'My prep school was like a prison'

PASSED/FAILED

An education in the life of Bill Turnbull, BBC 'Breakfast' presenter

Bill Turnbull, 52, presents Breakfast on BBC1. His work as a foreign correspondent included four years in Washington. He was a competitor on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Mastermind. On Sunday he is running in the British 10K in central London on behalf of Marie Curie Cancer Care. (To take part in a Daffodil Running Team event, visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/running or call 0870 034 0040.)

I first went to school when I was two weeks old. My mother was a teacher at Hersham House, near Walton-on-Thames, Surrey and she also drove the school bus. She didn't mess around with maternity leave but took me to the staff room in a basket. I was at the school for eight years. I had good friends and good times in the playground. I was very happy, particularly when compared with what came later: the dark days of boarding school.

The prep school near Ascot, which shall remain nameless, was a complete shock to the system, like being in prison. I thought, "If schooldays are your happiest days, I might as well top myself now!" It was really quite strict; I spent five years worrying. I remember being snitched on for different things; everybody ratted on each other the whole time. You had two Sundays off - 11.30 to 5.30 - plus half-term and I looked forward to this hugely and treasured every second at home. I went back to the area many years later and as I got to within a mile, the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise; I didn't go in.

The teachers were excellent, except that in my last year Mr Sopwith, the classics master, retired, and the new guy was a disaster. It was the first year no one got a scholarship to a public school. I got into Eton but just missed a scholarship; it didn't help being hit by a croquet mallet and needing eight stitches the week before the exam.

Eton was a bit more daunting to begin with but much more pleasant than the prep school. The drawback is that people can think you're a toff for having been there; I certainly wasn't one. I did school plays and joined the CCF but I should have got involved with the school paper, The Chronicle, and I should have joined the debating society.

I did 10 O-levels, four in my first year and six in the second year. I took my A-levels at 17 and got an A in German, an A in French and a D in English. I was really good at languages but my literary analysis wasn't so good.

I'm disappointed with myself that I didn't get into Cambridge. It was because I didn't work hard enough, I didn't research the college I was trying for and a very influential teacher, my housemaster, took early retirement after my A-levels.

I enjoyed my time at Edinburgh. You had student grants and it was much more relaxed. You did two years on general subjects and a further two years on your main subject (I read politics), but I bailed out after three years. I started writing for the student paper, edited it in my second year and decided that this was what I wanted to do. I got an "ordinary" degree; it wasn't classified but was a reasonable pass.

I can barely remember the names of the people who taught me there, which tells us something: it was more my attitude to them than theirs to me.

I spent a year at the Centre for Journalism Studies in Cardiff. We thought it was good at the time, although I had a shock when I got into the real world of journalism and realised I didn't know very much.

My first job, at Radio Clyde in Glasgow, was really tough: in at the deep end. It was superb training and I really appreciated it later - though not necessarily at the time.

jonty@jonathansale.com

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