THE gap between private school fees and state school spending per pupil has more than doubled over the last decade, an analysis revealed today.

Private school fees have risen by more than 20 per cent after inflation since 2009-10, while core state school spending per pupil has fallen by 9 per cent in real terms, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report.

Average private school fees were around £13,600 in 2020-21 while state school spending per pupil in England was around £7,100 — a gap of around £6,500 or over 90 per cent. 

In 2009-10, average fees in independent schools were around £11,100 and total spending per pupil in the state sector was around £8,000. 

Researchers warned that concerns about inequalities between private and state school pupils “will not be easily addressed while the sectors enjoy such different levels of resourcing.”

The IFS report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, suggests that average net private school fees rose from £11,000 in 2009-10 to £13,700 in 2019-20 — a real-terms increase of 23 per cent — while state school spending per pupil fell by 9 per cent in the same decade.

Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) general secretary Geoff Barton said that it was outrageous that state funding has been cut amid a rise in independent school fees. 

He said: “The funding gap between the two sectors has always been there, of course, but the fact it has widened to such a huge extent does stick in the throat.

“It means that while state schools and colleges have been forced to cut back on things like subject choices, pastoral support and extra-curricular activities — and with secondary class sizes rising — independent schools have been able to improve their provision in all these areas.”

Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green said that the hammering of school budgets is holding children back. 

She said: “The Conservatives have allowed young people across the state sector to be denied opportunities enjoyed by their peers.

“It’s time for ministers to step up and match Labour’s ambition for all children.”

A Department for Education spokesman said that the government is providing the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade with further funding continuing to be distributed fairly among schools, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts.