Economy forces schools to limit fee increases

Published on Friday 24 July 2009 19:05

THE economic downturn has seen Scotland's leading private schools being forced to limit price increases as hard-pressed families tighten their purse strings.

Previous years have seen schools raise fees by up to 6 per cent, with some schools charging almost 20,000 a year.

However, school chiefs have been forced to reduce the increase in order to make private education affordable to struggling parents.

The average increase of fees is a modest 3.8 per cent, a stark contrast to previous rises that are almost double that figure.

Fettes College, the school Tony Blair attended, has increased its day fees by only 1.49 per cent from 17,838 to 18,105, with the fees at Edinburgh's Merchiston Castle School fees coming in at 17,460 after a 1.5 per cent rise.

Despite the small increase, families are still being asked to dig deep, with the average fee coming in at 10,500.