The 2012 mtm/ISC School Fees Survey

The few who seem sure that they will not be able to continue remains unchanged at 3%, but the doubtful categories – ‘possibly not’ (down from 12% to 10%) and ‘possibly’ (down from 33% to 31%) – have both decreased and there has been a commensurate rise in the proportion of parents expressing full confidence, from 52% to 56%.

Parents do continue to be concerned about job insecurity and falling incomes, both rated by more than half the respondents as the main threat to their continued ability to pay school fees. But the rise in university tuition fees, widely expected to damage parents’ thinking about the affordability of school fees, looms no larger now than before the changes were announced in 2010. 22% of parents regard university costs as a threat, compared with 23% in 2010.

Parents in 65 schools took part in the survey, and answered a wide range of questions about their family incomes, their financial commitment to independent education and the means by which they afford school fees.

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The responses reveal a wide range of family financial circumstances. More than half the responding parents have gross annual incomes of under £100,000, while nearly a quarter have incomes under £60,000. These findings correlate closely with the 2010 survey, in which some 2,500 parents took part.

The importance of second incomes is also confirmed, with 75% of second parents (i.e. not the principal in-come earner) either employed or self-employed.The responses reveal a wide range of family financial circumstances. More than half the responding parents have gross annual incomes of under £100,000, while nearly a quarter have incomes under £60,000. These findings correlate closely with the 2010 survey, in which some 2,500 parents took part.

Nearly two-thirds of the families (62%) paid more than £15,000 in school fees during 2011/12, with 30% paying more than £25,000. More than half (57%) had already been paying fees for six years or more and almost as many (51%) were expecting to be paying for at least a further six years.

And, as in the 2010 survey, three-quarters of the families (74%) claimed to be making financial sacrifices to be able to afford the fees, with holidays, general household expenditure and home improvements the commonest casualties of the economy drive al-though a quarter of families were also reducing their pension contributions and one in six their mortgage repayments.

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Three families in ten (29%) were receiving some form of third-party assistance with fee payment, a slight in-crease from the 2010 results. The most frequent source of this help was from relatives, for 16% of the parents, although 19% were receiving some form of assistance from their child’s school, mostly in the form of scholar-ships or bursaries, as well as staff and sibling discounts.

Commenting on the survey, ISC’s Deputy General Secretary and Head of Research, Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, said: “This survey helps to highlight the diverse nature of families sending their children to independent schools by identifying the broad range of parents’ financial circumstances. It is all the more encouraging, therefore, to see that parents’ confidence in their ability to afford school fees for the remainder of their children’s education has grown despite the recent economic downturn.”Three families in ten (29%) were receiving some form of third-party assistance with fee payment, a slight in-crease from the 2010 results. The most frequent source of this help was from relatives, for 16% of the parents, although 19% were receiving some form of assistance from their child’s school, mostly in the form of scholar-ships or bursaries, as well as staff and sibling discounts.

Melanie Tucker, mtmconsulting principal, commented: “This is a very significant piece of research and one which complements and confirms our groundbreaking research amongst parents of recent years. It underlines our capacity to undertake large-scale surveys of this kind, adding to the general state of knowledge about the health of development of the independent sector.

“We are also enormously grateful to the ISC and to the officers of the constituent associations for their imaginative support of this project and, especially, to Rudi and his colleagues at ISC both for encouraging schools to participate and for their creative input at every stage of the survey.”

Each of the participating schools will receive a copy of the full survey report, together with an analysis of the responses from their own parents. 

To receive a copy of the full 2012 report, School Fees and How Parents Pay Them, contact office at mtmconsulting dot co dot uk , telephone 01502 722787 or download the Fees Survey 2012 Order Form The price is £50 (incl. P&P).

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