Parents rely on loans for school costs

As official figures show that UK household expenditure on education fees has increased by 50 per cent since 1999, many parents are taking a loan to cover the costs.

“Around 620,000 children are now privately educated in schools, which are consistently charging more in fees,” commented Steven Baillie, loans manager at Sainsbury’s Bank.

“Given this, and the fact that more children are being privately educated, we expect to see a growing number of parents taking out loans to help pay for their children’s education.”

In 2004-05, total household expenditure on education fees was estimated by the bank at £7.9 billion, compared with £6.9 billion in 2001-02.

With such a steep growth in fees, many parents will need to take out loans, but Mr Baillie recommended that they shop around rather than rushing to the first offer they see.