By the time Sonal Sachdev Patel’s teenagers leave school, the family will have spent the best part of half a million pounds on private school fees.
It is a huge outlay for any household. The most recent calculations by the Independent Schools Council estimate that independent school day fees average £18,000 a year, while families have to find about £36,000 a year for boarding.
And it is about to get worse; the axing of the VAT exemption for private schools, which has been in place since 1972, is expected to push fees up by as much as 20 per cent from January. Higher employer’s national insurance contributions and the removal of business rates relief for schools will also pile on the financial pressure. So is
