Fears rising school prices will force parents to pull children out of private education
Just over one in five (21 percent) parents will have to remove their child from private school and one in four (25 percent) will have to take on additional borrowing to be able to afford rising school fees.
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More than one in five high net worth parents say they will have to pull their children out of private education as a result of rising school fees, new research has found.
Just over one in five (21 percent) parents will have to remove their child from private school and one in four (25 percent) will have to take on additional borrowing to be able to afford rising school fees, according to data from the Saltus Wealth Index Report.
The report surveyed 2,000 people with investable assets of more than £250,000.
It found that of the respondents with children either already at private school or due to start, more than seven in ten (71 percent) say that rising school fees will impact their choices around private school education for their children in the future.
Almost one in ten (nine percent) parents surveyed say they may have to move house in order to keep their child or children in private education, either to enable their boarding children to become day pupils at the same school, or so they can move them to a more affordable private school.
One in four (25 percent) say they will have to borrow money – either via a bank loan (11 percent), by extending their mortgage (five percent) or from friends and family (nine percent) – if they are to continue to be able to afford the fees.
The reliance on family to cover education costs is further backed up by the fact one in seven (15 percent) of older parents surveyed say they have started providing their adult children with financial support as a direct result of the cost-of-living crisis.
Of this group, seven percent are helping specifically with school fees, i.e. paying for their grandchildren's education, whilst 18 percent are helping with higher education costs for their adult children.
Almost a quarter of those surveyed (24 percent) said they would be unaffected if a future government started charging VAT on fees and would continue to send their child or children to private school, but for the rest, the additional 20 percent cost would cause issues.
Half (50 percent) said they would be able to keep their child or children in private education but would have to make changes – either moving them from boarding to becoming a day pupil (26 percent) or removing them from their current school and enrolling them in a less expensive one (24 percent).
The rest (26 percent) said they would be forced to remove their child or children from the private sector completely and instead send them to the local state school.
Mike Stimpson, Partner at Saltus, said: “On average, private school fees increased by 6 percent from 2022 to 2023 and these are likely to rise by a further 5 percent this September. If Labour wins the next general election and carries out its pledge to impose VAT on school fees, then we could see the cost of private tuition rise by at least a further 20 percent in the years to come.
“According to our latest research, price rises over the past few years are already having a significant impact on parents’ ability to pay and further rises will almost certainly price some families out of private education completely.
“For those parents who are worried about affordability, seeking financial advice is key. A financial adviser can help provide a clear view on the current shape of your finances and outline ways in which parents – and other family members if they want to help support – can most effectively finance their school fees.”
