Independent Financial Advisers and Pension Consultants

FAST RISING FEES

School fees are high and rising fast. The average boarding fees are now £5,035 a term and day fees are £2,156 a term, according to the Headmasters' Conference.* If you are a higher rate taxpayer, to cover boarding fees for one child you need to earn an additional £25,000 a year. Even with a day school, the fees would require you to earn an extra £11,000 a year. The substantial cost reflects the fact that school fees have traditionally outpaced inflation, not least because a large element of fees pay teachers' salaries. For example, over the last five years to January 2001, boarding fees have risen by just over 30% and day fees by 34%, even though total general inflation over the same period was under 14% (RPI Jan 1996-Jan 2001). There are no signs of this trend changing. I anything, the government's drive to improve public sector services will put further upward pressure on teachers' pay. It has always been the case that the earlier you start planning for school fees, the better. *Source: ISIS (2001)

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