Boarding school numbers are booming

More children are going to boarding school now than they have for a decade reversing a historical decline which had led some to question their future.

The rise in pupil numbers is being driven by parents in London who are turning their backs on state schools but find the capital's independent day schools are full.

Boarding schools within an hour of the capital report more children than ever from London, with several hiring coaches to transport them after weekends at home.

Figures published today by the Independent Schools Council - which carries out an annual census of more than 1,200 leading public schools - shows a one per cent increase in boarding pupils, the first since the mid-Eighties.

Even during the economic boom of 1987, boarding numbers only rose 0.2 per cent on the previous year. This year's rise is also driven by a strong resurgence of female boarders, who increased 2.5 per cent. The number of boys boarding has stayed the same after years of decline.

In the South-East, the overall increase was 0.5 per cent but weekly boarding, where children come home at weekends, was up 6.8 per cent. The renewed interest in boarding is such that ISC is to publish a new guide for London parents which identifies schools around the M25 with detailed transport information.

Spokeswoman Ruth Stedman said that it was warning parents who inquired about London day schools that they could not be guaranteed a place. "We have to say to parents who use our consultancy service to find a school that we will do the best we can. But these schools are increasingly over-subscribed.

"More parents are asking about boarding and schools in Surrey and Berkshire and those around the M25 are reporting more interest from London parents."

The survey shows an overall increase in pupils at independent schools for the 15th year - up 1.7 per cent on last year despite government claims to have improved standards in state schools.

Almost four out of 10 parents with children at independent school told an ISC survey last year that smaller class sizes was why they paid for their children's education, while the same proportion said they thought it would help them "fulfil their potential".

The squeeze on places in London day schools was confirmed by Barry Martin, headmaster at Hampton School in Twickenham. "Demand for places is at an all-time high," he said. "Last year we had 360 applications for 120 places. That is five times the level of over-subscription we had five years ago. We have now reached capacity. The consequence is that we are becoming much more academically selective. People are looking at alternatives, and that is when they send children to boarding school."

The ISC said that the Harry Potter books and film had raised the profile-of boarding schools. But their success was also the result of determined efforts by boarding schools to change, upgrading accommodation and allowing boarders home more often.

Among those to benefit from the boom is Prior's Field School, a girls' boarding school near Godalming in Surrey, where headmistress Jenny Dwyer is seeking permission to expand the sixth-form.

The school will lay on a coach from September to cope with more weekly boarders travelling from London. It has 30 already and expects 50 in the new term.

"They are coming to us because they have decided London day schools are too competitive and because of the safety implications of going to school in London, and because of the advantages of a boarding school education," she said.

"There's a bit of a revolution in what parents want for daughters. They want high academic standards but extra-curricular activities as well."

'They get the best of both worlds'