Private School Statistics UK 2023 - Independent Schools

Private School Statistics 2023

How many adults in the UK attended a private school? And, possibly more importantly, how do those who did feel their education impacted their careers later?

We’ve polled 2,000 adults in the UK in September 2023 and collated data from a number of sources to establish:

• How many children are in private schools in the UK today?

• How many of the UK’s adult population attended private schools?

• How much is the private school sector worth?

• What are the average fees?

• How do previous private school attendees feel their education impacted their career?

Let’s dive into the data.

The Key Facts and Figures

The most important facts and figures from our findings are summarised here, with more detail within:

• 1 in 5 adults in the UK has attended a private school as a child

• This figure rises to 33% for those in London and is as low as 7.2% in Northern Ireland

• Men are likelier to have attended private school than women in the UK (1 in 4 men vs just over 1 in 7 women)

• Just over a third of former private school attendees feel that their private education resulted in a better career

• Almost 1 in 5 state school attendees feel they have a better career as the result of attending a state school

• But 60% of state school attendees feel that their state education made no difference to their career in comparison to those who attended private schools

• Around 5.9% of all children at school in the UK are attending private schools

• There are just over 554,000 pupils at UK independent schools

• There are 16.9% more pupils in independent schools today than there were in 1990

• The average fee for a day pupil at a private secondary school in the UK is currently £17,562 per academic year

Private School Outcomes - 2023 Survey Statistics

The financial outcomes of private school attendees versus their state school counterparts is documented. But we were more interested in finding out how former private and state school attendees feel about the impact their education has had on their careers.

As such, in September 2023, we polled 2,000 adults in the UK (a demographically representative sample supplied by a market research company) and we asked:

“Thinking about your education as a child and your career as an adult, which, if any, of the following statements best apply to you? (Select one)”

We gave respondents several options:

• I went to a private school as a child, and I feel that I've had a better career as an adult when compared with state school attendees

• I went to a private school as a child, and I feel that it made no difference to my career as an adult when compared with state school attendees

• I went to a private school as a child, and I feel that my career as an adult was disadvantaged when compared with state school attendees

• I went to a state school as a child, and I feel that I've had a better career as an adult when compared with private school attendees

• I went to a state school as a child, and I feel that it made no difference to my career as an adult when compared with private school attendees

• I went to a state school as a child, and I feel that my career as an adult was disadvantaged when compared with private school attendees

• None of the above

Here is how they answered:

We found:

• 1 in 5 adults in the UK had a private education as a child

• Of those who had private education, 37.94% believe it resulted in a better career

• 44.72% of former private school attendees believe their career outcome was no different as a result of their private education

• For 17.34% of former private school attendees, the feeling is their career outcome was worse as a result of their private education than had they gone to state school

The breakdown of schooling type can be summarised in the following graph.

Gender and Private School Statistics

We found some notable gender differences in the likelihood of having attended a private school.

When we break down the 1 in 5 adults in the UK who attended a private school, it is weighted towards men.

Adult men are 60% more likely to have had a private education during their childhood than women are.

Men are also likelier to feel that they benefited from their private education than women are.

When we look exclusively at responses from those who went to a private school we see:

Under a third of women who attended a private school feel that it benefitted their career prospects later. But 41% of men feel it did.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, 1 in 5 women who attended a private school feel it actually disadvantaged their career in comparison to state school attendees.

This figure drops to 15% amongst men.

Age and Likelihood of Having Attended a Private School

There are some real differences in the likelihood of having had a private education by generation too. We broke down the survey statistics by age and found:

We can see some incredible variation here in age.

Of those currently 55 or over, fewer than 1 in 10 has attended private school. This rises to over a third for those aged 18 to 24 and just under a third for those aged 25 to 34.

It is interesting to note that the Assisted Places Scheme (which funded private school fees for low income families) ran from 1980 to 1998. Despite this, those who are most likely to have benefitted from that (those aged 35 to 54) are significantly less likely to have attended a private school than those who are too young to have benefitted.

So, how do private school attendees feel their education affected their careers at each age group? We dived into the data again:

A significant proportion of private school attendees across all age ranges, believe that their education resulted in a better career outcome for them. Then have they attended state school.

This is particularly the case for the younger respondents in our survey.

• 41.77% of former private school attendees aged 18 to 24 feel their private education gave them an advantage in their career over going to state school

• 42.34% of those aged 25 to 34 feel like this

• This drops to 30% for the oldest respondents in our survey

However, the most popular response amongst former private school attendees of all ages is that their education didn’t affect the outcome of their career.

Across all respondents, 44.72% of former private school attendees say they don’t believe their private education made a difference to their career compared with state school attendees.

This is a particularly common response amongst those aged 35 to 44 (50%) and those aged 55 and over (51.39%).

