England has a small but influential independent education sector, where although only seven per cent of the population are educated, the outcomes for these young people are significant educationally and socially. This paper will offer a brief history of the development of the English (elite) independent education sector and then examine how we might differentiate between those schools we might consider ‘elite’ and those who, despite being within the independent sector, are not. Methods/methodology The paper draws on a three-year study of four independent schools in one area of England – involving interviews with around 25 young women aged between 14-18 years old and four senior members of staff in each of the participating schools. Expected outcomes/results The paper concludes that the tradition of the ‘Great Schools’ as defined in the mid-nineteenth century, still strongly shapes how schools in the independent sector model themselves. While strong academic credentials are pursued by most schools, and is one key way in which many schools strive to be part of the ‘Premiership’ of schools, it is the homogeneity of social background which distinguishes those schools considered elite in the English independent education sector.