Private schools net more pupils
The number of pupils at independent schools in England has risen slightly, despite increasing fees.
Some 511,677 pupils are at the 1,300 schools represented by the Independent Schools Council this year. This is a rise of 0.8% on 2007.
Some 86.9% of these are day pupils and 13.1% are boarders.
The increase came as independent school fees rose by 5.7%. The average termly fee for a day pupil is now £3,751; for a boarder it is £7,353.
The ISC said an increasing number of independent school pupils were going on to higher education.
More teachers
Some 92.9% of post A-level leavers went to university this year - up 0.5 percentage points on last year.
ISC chief executive Chris Parry said: "Despite the current economic climate, increasing numbers of parents are choosing to make sacrifices to invest in high quality education and schooling."
The ISC said that of the 511,677 pupils who attended independent schools, 159,859 received help with fees.
Four out of five of those got this help from the school they attended.
Independent schools recruited more teachers over the year.
As a result, the pupil/teacher ratio fell, to 9.6, from 9.7 in 2007.
This compares to an average of 18.3 pupils per teacher in maintained mainstream schools in 2006/07.
Source: BBC News, 30th April 2008.
29th Apr 2008
