Families hit by 6.5 per cent rise in school fees

Londoners who send their children to private schools have been hit with an inflation-busting hike in fees of 6.5 per cent.

The annual Independent Schools Council census, published today, shows day and boarding school fees in the capital have gone up from an average £10,614 to £11,307 a year.

Parents with children at boarding schools including Eton and Harrow have seen even steeper rises - up from an average of £22,716 to £24,177 after termly fees broke £8,000 for the first time.

The fee increases for London schools outstripped the national average of 6.2 per cent. The ISC, which represents 1,271 independent institutions, blamed spiralling costs and overheads.

One headmaster in the capital predicted the credit crunch would limit the ability of many schools to raise fees by similar amounts for the academic year starting in September.

Martin Stephen, high master of St Paul's School in Barnes, warned that schools ignored market conditions "at their peril". Day fees there rose nine per cent from £14,040 in 2006-07 to £15,369 for this school year,

He said any cuts in expenditure would hit new buildings first. The ISC reported schools were spending more on upgrading existing facilities and less on new ones.

Dr Stephen said: "If the credit crunch hits home, I would expect there to be much less capital expenditure on buildings. What usually happens is schools at the very top and very bottom rarely suffer. People will pay almost anything for top schools and schools at the bottom tend to be specialists."

Despite the economic conditions, Winchester College is raising its fees so it can offer more means-tested bursaries to satisfy the Government's new "public benefit test" for private schools with charitable status.

Parents have been warned to expect to pay a three per cent supplement this year, rising to five per cent in later years. Fees for boarders will rise from £26,481 now to £27,870 in 2008/09.

Winchester's fees have gone up 13 per cent to a maximum £19,497 for sixth form day pupils this year, compared to £17,313 in 2006/07. Harrow's went up 12 per cent from £23,625 in 2006/07 to £26,445 this year. Eton raised its fees from £24,990 in 2006/07 to £26,490 this year and plans a six per cent increase to £28,080 in 2008/09. Eton head Tony Little said education was "one of the last things" parents cut back on during recessions.

The ISC said the total number of pupils in all its prep and senior schools rose by one per cent to 511,677 in the past year. Experts have put the phenomenon down to an expansion of provision in the nursery sector.

Deborah Odysseas-Bailey, chairwoman of the Independent Schools Association, said: "Parents are buying into independent education at a much earlier age. Once they are in, they wish to remain."

In addition, there was a 12.8 per cent surge in the number of pupils coming from the Continent, to 20,545.