Boarding school fees have soared by THREE times the rate of inflation over 10 years

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Boarding school fees have risen beyond the reach of many professional parents, research claims.

Charges have risen by nearly three times the inflation rate over the past decade.

Pilots, doctors, senior civil servants and financial managers are among those losing out, according to Halifax Financial Services.

The figures show that the average annual boarding school fee in 2007 was £20,970 - 73 per cent of average annual gross earnings. In 1997, the comparable ratio was 55 per cent.

The analysis by Halifax shows that ten years ago, boarders' fees were equal to 25 per cent or less of average gross earnings for seven of the highest earning occupations.

However by last year, average fees for boarding accounted for 25 per cent or less of annual gross earnings in just one profession - directors and chief executives.

The other six professions - doctors, brokers, senior civil servants, pilots, financial managers and managers in the mining and energy industries - saw the fees eat up between 30 to 40 per cent of their incomes.

Hilary Moriarty, director of the Boarding Schools Association, insisted that boarding schools offered good value for money.

She added: "I think Halifax have cast it in a very dramatic light when they say all these people could afford it ten years ago and can't afford it now.

"Now, far more than ten years ago, many boarding families have two working parents. If it's out of reach of say a doctor, it may well not be out of reach of two doctors."