School Gate: Six clues your private school may shut down

Pupil numbers have stalled at private schools which are now expected to embark on a programme of cost-cutting to cope with the recession.

Official figures released today show a small decline in the population at independent schools, for only the second time in 15 years, when like-with-like comparisons are made.

School leaders said parents struggling to cope with the recession were increasingly turning to “flexi-boarding” instead of childcare.

Mothers and fathers desperate to hold down jobs in a competitive market spend longer at work, and are paying for their children to stay overnight at school on weekdays, adapting this on a weekly basis to suit their work patterns.

The figures, from the Independent Schools Council (ISC) annual census, showed a drop of 100 children on the rolls of the 1,240 schools that completed the survey both this year and in 2008.

Many schools face tough times ahead, because they have started costly building projects and are increasing the number of bursaries for struggling families, the census suggests.

While fees rose by almost 6 per cent last September, leading heads said few schools would risk imposing large hikes this autumn to compensate for their extra costs.

The Government’s apparent panic at the prospect of an exodus from independent schools to the state sector was revealed, as the figures were published.

Andrew Grant, chairman of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, which represents 250 prestigious schools, said several independent school organisations were contacted earlier this year by officials from the Department for Children, Schools and Families(DCSF).

They asked if urgent provision was necessary for extra pupils at state schools, because of parents unable to afford independent school fees in the recession.

Mr Grant said the independent sector saved the state an estimated £3 billion a year. He said the query showed “just a hint of the DCSF recognising the genuine public benefit” provided by independent schools.

Speaking at the launch of the census figures, David Lyscom, chief executive of the ISC, said it gave “clear evidence that pupil numbers are holding up in 2009 despite the economic gloom.” He added: “Heads tell us that parent interest in places for next year remains high.”

Fees rose by 5.9 per cent this academic year to more than £4,000 a term, on average. However ISC officials said parents should be able to cope with this, as many were better off in the current climate because they had variable or tracker mortgages so had “more money in their pockets”.

The huge expenditure by schools on buildings and bursaries was also revealed. They undertook vast capital projects despite the onset of the credit crunch - many were committed to these before the global financial crisis had developed.

Collectively they spent £794 million in 2007/8 on capital expenditure, almost half of which was allocated to new buildings. Many schools in recent years have built cutting edge sports and music facilities.

The ISC census report said: “Evidence of the economic downturn that we now face was not available when schools would have drawn up their capital expenditure plans.”

It added: “On a like-for-like basis, 168,564 pupils receive some assistance with fees; this is up 6 per cent on 2008.”

Heads said schools would be unlikely to increase their fees considerably in September, but would prepare to tighten their belts. Nick Dorey, chairman of the Society of Heads of Independent Schools, part of the ISC, said: “I doubt that there is a single independent school in the country that isn’t thinking very seriously about what might happen in the future, to ensure that they are running fit to cope with anything that might come.

“Many are thinking carefully about investment in large new buildings, about staffing levels, and class size options available to them.”

Schools reported a rise in the number of overseas pupils, with a noticeable increase in those from Germany. The ISC said this was because more schools were offering the International Baccalaureate, instead of A levels, and because of the strength of the euro against the pound.

The ISC represents 1,265 schools; roughly another 1,000 independent schools are not affiliated to the organisation.

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