Private schools see drop in pupils but rise in bursaries

Pupil numbers in private schools have dropped but bursary funding is at an all-time high, according to data from the Independent Schools Council (ISC).

New annual data shows the biggest fall in the number of new pupils on record: 5.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

Overall, the like-for-like number of pupils within ISC schools decreased by 2.4 per cent, or 13,363 children and young people. The ISC noted that this is over 10,000 more than the government had estimated would leave this academic year.

In 2024 both the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that 35,000 pupils would move to the state sector as a result of the controversial imposition of VAT on independent school fees, with around 3,000 expected to move before the end of the 2024-25 academic year.

Private schools ‘under financial pressure’

The ISC said its new statistics come at a time when “independent schools find themselves under increasing financial pressures, also including the removal of charitable business rates relief and the increase in national insurance employer contributions”.

It added: “Despite this, schools were able to keep baseline fee increases to a minimum, with just a 1.8 per cent average rise between January 2024 and January 2025. For parents, the rise was 22.6 per cent once VAT was factored in.”

The ISC’s annual census, released today, also shows that the amount of fee assistance available to families increased by 11.5 per cent from the previous year, to £1.5 billion; almost three-quarters of total fee assistance is provided directly from the schools themselves, amounting to over £1.1 billion annually.

More than a third of all ISC pupils receive some type of fee assistance. The average means-tested bursary was worth £13,852 a year, an increase of 7.3 per cent compared with 2024.

For the first time this year, data on government assistance to military families was collected separately: 1,396 pupils received this type of fee support, totalling £38 million.

Partnership work with state schools has also increased, with 9,301 partnerships reported in the calendar year 2024 in areas such as mental health support, improving access to the arts, exam preparation, sharing facilities and oracy.

Julie Robinson, CEO of the ISC, said: “The rise in bursary funds and partnership work shows that improving education for all continues to be at the heart of our schools’ purpose, even as political decisions affect their work.

“However, given the decline in pupil numbers and the associated fall in revenue, it is unclear whether the past few years of rises in fee assistance will be sustainable in the future. We urge the government to work with us to ensure independent education remains an option for as many families as possible over the coming years.”

Mark Taylor, interim chair of ISC, wrote in his foreword to the census: “Even under the most acute of pressure, schools have maintained their commitment to educate the widest possible range of children.”

He added that “the statistics show that working to improve outcomes for all children, not just those in [independent schools’] direct care, remains a core part of their raison d’être”.

For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter