Quality of state schools in London 'depressing'

THE number of Londoners paying to educate their children is "pretty depressing", David Cameron said today as he hit out at state schooling in the capital.

The Prime Minister said it was "incredibly frustrating" that education in London was "not as good as it should be".

And he insisted people should not have to "mortgage their way to a good education".

Some 14.9 per cent of pupils in inner London go to fee-paying schools - more than double the national average of 7.2 per cent.

Average annual fees at day schools are £10,100 while boarding schools cost around £24,000 a year, a study found last year.

Mr Cameron, who has two children at Church of England state primary in Kensington, said he had given Education Secretary Michael Gove the job of increasing the pace of improvement in the state sector.

Mr Cameron, who has previously said he is "terrified" of finding a good state secondary in London for his children, said he shared parents' frustrations and impatience.

While things had got better, he wanted improvements to go "further and faster".

Better standards would be delivered through more academy schools, improvements in school discipline and government plans for university technical academies and allowing parents to set up so-called free schools.

The Prime Minister also unveiled powers for charities, universities, businesses, teachers and groups of parents to establish their own academies where there is a lack of suitable education for 16 to 19-year-olds.