在英国public school 又叫做independent school是独立于国家教育系统之外的，为了赚钱的高中教育机构（好像我们中国的私立高中）英国的公立学校不受到政府的管理，也不接受国家的“教育经费”。这个叫法出自十八世纪。因为很多父母能够给孩子负担起住宿费，所以，学生可以从各地来源，和原来一些地方学校不同，所以英国的“公立学校”中的“公”是指学生，而不是指学校的承办和管理者。因此在英国public school 实际上我国的“私立学校”所以，“伊顿公学”“哈罗公学”这些著名的“公立高中”实际上都是私立学校。这些学校之所以叫做“public”的另外一个原因是这些学校的学生毕业后除了进入牛津剑桥这样的大学外，还有很多进入公共事物（相当我国的公务员）领域开始职业。

The typical great public school—such as Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Westminster, Rugby, Shrewsbury, or Charterhouse—evolved from an institution founded by a single benefactor during the late European Middle Ages or Renaissance. Such charitable foundations, almost invariably for males only, had usually been intended to educate local boys from relatively humble backgrounds. From about the 17th century the upper classes took increasing advantage of the tuition afforded by these foundations. As pupils paying the market rate became more numerous, the schools were increasingly transformed into boarding establishments. (Some, however, such as St. Paul's or Merchant Taylors' in London, remained day schools; others took both day boys and boarders.) The public schools were seen as preparing students for the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge (though not all students proceeded then or proceed now to a university) and for public service—another origin of the appellation “public” school.

The curriculum from the beginning placed heavy emphasis on the Greek and Roman classics and continued to do so until well into the 20th century. Organized games, in contrast, were a late development, and before their introduction disorderly conduct was intermittently considerable, particularly in the early 19th century. When the demand for men to administer the British Empire led to scores of new foundations during the 19th century, however, the schools tended to adopt the more disciplined, duty-bound, and athletic model established at Rugby by Dr. Thomas Arnold in the 1830s.

From late in the 19th century a number of girls' public schools were established, as were also denominational or other special-purpose schools, though such Roman Catholic foundations as Ampleforth and Downside had existed for some time already. Institutions loosely termed public schools also sprang up overseas, predominantly in countries under British cultural influence.

The impact of the public schools in Britain was historically immense. Perhaps in no other post-Renaissance country did an ethos directly and concentratedly inculcated in so few citizens exercise such influence nationally—and internationally, given the crucial role of the public school ethos in helping Britain build its empire. The ethos in question was less an academic one than a class-conscious code of behaviour, speech, and appearance. It set the standard for conduct in the life of officialdom in Britain from the early 19th century to the mid-20th.

Since the end of World War II, the style and content of education at the public schools have changed as the schools have become more consciously part of wider groupings of independent schools and have developed multifarious links with schools in the state sector.

The following is a list of the nine best-known public schools, in the order of their founding.

Winchester College, in Winchester, Hampshire, was chartered in 1382 by William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester, and opened by him in 1394.

Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire, was founded by King Henry VI in 1440.

St. Paul's School, in Hammersmith, west London, was founded and endowed by John Colet in 1509.

Shrewsbury School, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was founded by King Edward VI in 1552.

Westminster School, also called St. Peter's College, in west London, was probably a cathedral school and was reestablished by Queen Elizabeth I in 1560.

Merchant Taylors' School, in London, was founded, endowed, and controlled by the Merchant Taylors' Company of London in 1560; it moved to the Charterhouse buildings in 1875.

Rugby School, in Rugby, Warwickshire, was founded by Lawrence Sheriff, a wealthy London merchant, in 1567. It began rugby football (1823).

Harrow School, at Harrow (or Harrow-on-the-Hill), northwest of London, was founded in 1571.

Charterhouse School, in Godalming, Surrey, was founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611. In 1872 Charterhouse School was moved from London to Godalming.