Jackson, whose son is 21 months old, has sent an aide to see Stowe boarding school in Buckinghamshire, north of London, which charges £15,000 pounds ($25,000) a year per pupil, according to reports in the British press.

Former Stowe pupils include Virgin boss Richard Branson, jazz singer George Melly and the actor David Niven.

With Debbie Rowe, the mother of his two children

Jackson, who also has a six-month-old daughter Paris, would be following in the footsteps of singer Madonna, who is also planning a public school education for her two-year-old daughter Lourdes and has already put her name down for Cheltenham Ladies College in Gloucestershire.

"Michael has always been a fan of the British private school system and knows what a good education it offers," an aide of Jackson's was quoted as saying in the Sun newspaper..

"Friends told him about Stowe and he liked the sound of it. But once he heard all the details he was sold on the idea."

A spokesman for the the mixed-sex school, which was established in 1923, refused to say whether staff had heard from Jackson.

He said said: "We don't release details of people who are here, or who may be coming here. It doesn't seem appropriate."