According to data collated by schoolfeeschecker.co.uk, the average cost per child at a UK private school is now £17,362 per annum (£5,787 per term) for day pupils and £33,003 per annum (£11,001 per term) for boarders. This represents an average fee increase of around 4.3% from last year’s fees, and is only slightly higher than the 4.1% estimated by the Independent Schools Council in their census last year.
The biggest increase in fees for day pupils was in eastern parts of England where fees rose on average by around 7%. The smallest fee increases were in Wales, the South-West, Yorkshire and the West Midlands, where fees for day pupils have grown by only 3% on average this year.
However, in areas such as London and the South West where year on year growth in fees was relatively small, the average cost of private school was still much higher than elsewhere in the UK. The latest analysis shows the average yearly cost for a day pupil attending private senior school in London to be £20,528.
Region | Average Day Pupil Fees 2021 | Average Increase % (2020-2021) |
East | £17,356 | 7.06% |
North East | £14,557 | 6.01% |
Central & West | £19,826 | 5.93% |
North West | £12,456 | 5.29% |
Channel Islands | £9,033 | 4.86% |
Scotland | £15,955 | 4.57% |
London | £20,528 | 4.30% |
East Midlands | £16,377 | 4.01% |
South East | £19,949 | 3.71% |
Northern Ireland | £8,766 | 3.70% |
Greater London | £17,996 | 3.56% |
South-West | £17,912 | 3.23% |
Wales | £14,419 | 3.18% |
Yorkshire & Humberside | £14,342 | 3.11% |
West Midlands | £14,859 | 3.03% |
The picture is similar for boarding fees, which have grown in line with tuition fees at around 4%. The regional picture is different however, for day and boarding fees with Wales and the West Midlands seeing increases in boarding fee rises higher than the national curve.
Region | Average Cost of Tuition & Boarding (2021) | Average Increase % (2020-2021) |
Wales | £31,211 | 9.42% |
South East | £35,628 | 6.15% |
South-West | £33,155 | 4.67% |
West Midlands | £29,209 | 4.58% |
Scotland | £32,725 | 3.90% |
Yorkshire & Humberside | £29,412 | 3.82% |
Northern Ireland | £22,708 | 3.75% |
London | £41,588 | 3.67% |
East Midlands | £33,741 | 3.48% |
Greater London | £38,689 | 3.44% |
East | £30,846 | 3.13% |
Central & West | £35,503 | 2.88% |
North East | £29,050 | 2.17% |
North West | £25,750 | -1.52% |
The current cost for girls and boys-only private schools are £17,533 and £17,403 respectively, with coeducational schools charging on average £17,331 per annum. The average 4% increase has been the same across boys and girls schools in the UK, with coeducational schools raising prices only slightly higher on average, at around 5%. The average cost of school in both a single sex and coeducational setting remains simillar with only around £202 variance per annum.
Gender | Average Day Pupil Fees (2021) | % Increase 2020-2021 |
Boys | £17,533 | 4.0% |
Coeducational | £17,331 | 4.67% |
Girls | £17,403 | 3.56% |
This confirms the projection of many that fees would rise by more than double the rate of inflation this year. With inflation currently at 2.9 percent, this has certainly been true in many cases where some schools have even increased fees by 10% (or even higher!) since last year.
This year’s increase is in stark contrast to the situation in September 2020, where many schools froze their fees at the 2019 levels to provide parents with some breathing space during the pandemic. In that year, for comparison, the annual inflation in school fees was a little over 1% and the hike in school fees will be felt by many parents as the UK’s economic recovery continues.
However, while 4% is certainly higher than both last year’s increase and the rate of inflation, it is a continuation of a trend we have seen since around 2010, with fee inflation hovering between 3 and 4.5% each year during this period.
