The term public school refers to a group of older, more expensive and exclusive fee-paying private independent schools in the United Kingdom, particularly in England, which cater primarily for children aged between 13 and 18. Together these schools comprise only around 1% of the total number of schools in the UK. Traditionally, these were boys’ boarding schools, although most now allow day pupils and many have turned either partially or fully co-educational. They emerged from charity schools established to educate poor scholars, the term “public” being used to indicate that access to them was not restricted on the basis of religion, occupation, or home location, and that they were subject to public management or control, in contrast to private schools which were run for the personal profit of the proprietors. Soon after the Clarendon Commission reported in 1864, the Public Schools Act 1868 gave the following seven schools independence from direct jurisdiction or responsibility of the Crown, the established church, or the government: Charterhouse School, Eton College, Harrow School, Rugby School, Shrewsbury School, Westminster School, and Winchester College. Henceforth each of these schools were to be managed by a board of governors. The following year, the headmaster of Uppingham School invited sixty to seventy of his fellow headmasters to form what became the Headmasters’ Conference—later the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC). Separate preparatory schools (or “prep schools”) for younger boys developed from the 1830s, which “prepared” pupils for entry to the senior schools, which began limiting entry to boys of at least 12 or 13 years of age. Public schools have had a strong association with the ruling classes. Historically they educated the sons of the English upper and upper-middle classes. In particular, the sons of officers and senior administrators of the British Empire were educated in England while their parents were on overseas postings. In 2010, over half of Cabinet Ministers had been educated at public schools; by contrast, however, most prime ministers since 1964 were educated at state schools. In 2014, annual fees at Eton College were more than £33,000 for boarders, although around 20% of pupils there receive financial support through a range of bursaries and scholarships. However, fees at day schools in Greater London, such as Hampton School and University College School, were only around half that figure, whilst day fees at boarding schools across England, from Plymouth College to Dulwich College, Stamford School, and Durham School, were also considerably lower. A comprehensive compilation of the fees charged at each HMC school for the year 2014/2015 can be found on privateschoolfees.co.uk.