Sir – I had to smile when I read Dr Daniel Emlyn-Jones’s touchingly naïve statement: ‘To me it stands to reason that a private education in general is superior to a state education. Otherwise, why do parents pay out so much money?’ I can just see him now, nodding sagely as the car salesman rubs his hands in glee: ‘It stands to reason that this car makes you irresistible to women, sir. Otherwise, why would it be so extortionately expensive?’ The value of an education has nothing to do with its price tag. But that’s probably something no parent wants to hear, after shelling out another term’s fees.

Dr James Powell, Oxford