Industry News
More parents sending their children to private school
Posted on 30th April 2008
More and more parents are sending their children to private school, a study has found.
The Independent Schools Council's (ISC's) 2008 consensus found that there are now 511,000 pupils in ISC member schools, the highest demand in five years.
Despite the credit crunch causing fees to rise above the rate of inflation, parents are still won over by the benefits of private education.
The percentage increase of children joining private schools is now eight times higher than that reported between 2006 and 2007, with growth apparent in the numbers of both boarding and day pupils.
Private school teachers have risen by 1.5 per cent, meaning that the teacher pupil ratio has fallen to 9.6.
In comparison, statistics released yesterday (April 29th) by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) showed that the pupil to teacher ratio in state schools was almost double that in private schools at 16.8.
The results come nearly a week after the National Union of Teachers's strike, which saw state school teachers claiming reduced pay increases are turning graduates away from the profession.