#438 Good School

A big rise in state schools rated among the best institutions in the country is revealed in the latest edition of the Good Schools Guide. Middle-class parents facing financial pressures in the [1] are increasingly looking beyond the private sector to educate their children. The 23 year-old Good Schools Guide -- a [2] reference book for fee-paying families set on the best private school -- has increased the number of state schools in this year's edition to 251, pushing the figure to more than a quarter of its 1,000 entries for the first time. And, [3] why the guide has more than doubled the number of schools it features outside the private sector in only five years, Sue Fieldman, regional editor, told the Financial Times: "The parents we speak to want more information on the state sector and the best it has to offer. "