This paper reports on a sub-study within the 'Schools and Social Capital' network, one of three networks making up the Applied Educational Research Scheme (AERS) in Scotland. The metaphor of social capital has attracted much policy interest in Europe and beyond, and the main focus of the network is researching how inclusion might be enhanced by the development of social capital in schools serving disadvantaged communities. This study is in a sense the 'other' to those projects as it focuses on independent schools in Scotland and how they are involved in the production and reproduction of multiple capitals. The study is in its early stages: this paper outlines its conceptualisation, and discusses the intellectual and methodological resources used. In the context of a UK independent sector which at seven percent of the school population is much larger than that of many other European nations, and in which some of the major Scottish independent schools have a predominantly English/international intake, we ask: 'How do social and other (including national) capitals work in and though independent schools in Scotland?' Subsidiary research questions, which will be discussed in the paper, will consider some of the ways in which the capitals produced by independent schooling are potentially divisive and help to maintain an elite and separate group at the opposite end of the spectrum to the lowest performing schools and pupils. The work of Bourdieu (1986) on capitals, particularly economic, cultural and social capital, will provide an important part of the theoretical framework. Echoing Bourdieu's call for research reflexivity and an understanding of the imbrications of the empirical and theoretical, the research will attempt to develop these concepts. Further, the concept of national capital, hinted at by Bourdieu (2003) in his late work and developed by others (Hage, 1998), will be utilised in the analysis and as a background factor in the selection of the case-study schools. The concept of emotional capital (Reay, 2004), will also be used in the analysis and developed, enabling a gendered analysis (Skeggs and Adkins, 2004). Data collection will include analyses of the prospectuses and websites of independent schools in Scotland, using critical discourse analysis and other cognate approaches. Case studies will be conducted in four schools, to which access is currently being negotiated. These case studies will involve collection and analysis of school documentation, interviews with the headteacher and/or other member of the management team and with a number of teachers, and focus groups involving 13-14-year-old pupils in each school. Semiotic analyses will be conducted of the architecture of the case study schools, including their presence within the cityscape and links to the popular imagination of independent and 'public' schooling. We will also seek to interview JK Rowling in relation to this latter aspect, since Hogwarts is known to be based on an independent school in Edinburgh.This study is in its early stages, so the paper will focus on the development of our theoretical framework and associated methodological issues, together with early analysis of initial findings. Adkins, L. and Skeggs, B. (2004) (Eds.) Feminism after Bourdieu Oxford, Blackwell. Bourdieu, P. (2003) Firing Back Against the Tyranny of the Market London, Verso. Bourdieu, P. (1986) 'The Forms of Capital', in: J.C.Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, Westport, CT, Greenwood. Hage, G. (1998) White Nation Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society Annandale, Sydney, Pluto. Reay, D. (2004) 'Gendering Bourdieu's Concept of Capitals? Emotional Capital, Women and Social Class', in: Adkins, L. and Skeggs, B. (2004) (Eds.) Feminism after Bourdieu Oxford, Blackwell.