Parents turn to private schools to avoid testing

Increasing numbers of parents are sending their children to independent schools because of fears about crowded classrooms and excessive testing in the state sector, leading private school headteachers said yesterday.

Parents are taking desperate measures such as remortgaging their homes to afford private school fees, which rose by an average of 7 per cent this year.

Full boarding fees are £16,776 a year, on average, while a typical day fee is £7,188, according to figures released yesterday by the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents 80 per cent of private schools including Eton and Harrow.

The number of pupils attending fee-paying schools between January 2002 and January 2003 increased by 5,128 to 507,611 – the eighth consecutive annual rise for the sector, the ISC said.

David Woodhead, national director of the ISC information service, said the private sector's increased popularity was cause for celebration. "The one area ... that continues to buck the national bearish trend is independent education," he said. "This is a huge achievement."

Stuart Thackrah, the head of Holmwood House school in Colchester and chairman of the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS), said that literacy and numeracy standards had risen in state schools but these did not influence parents' choices. "They are not interested in whether their child is 1 per cent better than someone else. They would rather that they became a rounded person with good social graces. They do not want testing, testing, testing."

He said parents were becoming "more creative" in finding the money for school fees.

Graham Able, headmaster of Dulwich College in south-east London and chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, said: "Our evidence is parents choose us because they like the smaller class sizes and the range of extra-curricular activities."

Meanwhile, the number of boys who go to boarding school rose for the first time in 20 years – a 0.6 per cent rise between January 2002 and January 2003. The number of girl boarders rose by 1.8 per cent, after an increase in 2001-02.

Mr Thackrah said the success of the Harry Potter books and films had made children more interested in boarding. He said: "There is a feel-good factor about boarding at the moment. Harry Potter is a feel-good book, therefore it helps."

Bill Organ, bursar of Winchester College, and chairman of the Independent Schools Bursars' Association, warned that school fees would have to rise by 12 per cent next year because of government increases to employers' pension and national insurance contributions. "We have seen large increases in direct and indirect taxes," he said. "In my school, increased contributions to teachers' pensions will cost us £160,000, support staff pensions will cost us £125,000. National insurance will cost us an extra £80,000 – we are clocking up some very big numbers for a school."