Private school vs state school in England: is private school worth it?
Private vs state school in England: 2026 fees after VAT, class sizes, results once background is counted, bursaries, and how to decide if private is worth it.
Private school vs state school: which is better? In England there is no sector-wide winner. Private schools have far more teachers per pupil and higher raw exam results, but a large UCL study published in 2024 found that their overall GCSE advantage all but disappears once family background is taken into account. What has changed most is the price: since 1 January 2025 fees carry 20% VAT, so an average day place now costs about £22,400 a year. Private school can be worth it for a particular child at a particular school, but rarely just because it is private. This guide compares the two sectors on cost, results, staffing, admissions and support, using the latest official figures, so you can compare the actual schools you can reach.
State vs private school at a glance
| State schools | Private (independent) schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free for children aged 5 to 16 | Average day fee about £22,400 a year including VAT |
| Pupils in England | Most pupils | 560,300 pupils, 6.3% of the total |
| Pupils per teacher | 17.9 | 8.5 at ISC schools |
| Curriculum | Maintained schools follow the national curriculum; academies and free schools can follow a different one | Do not have to follow the national curriculum |
| Inspection | Ofsted | Ofsted, or the Independent Schools Inspectorate for ISC member schools |
| Admissions | Apply through your local council, and places follow each school's published criteria | Apply to each school directly, on its own process and dates |
The pupil numbers are from the DfE's January 2026 school census, which also found that independent school pupil numbers fell 3.8% on the year, the second annual fall in a row. Staffing figures are from DfE school workforce data for 2025/26 and the ISC Census 2026. The rules on curriculum and inspection come from GOV.UK's guide to types of school.
Private, independent and public schools: what the words mean
In England, private school and independent school mean the same thing: a school that charges fees instead of being funded by the government. A state school is funded through the local authority or directly by government, and includes community schools, academies, free schools, grammar schools and special schools.
"Public school" is the confusing one. In England it is a traditional name for some long-established fee-paying schools, a usage also found in Victorian law such as the Public Schools Act 1868. So an English public school is private, the opposite of the American meaning.
What private school costs after VAT
Since 1 January 2025, private school fees carry VAT at 20%. Nursery classes made up wholly or almost wholly of children below compulsory school age are exempt. The ISC Census 2026 reports fees for January 2026 before VAT, so the table adds the 20% and assumes three terms a year.
| ISC schools, January 2026 | Per term before VAT | Per year including VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Day school, average (excluding nursery) | £6,226 | about £22,400 |
| Boarding school, boarding fee | £14,980 | about £53,900 |
| Day school, London | £7,580 | about £27,300 |
| Day school, North West | £4,473 | about £16,100 |
The regional averages mix junior, senior and sixth form fees, and senior fees run higher than junior ones. Fees also keep rising: among schools that took part in both years, average fees went up 4.4% between January 2025 and January 2026, before VAT. If you are looking at seven or more years of fees, budget for rises rather than today's price.
These are tuition fees, not the whole bill. Registration fees, deposits, uniform, trips, meals and music lessons usually come on top. Our guide to how much private school costs goes through the extras and the VAT exceptions in more detail.
Bursaries and scholarships: who pays less
The headline fee is not what every family pays, but fewer families pay much less than the headline figures suggest. The ISC Census 2026 found:
- 34.9% of pupils at ISC schools get some form of fee assistance. Much of this is discounts and non-means-tested scholarships, which average about £4,000 to £5,000 a pupil a year.
- 7.0% of pupils hold a means-tested bursary, the help aimed at families who could not otherwise afford the fees.
- Of those bursaries, just over half cover more than half the fee, and 19.2% cover the full fee. In all, 7,042 pupils pay no fees through a means-tested bursary.
If cost is the barrier, ask each school about bursaries early, and ask how the means test works. Funds are limited and allocated each year, so timing matters.
Do private schools get better results?
On raw results, yes, and that is what league tables show. But private intakes are, on average, more advantaged to begin with, so the useful question is how pupils do once background is taken into account.
