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Foreign holidays are out as private school fees spiral
Last updated at 00:37am on 27.08.07
The cost of private schooling has spiralled by 41 per cent in the past five years, twice the rate of inflation
Nearly a third admitted they had to cut back or abandon their hobbies and luxuries such as gym membership and restaurant meals.
Thirty per cent said they had to reduce spending on their cars.
The cost of private schooling has spiralled by 41 per cent in the past five years, twice the rate of inflation.
Despite this, many parents feel they have little choice.
Fifty four per cent of people surveyed said it was the poor state schools in their areas that made them opt for the private sector.
Parents spent more than £6.2billion on private school fees last year, up 6 per cent on the previous year.
Seventy-six per cent of parents with children in the independent sector do not receive any financial assistance in the form of grants or bursaries.
The average annual private school fee stands at £10,000, although the most elite schools charge as much as £25,000.
Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment research at Buckingham University, said: "Parents make tremendous sacrifices to send their children to independent schools because they provide a good all-round education.
"They are increasingly uncomfortable about state schools, which are under so much pressure to produce good grades that they neglect some of the broader aspects of education, such as developing value systems and participating in sports."
Parents are increasingly prepared to downgrade their lifestyle because superior exam results in the independent sector make it more likely their children will win a place at a good university.
Half of private school entrants were awarded an A grade in A level results published this month, compared to 19 per cent from comprehensives - although state grammars performed slightly better than their private counterparts, with 51.5 per cent getting the top grades.
At GCSE level, pupils in independent schools are more than three times as likely to achieve A* and A grades as those in comprehensives.
James Saunders Watson, the head of sales and marketing for investment trusts at JP Morgan Asset Management, who commissioned the report, said: "Our research shows more than half of parents took this decision because of a lack of sufficient state schools."
More than 50 leading private schools were fined more than £3million after being found guilty of "fee-fixing" by the Office of Fair Trading in 2005.
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Mike and June Dawson with Alice, top left, Hannah and Thomas
Well worth the sacrifices
Maths teacher Mike Dawson, 45, and his wife June are holidaying in Lancaster this year because they cannot afford to go abroad with two children at private school.
Alice, 16, and Hannah, 17, both attend Wakefield Girls High School, while their brother Thomas, 19, transferred from a state school to a private school for his A levels.
The Dawsons now have debts of around £11,000, but they are convinced it is worth it, particularly as Hannah has just got her AS level results, three As and a B.
Mrs Dawson, 48, said: "It's not just the academic results but it's the difference in our kids - the way they behave and speak to people."
Thomas is studying pharmacology at Bradford University.
His mother said: "He did not get the most spectacular academic results, but there was the most amazing difference in the way he looked at things."
