Parents Listen to Children On School Choice

A recent MORI survey for Independent Schools Information Service (ISIS) shows that six parents out of ten are influenced by their children's opinions when it comes to choosing an independent school, rising to seven out of ten if boarding is being considered. More than half the children entering independent schools come from families where neither parent was educated in the independent sector.

The Parents

The proportion of "first-time buyers" - that is, families where neither parents attended an independent school has declined very slightly since 1993 (when it was 54%) but remains well above the 1989 figure of 41%.

Although, in the majority of families the main income earner is male, the proportion of families in which the woman is the breadwinner is steadily increasing and now stands at 13%. Just under one in ten (9%) were single-parent families. Just under a third (31%) had gross annual incomes of less than 16340,000 a year.

More than half the parents (52%) had considered state as well as independent schools for their child. Parents of day pupils (56%) and first-time buyers (62%) were more likely to have considered state schools: even among the parents of boarders, however, a third will have considered a state school.

The success of prep schools in recent years is reflected in the increasing proportion of children who have been through independent schools at the immediately preceding stage of education. Just over two-thirds (68%) of those entering prep schools had been to an independent pre-preparatory school (up from 53% in 1993) and 58% of those entering independent senior schools had been at prep schools (up from 55%).

Why Independent Schools

The proportion of parents choosing independent schools because they are not satisfied with what is available to them in the state sector has gone up slightly since the last survey, from 20% to 22%. More than a third (35%) said 'a better standard of education' was their reason for choosing an independent school. and a quarter said smaller classes.

Choice

For parents the important factors in choosing schools were reputation (81%), Discipline (79%), attitude to work (78%), small class sizes (73%), fulfilment of pupils' potential in later life (69%), right for their child's individual needs (68%), and examination results (63%).

Technical details

A self-completion questionnaire was sent to 1550 parents from 62 representative ISIS schools during the Autumn term 1997. Responses, which were anonymous, related to the child who had most recently entered independent school (within the last year). 737 replies were received, a 48% response rate.