Today

Private school fees in the UK have increased by 41 per cent in the last five years, more than twice the rate of inflation, figures show.

According to the Halifax bank, the average annual cost for educating a child privately is now a whopping £9,627, compared to £6,820 in 2002.

The above-inflation fee rises have made it more difficult for the average earner in many jobs to send their child to private school, the bank warned.

In 2002, the average worker in 23 occupations could afford private education, but now only 13 jobs pay their workers enough to afford private schooling.

Martin Ellis, Halifax: "The average earner in a number of occupations, including engineers, journalists and teachers, can no longer afford private education for their offspring."

The bank's chief economist, Martin Ellis, said: "Private school fees have risen by significantly more than average earnings over the past five years, making it increasingly difficult for many parents to send their children to private schools.

"The average earner in a number of occupations, including engineers, journalists and teachers, can no longer afford private education for their offspring.

"With school fees continuing to rise by more than inflation and private education proving increasingly popular, parents need to plan their finances as early as possible if they want to afford private schooling for their children."

The South East is the most expensive region in the UK, according to the figures.

The average fee in the South East is £10,908 a year, nearly £3,000 a year higher than in the North - the least expensive region - where the average annual school fee is £7,944 a year.

The number of pupils going to private schools jumped 6 per cent between 2002 and 2007, from 631,800 to 669,300.

During the same period, the number of pupils attending state schools fell by 2 per cent, from 9,484,200 to 9,289,300.

Private schools accounted for 6.7 per cent of pupils in school in 2007, compared to 6.2 per cent of pupils in 2002.