Private school fees and state funding gulf widens

THE gap between private school fees and state school spending has more than doubled in a decade, an analysis has found.

The average fees for independent schools were £13,600 in the last academic year, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

This is 90 per cent higher than the amount the Government spends on the education of each state pupil, which is £6,500 per year. A decade ago the gap was 39 per cent, when average private school fees were £11,100 compared to the state spend of £8,000 per pupil.

Researchers found that private school fees have grown by more than 20 per cent after inflation since 2009-10.

Meanwhile, core state school spending per pupil in England has fallen by nine per cent in real terms, over the same period, or by 14 per cent including the effects of cuts to capital spending. Head teachers criticised ministers saying it is “pretty outrageous” that the Government has cut funding in real terms to schools over the past 10 years while private fees have increased.

It comes amid concerns that the pandemic has cemented the lead that private school pupils have on their state educated counterparts since they were far better equipped to deliver remote education during lockdowns.

Private schools in England also saw the largest increase in top GCSE and A-level grades this summer compared with state schools. Luke Sibieta, IFS research fellow and author of the research, said “Long-standing concerns about inequalities between private and state school pupils, which have come into sharp focus during the pandemic, will not begin to be easily addressed while the sectors enjoy such different levels of resourcing”.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The funding gap between the sectors has always been there of course, but the fact it has widened to such a huge extent does stick in the throat.

“It means that while state schools and colleges have been forced to cut back on things like subject choices, pastoral support and extra-curricular activities – and with secondary class sizes rising – independent schools have been able to improve their provision in all these areas … It may be naive to think that state education funding could match the independent sector but it surely shouldn’t actually go into reverse.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “This Government is providing the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade – £14 billion in total over the three years to 2022-23. This includes a £7.1billion increase in funding for schools by 2022-23, compared to 201920 funding levels. Next year, funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF) is increasing by 2.8 per cent per pupil compared to 2021-22. The NFF continues to distribute this fairly, based on the needs of schools.”