Some adults who attended private schools feel their private education actually disadvantaged them in their career when compared with state school attendees. Overall, 17% of respondents feel this way. It is most notable amongst those aged 25 to 34 (19.82%).

The Likelihood of Having Attended Private School by Region

We know that there are some significant differences in education across the country. This also applies to the likelihood of ever having attended a private school. When we broke down the survey responses and analysed the data based on the region in which the respondents live, we found the following:

There are some astronomical differences from region to region. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those living in Greater London are the most likely to have attended private school with a third having done so.

At the opposite end of the scale, just 7.27% of those in Northern Ireland did so.

How do State School Attendees Feel Their Education Influenced Their Careers?

So what about the majority who went to a state school? How do they feel this influenced their careers by comparison to their private school counterparts?

The majority (just under 60%) feel that being educated in a state school made no difference to their career as an adult when compared with private school attendees.

18.96% feel they’ve benefitted from being state educated versus their privately educated counterparts, while 21.20% feel they were disadvantaged by comparison.

Independent School Attendees Figures in 2023

Our survey covered those adults who were privately educated as children. But how many children are in independent schools in the UK today?

According to data from the Independent Schools Council’s 2023 census, there are 554,316 pupils currently attending Independent Schools in the UK, representing around 5.9% of all school attendees in the country. 

This figure represents an increase of 16% against 1990’s figure of 474,203.

66,325 of those who attend private schools are boarding. 

How Many Independent Schools are there in the UK?

The same census, which covers all schools that are affiliated with the ISC, states:

• 1,395 independent schools in the UK

• 106 of them are boys-only schools

• 159 of them are girls-only schools

• 1,130 are co-educational (mixed) schools

Average Private School Fees in the UK

The ICS Census also provides some data on the average private school fees in the UK. As of 2023, this stands at:

With an expected bill of around £17,000 per academic year during the secondary years, private school is a huge financial commitment. Needless to say, not every parent can afford this even if their children are academically gifted.

Since the end of the Assisted Places Scheme in 1998, assistance with fees for those in low income families has had to take the form purely of bursaries and scholarships.

7.1% of pupils (39,358) in independent schools are in receipt of a means tested bursary, with the average such bursary worth £11,807 per year.

So this may not cover all of the fees.

In fact, just 1.74% of those in private schools (9,620 pupils) are in a position where they are paying no fees at all. 

Demand for Private Education

We looked at data around the number of searches per year in Google UK (using data from kwfinder.com) indicating people looking for private schools.

In 2022, there were 187,300 searches in Google UK for “private schools near me,” a slight drop on 2021’s figure of 207,800.

We could potentially hypothesise that the impact of Covid might have led more parents to seeing out private education in 2021 than previously.

Taking 2021 out of the equation, however, the growth in search demand for private schools is considerable.

Top Independent Schools in 2023 - Based on Search Demand

What about individual schools though? We took the top performing 100 independent secondary schools (based on GCSE results) and had a look at how many people searched for them both in the UK and globally each month (based on an average of the previous 12 months).

The 20 most searched-for independent secondary schools in the UK are as follows (top 20 based on global searches):

By far and away, Eton College is the most searched-for UK independent school both in the UK and globally. There are over 100,000 searches for the school globally each month, some two-thirds of which are from outside the UK.

This comes despite the fact the school wasn’t in the top 40 independent schools for GCSE results. So perhaps search demand is being more driven by its former high-profile (Royal!) attendees than anything else.

In Conclusion

There’s a thriving Independent Schools Sector in the UK, which has educated millions of today’s adults and is presently educating over half a million children in the country.

Demand continues to grow too. So without a doubt, we would expect to see the sector continuing to educate hundreds of thousands of children over the coming years.

Methodology and Caveats

For the survey, we polled a demographically representative sample of 2,000 adults in the UK in September 2023. To ensure our sample was indeed demographically representative, we commissioned a UK market research company, Censuswide, specialist operating under ESOMAR principles.

Copies of raw data are available on request by email to marketing@tutorful.co.uk.

For numbers relating to the UK’s independent schools, we consulted the 2023 ISC Census: https://www.isc.co.uk/research/annual-census/

When it came to analysing search data, we used KWfinder.com, which pulls data about estimated searches from Google’s own Ads platform. 

When collecting estimated search data, we bear certain caveats in mind:

1. A single search does not necessarily include a single searcher. One person may make multiple searches over the course of a month

2. Someone searching “private schools near me,” isn’t necessarily looking to place a child in one. There could be all sorts of other reasons. So by no means are we suggesting that each search equates to a potential child in a private school. Instead, the data should be considered a point of interest highlighting a growth in interest in private schools

3. Data is always an estimate, so we would advise against reading too much into exact numbers instead we look at trends and patterns over time

If you have any questions or would like comment on our findings, please reach out by email to marketing@tutorful.co.uk