Increase in private education fees is driving out middle-class families

Private school fees in London have risen at three times the rate of inflation over the past five years, new figures reveal.

Experts warned that some of the most well known independent schools in the city are becoming unrecognisable as middle-class families are pushed out.

The average cost of sending a child to private school in London is now £16,500 a year according to analysis by the Good Schools Guide.

The figure has increased by more than 20 per cent over the past five years, the guide said. This outpaces the 2.7 per cent growth in the capital’s average salary and the 6.1 per cent growth in inflation.

The figures are based on data from the Independent Schools Council annual census. Ralph Lucas, editor in chief of the Good Schools Guide, said: “Because of the costs, we’re seeing a gradual hollowing out of London’s independent schools.

“They are becoming too expensive for most professional families and, while the trend towards means-tested fee assistance is welcome, these schools will soon be solely populated by fee-assisted pupils from low-income families and the offspring of the super-rich. It’s great for state schools but could make private education unrecognisable over the next few years.”