A large study by researchers at UCL, published in November 2024, used the Millennium Cohort Study, which follows about 19,000 young people born in 2000 to 2002, and looked at the pupils in England who took GCSEs in 2016/17. Before any adjustment, private pupils scored on average over four fifths of a grade higher across their GCSEs. Once family income, parental occupation and other socioeconomic factors were accounted for, the overall gap was close to zero. State pupils came out ahead in maths, by about two thirds of a grade, and in science, by about two fifths. Their small lead in English was not statistically significant. Private pupils kept an advantage of just over half a grade in creative subjects such as art, music and drama.
Other research, such as Francis Green's 2022 review for the IFS Deaton Review, finds a modest private school advantage that builds up over a school career. The honest reading is that the sector alone explains much less than raw league tables suggest, and the specific school matters more.
Class sizes and individual attention
Staffing is the clearest difference. ISC schools have 8.5 pupils per teacher, against 17.9 across state-funded schools in England: 20.7 in nursery and primary schools and 16.7 in secondary schools. Average state class sizes in January 2026 were 26.1 in primary and 22.6 in secondary. The ISC census does not report an average class size for private schools, so ask each school for its typical class sizes by year group.
More adults per child can mean quicker feedback and closer support. But a small class is not automatically a better one. A motivated child in a well-run state school can thrive in a larger class, while a small class that does not suit a child helps no one.
What state schools do well
State schools are free, and many serve a broad local intake, which some families actively want. There are also routes that sit between the two sectors:
- Grammar schools are selective state schools. Entry to Year 7 is usually by the 11-plus test, and there are no fees. See our 11-plus guide and grammar schools by area.
- State boarding schools provide free education but charge fees for boarding, so parents pay for boarding only.
State school quality varies, which is why the comparison should be school by school. Our guide to Ofsted report cards explains how to read a state school's latest inspection. For a place at a state school you apply through your council, by 31 October for secondary and 15 January for primary, as set out in our school admissions guide.
Special educational needs
Some families choose independent schools for smaller classes or specialist support. The VAT position depends on who pays. GOV.UK guidance says VAT is due where a local authority funds a place because the school is named in the child's education, health and care (EHC) plan, and the local authority reclaims that VAT, so the family is not charged it. A family paying the fees themselves pays VAT, whether or not the child has an EHC plan.
There are also strong state special schools and mainstream schools with specialist units. The right answer is the specific match for your child's needs, not the sector label.
The university question
Parents often worry that a state education limits university options. Many universities use contextual admissions, taking account of the school and circumstances behind a set of grades. Some independent schools have long experience of competitive applications, but the school your child attends matters more than the sector.
Is private school worth it? How to decide
The question is not which sector is better in the abstract, but which school is right for your child at a price you can sustain. A practical way through:
- Cost it properly. Add VAT, extras and likely fee rises over every year your child would attend, and set that against what the same money could do alongside a strong state school.
- Compare real schools. List the state schools your child could realistically get into, using each school's admissions criteria and last distance offered, and compare them with the private schools you are considering on results, inspection and fit.
- Start from your child. Weigh what they need: smaller classes, particular subjects, SEN support, or a broad local mix.
- Ask each private school the same questions: typical class sizes, fee rises over recent years, what the fee includes, and how its bursary means test works.
If a private school offers something your child genuinely needs and you can afford it without strain, it can be worth it. If a strong state school is within reach, the case for paying is weaker than it used to be.
How FindMySchool helps
FindMySchool covers more than 25,000 school profiles, state and independent, with an FMS Inspection score where a school has one and, where available, results and fees, so you can put a private place and your best state options side by side.
- Browse independent schools near you and state schools near you, then open a profile for the detail.
- School Match searches state and independent schools against your priorities, and you choose whether to include both sectors or only one. You answer the questions without signing up, then create a free account to see your results, and your top match is free.
- Compare schools side by side once you have a shortlist.
Frequently asked questions
It can be, for a particular child and a particular school, but it is no longer an automatic advantage. Since 20% VAT was added to fees in January 2025, an average day place costs about £22,400 a year, and a large UCL study found the overall GCSE gap close to zero once family background was taken into account. Weigh the all-in cost against the best state schools your child could actually get into.