Are private schools really worth the money any more? Sexual-abuse allegations, a fall in the number of Oxbridge admissions and ever-increasing fees – is it time to reassess independent schools? 30 April 2021 • 5:00am Left: Eton, Berkshire £42,500 per year — 48 pupils offered places at Oxbridge in 2021; right: Brampton Manor Academy, Newham £0 per year — 55 pupils offered places at Oxbridge in 2021 Credit: Getty A year ago, during the height of the first lockdown, Amy and Simon Eccles, both NHS consultants at a central London teaching hospital, had a conversation with their five-year-old daughter Hermione. She had joined Hill House, the Knightsbridge private school famous for its uniform of mustard jumpers and knickerbockers, the previous September. But as the pandemic hit, Hill House had to close. Amy, 41, and Simon, 50, decided to move Hermione to the local state school in Southwark.