Choosing a school is an important and challenging experience for parents. You are embarking upon a prolonged and significant financial commitment and, as with everything else you buy, you should at least start off with what you think you want. In the end, you may be delighted with the product's performance or utterly dissatisfied with it, but, if at all possible, the choice should have been yours. That is why, every year, John Catt Educational brings out a guide to the Independent sector which sets out the stalls of a wide variety of schools, providing the reader with a first class vantage point from which to review the options.

Not all Independent Schools are listed, but then you are not going to be interested in all Independent Schools. You might be surprised how easily you can produce a long but manageable list. First of all, are you thinking of choosing a boarding school? If not, you can immediately strike out all schools beyond a certain distance from home. The answer to the question single sex or co-ed reduces the options significantly. If money is limited, you may decide not to go fee-paying for the whole ride but opt in when you feel the extra input will be most worthwhile, affordable and available.

The general guide in Which School? should certainly help you to find your way around the Independent sector and each year the Introduction focuses on some aspects of the educational scene in closer detail. In this edition, there are articles contributed by three particular schools - Millfield, Milton Abbey and Wells Cathedral School; one group of schools - the Girls Day Schools Trust (GDST); and one organisation which represents all the schools of a particular type, whether state or independent - the Boarding Schools Association (BSA). These articles may help to dispel myths or, at least, reassure parents that there really are all sorts of schools out there.

Education has been one of the chief concerns of central government since the 1870s. Mr Blair's cry of "Education, Education, Education" is really nothing new. As a result, education has become a political football, which is not always the best thing to be. New Labour's record in this area clearly involves too many Secretaries of State and there are many who would argue that too many decisions are taken at national rather than local level. The press have portrayed the OFT investigation and the Charities Act as crises for the Independent sector, suggesting that only through government action can Independent Schools be made affordable and accountable. Education is an expensive commodity because staff and resources cost big money and most Independent Schools fund their substantial bursary awards out of a levy on fee income, a slice of the budget that is usually matched by the money spent on development. Since schools have been doing this for some time, each generation of parents pays its share and each generation of pupils experiences the benefit. Schools that are charities, ie nearly all of the ones in this guide, usually have an explicit, stated purpose to provide education. So long as they continue to do this to the satisfaction of the Charity Commission, they will continue to make some savings as a result of their charitable status and disburse funds well in excess of those savings in the form of scholarships and remissions, nearly all subject to means testing.

Parents with limited means, ie 99% of us, may wish to look at scholarships. A word of caution here. Whilst it surely must be the case that a full fee-paying parent should have the initiative when it comes to choice, when the school is paying, in full or in part, as they do when awarding scholarships or bursaries, the initiative is with them and you must expect them to consider their own interests as well as yours. In many ways, scholarships are really only for those whose talent is so great that it clearly comes naturally. Although success in this field owes a lot to perspiration, it is primarily about inspiration. Bursaries are slightly different. Pretty well all schools offer them as a way of widening access, and, in the wake of the Charities Act, schools will be looking with particular care at how they can help their local communities and families. There are no general rules here: draw up your short-list and then ask the schools on it how they might be able to help you.

A little further into this guide is a list of some of the questions you may ask in the hopes that the Head's answers will help you in your choice. They are good questions, but people selling Independent education are well versed in the art of reassuring the anxious and representing their school in an excellent light. What you pick up from the other people you see on a visit, from the body language and social vibes of the pupils and staff and, indeed, from the physical condition of the plant and premises, is every bit as valuable as the Head's accomplished patter. Above all, your own feelings are vital, more important even than those of your child. As a parent, you know perfectly well that the responsibility for decisions rests with you: you get to worry, your child sails through in uninterrupted happiness! And if he or she doesn't, you may blame the school, the other pupils or even your child, but in the end you will blame yourself. So make it a decision you are happy with.

Published by John Catt Educational Limited