North's private schools hardest hit as boarding numbers decline

There were 1,720 fewer independent day and boarding pupils in the North of England and 2,645 fewer across the country this year, the Independent Schools Council's (ISC) annual census has revealed.

Private schools in the North of England accounts for more than half of the annual fall. There are now 2,857 boarders in independent schools in the North compared with 3,023 last year – a drop of 5.5 per cent which is the biggest in the country. The numbers of day pupils has fallen from 71,872 to 70,445 – a decline of two per cent.

The figures compare with a national decline in boarding of 1.1 per cent and a 0.6 per cent drop in day pupils.

Nationally the number of preparatory school pupils fell while there were small increases in the numbers of 11 to 16-year-olds and sixth formers being educated privately.

The report from the ISC also revealed that the private schools sector delivered the smallest fee increase for 16 years – with parents paying four per cent more on average.

The overall average fee per term was 4,186, excluding nursery fees. The average boarding fee was 8,003 and the average day fee was 3,571. The number of ISC member schools in the census in the North has stayed the same as last year at 172.

In 2009 three preparatory schools in Yorkshire closed because of economic pressures: Alcuin School in Leeds, the Maltings, in Halifax and Brigg Preparatory School.

Batley Grammar School, which has been in the private sector for more than 30 years, is currently consulting on plans to become a state funding academy.

However the ISC said the small decline in pupil numbers nationally – 0.6 per cent – would be seen as a success in other sectors during the downturn.

Independent Schools Council chief executive David Lyscom said: "In the deepest recession for over 70 years, with a fall in GDP of over six per cent, pupil numbers have fallen by only 0.6 per cent."

He said that, in spite of "current economic difficulties", parents were still choosing to invest in private education. But ISC members were unable to predict whether schools had ridden out the worst of the recession.

They also warned that a planned rise in National Insurance by Labour would have a harmful effect on the sector and could lead to rises in school fees.

Chairman of the Society of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Independent Schools Toby Mullins said: "We are driven by costs and there's no doubt whatsoever that – and I'm not trying to make a political point here – a National Insurance rise would hit us all.

"We can't make losses and therefore, if our costs go up, we will have to put fees up."

The census reports that the "underlying trend" for the last quarter of a century had been for the independent sector to grow. Private schools last saw a slight dip in pupil numbers in 2005, attributed to falling numbers of school-age children.