[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-404801-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-404801-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","independent-schools-in-2024","Independent Schools in 2024","","Independent Schools in 2024 discusses the UK independent school sector using sector-reported data and contextualizes key institutional characteristics. It outlines the ISC membership base, approximate school and pupil counts, and typical school size and boarding provision. The article describes pupil demographics including non-British representation, minority ethnic backgrounds, and special needs support rates, then highlights specialisms such as music, sport excellence, religious foundations, overseas provision, and single-sex education. It also compares fee levels, explains fee reduction mechanisms, and illustrates partnership models through case examples involving Eton and state sixth-form initiatives.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/independent-schools-in-2024/404801/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/independent-schools-in-2024/404801.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aditya","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-27",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How many independent schools and pupils are in the ISC sector, and what share is that of the UK totals?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The article estimates about 2,500 independent schools in the UK, over 600,000 pupils, representing 6% of the total. Of these pupils, 554,000 are in ISC schools.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the typical independent school look like in terms of size and boarding?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Most are small day schools: half of ISC schools have under 290 pupils, and a quarter have under 155 pupils. Only 434 of 1,395 schools have boarders, and only eight schools are exclusively boarding schools.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What are the average day and boarding fees, and how do fee reductions work?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The average day fee is £16,000 and the average boarding fee is £40,000 per year. The text notes that 34% of pupils receive fee reductions, worth about £1.2 billion, mainly through means-tested bursaries and scholarships.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},404801,1791008519,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":123,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962085564549,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Buckingham Journal of Education 2023 Vol 4 No 2 pp 121–130, DOI: 10.5750/tbje.v4i2.2209  \nINDEPENDENT SCHOOLS IN 2024  \nBarnaby Lenon*  \nSchool of Education, University of Buckingham, Buckingham, United Kingdom  \nOPINION  \nI have been the chairman of the Independent Schools Council for the past 10 years. Our main job is to collect robust data on the sector and to prevent journalists from saying untrue things about our schools or politicians from doing bad things to our schools. We are a coalition of a number of independent school associations: the Independent Schools Bursars’ Association (ISBA), the Association of the Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS), the Heads’ Conference (HMC), the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA), the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS), the Society of Heads (SoH) and the Independent Schools Association (ISA).  \nThere are about 2,500 independent schools in the UK, over 600,000 pupils, 6% of the total. Of these 600,000 pupils, 554,000 are in ISC schools. The schools that are not members of ISC tend to be very small.  \nTo understand the potential impact of the imposition of VAT, we must understand the characteristics of these schools.  \nMost are small – half of ISC schools have under 290 pupils and a quarter have under 155 pupils. Therefore, most are local junior schools for young pupils.  \nOf the 1,395 schools, only 434 have any boarders. There are 66,000 boarders, 12% of the ISC total. In most schools with boarders, fewer than half the pupils board; only eight schools are exclusively boarding schools. So the big boarding schools like Eton are far from typical. The typical independent school is in fact a small school for young, day pupils.  \nThere are 62,000 non-British pupils in our schools, 36,000 of whom have parents living in the UK. The largest groups are from mainland China and Hong Kong. In the overall scheme of things, not a vast number. The proportion of students in our schools with parents living overseas has remained the same since the ISC census started in 1974.  \n40% of pupils in ISC schools are from a minority ethnic background, quite similar to the state sector. Most of these are British.  \n18.6% of ISC pupils receive special needs support and many of the country’s special needs schools are independent schools with pupils paid for by the local authority.  \n*Corresponding author: [e-mail: Barnaby.lenon@buckingham.ac.uk](e-mail: Barnaby.lenon@buckingham.ac.uk)  \nBUCKINGHAM JOURNAL OF EDUCATION  \nIn fact, many independent schools have a particular specialism – quite apart from the special needs schools, there are music and dance schools, like the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey or the Royal Ballet School in London. There are many cathedral choir schools. There are schools with a particular excellence in sport, such as Millfield which has produced so many Olympic medallists. There are schools that are highly selective academically, such as Westminster or St Paul’s Girls School, although most independent schools are not selective in this way. There are religious foundations and schools for overseas pupils. These are, on the whole, types of schools that are thin on the ground in the state sector.  \nAnother specialism of independent schools is single-sex education, particularly for girls. A total of 126,000 ISC pupils are in single-sex schools, most of them being senior schools and majority being girls. The Girls’ Day School Trust schools constitute a large part.  \nMany independent schools are quite old, they include all the oldest schools in Britain and most pre-date the foundation of state schools.  \nMany independent schools are part of a multi-academy trust, such as United Learning or the King Edward’s Foundation in Birmingham, so they work alongside state schools in their trust.  \nWhat about fees? The average day fee is £16,000 and the average boarding fee is £40,000 a year. Notably, 34% of pupils get a fee reduction, worth about £1.2 billion this year. This comes in the","cbCaifDye5Y60qub","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifDye5Y60qub","pdf",308422,"English","# Independent Schools in 2024\n## Sector size and membership\n## School characteristics and boarding\n## Pupil demographics and support\n## Independent-school specialisms\n## Fees and funding mechanisms\n## Partnerships with state schools","[{\"question\":\"How many independent schools and pupils are in the ISC sector, and what share is that of the UK totals?\",\"answer\":\"The article estimates about 2,500 independent schools in the UK, over 600,000 pupils, representing 6% of the total. Of these pupils, 554,000 are in ISC schools.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the typical independent school look like in terms of size and boarding?\",\"answer\":\"Most are small day schools: half of ISC schools have under 290 pupils, and a quarter have under 155 pupils. Only 434 of 1,395 schools have boarders, and only eight schools are exclusively boarding schools.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the average day and boarding fees, and how do fee reductions work?\",\"answer\":\"The average day fee is £16,000 and the average boarding fee is £40,000 per year. The text notes that 34% of pupils receive fee reductions, worth about £1.2 billion, mainly through means-tested bursaries and scholarships.\"}]","Independent Schools in 2024 | PDF",1790550809,25]