Schools are in danger of being turned into “the sole preserve of the super-rich” following a sharp rise in fees, said Martin Stephen, ex-High Master of St Paul’s School in west London.
In an extraordinary attack, he said that year-on-year price increases had resulted in the “financial and social marginalisation” of the independent sector that could lead to the "extinction" of many schools.
He also accused schools of being “frozen in the past”, adding that their “professional organisations and governance structures are those of the Industrial Revolution and ill-suited for contemporary society”.
The comments will be seen as an embarrassing blow to the system of private education in Britain.
Dr Stephen is a former chairman of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, which represents schools such as Eton and Harrow. He also led The Perse School in Cambridge and Manchester Grammar School before becoming High Master of St Paul’s between 2004 and 2011.
He is now director of education at Gems UK – a private school chain set up to promote “affordable” independent education.
Writing in the Times Educational Supplement, Dr Stephen said most fee-paying schools had “put themselves in a very dangerous position” in recent years.
“They are pricing themselves out of the reach of most normal people in the UK,” he said.
“Even on a salary of more than £50,000, it would be exceptionally hard to afford a place at a boarding school, and even many day schools.
“The result is that the independent sector is becoming socially exclusive in a way not seen since Victorian times. Not only is it in danger of becoming the sole preserve of the super-rich here and overseas, but it is in danger of losing even the tacit support of the average UK voter.”
Figures published by the Independent Schools Council last year showed that average fees in Britain had increased by 4.5 per cent rise in 12 months – topping £13,000 for the first time.
It emerged that day fees rose from £10,713 to £11,208 and the price of boarding increased from £24,009 to £25,152. In total, some 25 schools charged more than £30,000 in fees, figures showed.
In 2010/11, the number of British pupils in private schools also dropped for the third year in a row.
School leaders insist that recent fee rises have been lower than those levied in previous years, adding that schools are investing record sums in bursaries for poor pupils.
Many schools have also struck up formal partnerships with local state primaries and secondaries, it emerged.
But Dr Stephen said schools often sought to “suck out” the best pupils from the state system, adding: “The sector has become too dependent on overseas parents and is profiting from a state sector in some turmoil.”
He called on independent schools to reduce their fees and make joint staff appointments with local state schools or face going bust.
"The choice is clear: independent schools, like any other species, must evolve or face extinction," he said.
Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, head of research at the Independent Schools Council, said schools provided a "world-class education for thousands of young people".
"Even in hard economic times, parents continue to make it a priority to find the fees to send their children to independent schools, valuing the well-rounded education and the excellent start in life that they offer," he said.
“Contrary to any concerns that the public may be turning against the independent sector, the opposite is in fact true. Last year’s Populus survey showed people increasingly believe independent education to be of a higher standard than state education, with 47 per cent of adults in 1997 rising to 57 per cent in 2011.
“This is in line with figures showing that opposition to the sector has fallen dramatically and that, regardless of cost, the number of parents who wouldn’t choose to send their child to an independent school dropped."
