Private schools are becoming costlier over the years, says Halifax study

Private schools are becoming costlier over the years, says Halifax study

	Published : Mon, 29 Aug 2005 09:05 By : Cedric Benson Print this Story

Private school education is tending to be less affordable in the U.K. as a result of both increase in the number of students preferring such schools and increase in fees, says a research study by Halifax Financial Services. While the annual cost of sending a child to a private day school was 1,806 pounds in 1985, it averages around an annual 8,388 pounds now, Halifax says in its findings, adding the fee rise has been more than three times that of the increase in inflation during the period.

Alongside, an increasing number of parents are sending their children to private schools. Compared with 20 years ago, there are now 45,000 more students in private schools. More girls are going to these schools -- an estimated increase of 14 per cent -- and girls make up almost 49 per cent of all students, according to the study.

Similarly, while it cost 4,045 pounds to send a child to boarding school in 1985, the cost is pegged at 18,828 pounds now, the Halifax said. The study also revealed regional disparity in the fees -- while the average annual fee for a private day school in the south-east was 9573 pounds, it was 7068 pounds in the north.

Halifax compared the increase in annual earnings in real terms with the increase in private school fees. When the annual earnings went up by 48 per cent in the last 20 years, private school fees rose by a phenomenal 129 per cent.

The difference between the fee levied by a boarding school and that by a day school has remained same in 1985 and in 2005 -- 2.24 times more in a boarding school. While students opting for private schools increased by 7.5 per cent between 1985-86 and 2003-2004 (from 613,700 to 659,500), children going to state schools went up by 4.9 per cent (from 8,951,500 to 9,391,600).

Halifax's managing director Ray Milne said careful financial planning well ahead of time only will help to reduce the burden of educating a child in a private school. Meanwhile, Independent Schools Council (ISC), a representative organisation of various independent school associations in the country, reacting to the Halifax's findings, maintained that fees rise in response to parental demand for the best teachers, small class sizes and constantly improving facilities.

General secretary of ISC Jonathan Shephard said in a statement, "Teachers are any school's most important asset. In the maintained sector, the government has provided above-inflation rises in teacher salaries and increased contributions to teacher pensions. The independent sector has more than matched these awards. These increases impinge more heavily on the overall budgets of independent schools which have an average teacher: pupil ratio of under 1:10 compared with the maintained sector's average of 1:18."

Shephard also said that nearly a third of pupils at independent schools receive fee assistance, which means that more and more children from less privileged backgrounds have now access to private schools.