Gordonstoun features on Darren McGarvey BBC programme 'The State We're In' exploring how private education gives pupils an advantage
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A SCOTTISH documentary maker and activist was given "unique access" to Gordonstoun for a BBC programme which explores how private education gives pupils an advantage.
Darren McGarvey, an Orwell prizewinner and rapper, toured the school for his programme 'The State We're In' to find out how the attainment gap between the wealthiest and the poorest children can be narrowed.
During the trip to the independent boarding school, which counts the late Duke of Edinburgh and King Charles among its former pupils, Mr McGarvey said he was "surprised by how understated and normal everything looks".
The writer, who grew up on a Pollock estate where his mother battled alcoholism, spoke with pupils on an outdoor geography lesson as well as pupils acting in a version of Macbeth.
Mr McGarvey said: "The big advantage is that kids in Gordonstoun have a highly networked way of working, once a kid identifies what they want to do in life, or some talent or aptitude, they can be direct lined straight into that career pathway.
"Ultimately kids that go there get a priority pass. They get a queue skip years and years in advance of most other kids into whatever career they like, and that’s the thing I think we really need to work on evening out."
Rising above issues such as addiction and poverty, Mr McGarvey is celebrated for his incisive commentary on social issues.
In 2018, he won the Orwell prize with his book Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain’s Underclass, which was informed by his own upbringing in Glasgow.
He has been critical of inequality in the UK whereby some children from wealthier backgrounds benefit from education at schools such as Gordonstoun which can cost up to £45,000 per year.
But he has also advocated for the merits of changing your mind and avoiding notions of moral superiority to those who hold different views.
Reflecting on his visit to Gordonstoun, he said: "We need to level up the state system. We need to recognise what the minimum standard of education is.
"My time at Gordonstoun has been an immersive and at times overpowering experience challenging my preconceptions of people who go there and the attitudes that they hold."
The programme then explores how the state sector in the UK is struggling during the cost of living crisis before taking a look at the more equal system adopted in Finland.
It finishes with visits to a "punk" school in Doncaster and a nursery in Glasgow where play takes priority.
