Private schools 'face cost cuts'

(UKPA)
Private schools will be forced to cut costs and scale back sky-high fees in order to survive in the future, research has suggested.
Above-inflation fee hikes are already turning middle-class families away from private education, and this is set to continue, the report by mtmconsulting found.
It warns schools will need to address the issue of "affordability", which could mean looking at "sacred cows" such as small pupil class sizes, or cutting the number of specialist subjects on offer.
The "arms race" between fee-paying schools to provide the best facilities will also begin to cease, it says.
The report, which looked at the general health of the private education sector, found that pupil numbers could decrease by as much as 3.2% as a result of the recession.
But it predicts that numbers will begin to recover "significantly" from 2012, when it is likely that parents will begin to react against unrest in the state sector caused by Government spending cuts.
The authors warn that from 2015, pupil numbers could begin to fall by at least one per cent per year if independent schools do not act to make themselves affordable.
While pupil numbers are forecast to grow to almost 611,000 in 2014, they are predicted to fall to just under 580,000 by 2020, the same as in 1987.
Average fees have gone from £5,800 per pupil in 1999, to £11,250 in 2009, the report says.
In the past five years, school fees have risen by 33%, compared with an 18% rise in the earnings of those who traditionally send their children to private school.
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