Reasons for choosing private schools

Smaller class sizes Better sports training Wider curriculum Better facilities

A poll conducted on behalf of the Independent Schools Information Service has examined why parents opt for fee-paying schools.

And the largest factor - identified by 36% of parents - has been the expectation of smaller class sizes.

Among the parents of primary pupils this figure was even higher, with smaller classes the most important incentive for 46%.

The survey is carried out every four years and the increase in concern over class sizes might reflect the publicity attached to the government's drive to reduce infant class sizes in the state sector.

"Educationalists argue about how much difference class size makes. Parents apply a common sense equation - smaller classes mean more individual attention and more individual attention means more personal fulfilment.

Sports facilities

"That is what they find in independent schools and what their fees will buy," said the independent schools' organisation's director, David Woodhead.

Other reasons cited by parents for going private were better facilities, identified by 15%, and better sports, mentioned by 12%.

Figures published earlier this year showed that numbers of pupils in private schools had increased slightly - despite a 6.7% average increase in fees

In England, this means that around 6% of pupils are attending private schools - with Isis saying that its members across the United Kingdom are teaching almost half a million primary and secondary pupils.

But within this sector, boarding schools have faced a substantial long-term decline in the 1980s and 1990s, with pupil numbers continuing a downward trend.