Industry News
Families 'go to the limit' for private schooling
Posted on 31st January 2008
An increasing number of middle class families are pushing themselves to the financial limit in order to fund a private school education for their children, it has been suggested.
The claim was made by Daily Telegraph columnist Judith Woods, who explained that moving to the catchment area of a good state school is beyond the means of many parents.
Instead some feel obliged to pay school fees in order to secure the better results associated with an independent school education, she continued.
Ms Woods wrote: "The government has admitted that increasing numbers of parents are abandoning sub-standard state schools and pushing themselves to the limit to afford private school fees that have risen 31 per cent in five years."
She added that many parents had opted to remortgage their homes in order to be able to afford school fees, which are now an average of £9,000 a year for day pupils and £20,000 for boarders.
However, Ms Woods noted many private schools offer assistance with fees and that families with incomes up to £60,000 are often eligible for help.
Figures compiled by the Independent Schools Council show that more than 30 per cent of pupils at its member schools received help with fees in 2007.