from the Telegraph, 15 January 2010
A study published by the Good Schools Guide has shown that school fees at a handful of British boarding schools have topped £30,000 for the first time. The study also suggests that “nationally, average fees have increased by some 40% in the past five years”. The findings juxtapose unhappily with mtmconsulting’s Independent Education Sector Report 2010 which has asserted that “schools will have to cut fee inflation”.
The headlines, predictably, were assigned to covering schools at the top end of the fee scale. Queen Ethelburga’s College in York, ACS Cobham International School, Hurtwood House School, International College Sherborne and “two specialist music colleges” were all names as charging boardings fees over the £30k mark. However, it is noted that many of the top level fees are applicable only to A level international students and costs cover supplementary language lessons.
mtm’s Independent Education Sector Report 2010, published recently, included an analysis of affordability showing that average independent school fees had almost doubled in the past decade, from £5,800 in 1999 to £11,250 in 2009. This equated to a growth of around 7% per annum. The report went on to suggest that “it is unlikely that schools, on average, will be able to continue raising fees by some 6% each year.” Compared with rises in average earning, which amount to about 3% per annum, schools may risk pricing themselves out of the market.
However, argues Joe Faulkner, mtm’s school marketing consultant, there is likely to always be a market for the very top, most prestigious and achieving schools. “One of mtmconsulting’s core recommendations for school businesses for the next decade is to differentiate themselves, to find a niche. This is what we are seeing. The premier league schools,” he suggests “are likely to be in a position to command premiums for years to come, as long as they are perceived as ‘the best’, they will find families willing – and able – to pay. What seems important, particularly in light of the Charity Commission’s public benefit testing, is that schools ensure strong concessions via means-tested bursaries, in order to ensure accessibility”.
mtmconsulting anticipates that cost control, careful management of fee increases, a notable transformation in the messages and media employed by independent schools marketing professionals, and more schools turning to building additional sources of income (summer schools, trading income, daughter and sister schools, fundraising) will all be employed by school business strategists to meet the coming challenges.
In 2007 mtm undertook the first independent school research project into how parents afford school fees
”We are likely to see some interesting developments in the sector”, continues Joe Faulkner, “not least with the drop in public spending we are likely to see in the wake of the recession leading to increased dissatisfaction with the maintained sector. With this on one hand balanced with falling affordability all-round, school strategies should be carefully considered to capitalise on likely opportunities”.
In 2007 mtmconsulting undertook the first – and only – analysis of the ways in which parents pay – and afford – independent schools fees, and how confident they are in their ability to continue paying these fees in future. The School Fees Payment Survey (2007) is available to download free from our website. Please click here to download.
To read the article “Private School Fees now top £30,000″ on the Telegraph website please click here.
For more information on the mtmconsulting Independent Education Sector Report 2010, or to discuss our management consulting services for schools, educational business strategy, and independent schools marketing services please contact us.
