age of a new kind of enlightenment with regard to acdemic learning and especially in the developing English Language.

Alfie was to Southern England what the theologian Venerable Bede (St Bede) was to the North of England, who flourished some two centuries earlier, and who produced the magnificent "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People", written in Latin in 731.
billy   Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:05 pm GMT
Contrary to what most people think they know about the British, not all British people call private schools "public schools". In Scotland for example, a public school is a government funded school, but what the English call "public school", we call a private school. This stems from the fact that Scotland has a different education system from England and Wales.