Public schools 'more exclusive than ever'

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More than a third believe independent schools are less accessible to poorer families than they were five years ago.

Thirty-four per cent who responded to a poll said private education is more difficult to afford now than in 2002.

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Exclusive: Public schools such as Eton are viewed as less accessible to poorer families than they were five years ago

In contrast, just 28 per cent believed private schools were increasingly opening their doors to families with modest means.

The findings from a poll of 2,500 adults commissioned by insurance company Zurich were published weeks before details are due to be revealed of a new test which independent schools will be required to pass to retain their charitable status.

Under Labour's recent shake-up of charity law, fee-paying schools no longer have an automatic right to call themselves charities, a status which brings tax breaks worth £100million a year.

They face losing their tax perks unless they can prove their fees of up to £25,000-a-year do not exclude poorer children, for example by opening up lessons and facilities to state-educated children.

According to the survey, 59 per cent of British adults believe independent schools should do more to demonstrate their benefit to the public.

This rises to 63 per cent of adults who want or chose a state education for their children.

Among all respondents, assisted places and bursaries emerged as the most popular way in which independent schools could show benefit to poorer families.

Leading public school heads said the scrapping of Government-funded places, one of Labour's first acts on coming to power, may be contributing to the perception of an increasingly privileged intake.

They also admitted inflation-busting fee increases may also have had an impact.