Many schools employ foreigners and around 14% of university staff are from Europe. No one knows what Brexit would mean but it can offer no guarantee of immigration status. If EU nationals working in Britain lose certain rights, such as free NHS care, will they up sticks and go home? Schools claim they will lose 400,000 teachers if the Brexiteers win. We already have a shortage of quality teachers — this would only exacerbate the problem. If the quality of teaching dips, parents who pay for education will start to look elsewhere.

And what of the pupils? Some 5,000 children from EU countries are currently at British boarding schools. Brexit would add bureaucracy and complexity to their travel arrangements and make parents reconsider. Around 5.5% of higher education students are from EU countries. An exodus of international students would mean a vast net outflow of money from the UK from associated industries: student accommodation, cultural tourist events to name but a few.

Yet voting leave would probably have some benefits. No doubt, the pound would weaken, which could make private education more affordable to international parents. There is an argument that this would cause an increase in the level of international applications as a result of this new found competitivenes; and a knock on effect to all the associated trades. However, the more likely outcome is, the schools in question will see an opportunity to increase fees to take the slack in currency weakness — and to bolster profits. After all, they are running a business too. This would lead to an even higher fee level for domestic families and even less affordability for domestic children to attend the very best institutions.