You will read an article about profit-making schools. Answer the questions based on what you have read.

While the idea of profit-making schools may be nothing new in many countries, it is certainly seen as a novel and somewhat controversial idea in the UK. The education minister has been studying for-profit models of schooling from Sweden to Poland and from Chile to the US, and advisors and think-tanks have been churning out papers advocating the move into profit-making as the future for British schools. But should schools really be run with profit as a goal?

The US, for one, has seen a move away from profit-making schools in recent years. The public has become suspicious of the lack of transparency around book-keeping in some of the for-profit school chains. There have also been high-profile cases of schools going bankrupt, leaving thousands of children without a school place. Another issue has been companies buying up failing schools and stripping them of their assets before selling them on, as would happen in any other business, with no real regard for what is happening to the future of the children’s education while this occurs.

Sweden has suffered a similar crisis of confidence in the profit-making model. They have promised a “crackdown on for-profit providers” after a huge school chain collapsed, leaving 10,000 students without a school to attend. Jan Bjorklund, Sweden’s education minister, explained: “We had a venture capital company that didn’t know much about education taking over Swedish schools. They thought they were going to make big money, discovered it wasn’t easy, got tired quickly and quit.”

At the moment, schools in the UK are allowed to be run by private companies but not allowed to make a profit; any money they make has to be put back into the school. However, the school sponsors are free to employ profit-making companies that they are aligned to, to provide services to the schools, and are also allowed to pay their chief executives significant salaries.

The thinking behind profit-making schools is that the competition will drive up standards. Particularly failing schools, where many other methods may have failed, are thought to be able to benefit from the experience and expertise of private companies. It is also argued that there needs to be some form of incentive for organizations to take on schools in high-poverty areas where local authorities need to commission new schools. Advocates argue that profit-making companies will bring a drive and ambition to expand and improve that cannot be found when local authorities are running schools on a small, local scale.

However, the idea remains one that the general public does not much like. A recent poll showed that support in the UK stood at only around 6% for the idea of profit-making schools. The idea that government money for education can be directed into the coffers of private business sits uneasily with most people. A recent record of private companies failing to deliver public services to standard (for example: running failing care homes, and the incompetence over security at the London Olympics) means that people are suspicious of the consequences of shifting money intended for children into income for shareholders.

The idea of a school being a business also raises some important questions. Annual national results comparison tables have already motivated some schools to attempt to manipulate what they teach and who takes exams in order to get better results. Would this be amplified if a company was running a school? Presenting the right image and the performance of the school could become more important than the children’s welfare and education. Head teachers fear that they would not only be answerable to parents and governors, who are concerned for the well-being of the students and that they are meeting their potential, but also to profit-oriented shareholders who would want to know why it costs so much to simply educate students.

1 of 8
Which ONE of the following is the primary purpose of this article?
– To describe the impact of profit-making schools

– To critique the idea of profit-making schools

– To examine how profit-making schools have worked in different countries

– To compare how non-profit and for-profit schools would differ

– To explain how profit-making schools could work in the UK

2 of 8
According to the passage, what are TWO reasons that profit-making schools are becoming less popular in the US?

– Some companies have been misleading the public about school results.

– Some companies have been prioritizing treatment of staff over the welfare of students.

– Some companies have actively competed for good students with public schools.

– Some companies have been treating schools just as commodities.

– Some companies have not been open about their accounts.

– Some companies have employed managers who know little about education.

3 of 8
The author mentions profit-making schools in Sweden for which TWO of the following purposes?

– To show that even big chains of profit-making schools can fail

– To show that it is not possible to make a lot of money from education

– To show the dangers of companies with no education experience getting involved with running schools

– To show that governments have to deal with the consequences of education companies’ failures

– To show that for-profit schools are not popular in any of the countries that have them

– To show the backlash against for-profit schools in countries other than the US

4 of 8
According to the passage, which TWO statements about private companies currently running schools in the UK are true?

– They must observe limits on the salaries of their chief executives.

– They are obliged to re-invest any proceeds in the school.

– They are restricted in who they can award contracts to for work at the schools.

– They have limits on the number of schools they can run.

– They are permitted to employ their sister companies to undertake work at the schools.

– They have to repay any profits to the local authority.

5 of 8
Which TWO statements are most likely true of people who support for-profit schools?

– They support the idea that financial incentives lead to better performance.

– They believe there is not enough investment in education.

– They are concerned that governments do not have the expertise to run schools.

– They think private companies have skills that will help improve schools.

– They think standards are slipping in UK schools at the moment.

– They think students need to be trained more vocationally by industries.

6 of 8
According to the passage, what are TWO reasons the general public is uneasy about profit-making schools?

– They are concerned that education standards will slide.

– They do not want to send their children to schools run by private companies.

– They are aware of other unsuccessful attempts at profit-making companies running public services.

– They think shareholders will want to influence the curriculum and school admissions.

– They think chief executives of schools will be paid too much.

– They do not like the idea of public money going into private businesses.

7 of 8
Which TWO concerns does the author express about the implications of profit-making companies’ involvement in schools?

– The performance of the school could become more important than individual student needs.

– Companies could make decisions about the school based on how it would affect their place in national performance comparisons.

– Students could be forced into taking subjects they were not interested in.

– Students could be selected on their ability to fit into the school’s image.

– The schools could try to influence students to adopt the company values.

– Schools could try to avoid enrolling students from high-poverty areas.

8 of 8
Which TWO of the following accurately restate what the author says about head teachers’ concerns?

– They are worried they would not have time to look after students’ individual needs.

– They are worried they would be sidelined in favor of business managers.

– They are worried they would have to deal with parental concerns over business involvement in their schools.

– They are worried they would experience new pressures in addition to all of those they now feel.

– They are worried that profits would take precedence over students’ needs.

– They are worried they would have to be able to identify money making idea. These answers are in or suggested by the article. 1. To critique the idea of profit-making schools 2.*Some companies have… View the full answer