For the majority of kids here in the UK, education is completely and utterly free. But if parents want to send their brood to a school that has stuff like their own squash courts, swimming pools, a chapel choir, tiny class sizes and boarding houses, they’re going to have to pay a pretty penny.
Independent schools got even more expensive in January this year when their exemption from VAT was officially scrapped. It’s the first time that private schools have been required to pay the 20 percent VAT and, according to chancellor Rachel Reeves, ‘every single penny’ will go towards improving the country’s state schools.
The average fees for boarding students is between £9,000 to £15,000 for the whole year – but there is a selection of elite institutions that’ll charge even more than that each term, separating the rich from the really rich. And it may come as a surprise to you that neither Eton nor Harrow, two of the country’s best known posh schools, are in the top five.
For the upcoming academic year, Cheltenham Ladies’ College is the priciest of Britain’s private schools. The highest fee that parents could pay to send their kids to the all-girls school is £22,290 per term (inclusive of VAT), which equates to £66,870 a year. That’s for any boarding pupils that join in sixth form. Other boarders are charged £20,100 a term while new sixth form day pupils cost £14,340 and every other day student is charged £12,660.
Brighton College isn’t far behind. Its maximum fee, which is charged to parents of full-time boarders in their final year of sixth form, is £22,125 a term (£66,375 per year). And the UK’s third most expensive institution right now is Westminster School, which charges as much as £21,992 each term – that’s £65,976 for the whole year.
Whether you’re here out of sheer curiosity or because you’re actually considering spending that kind of cash, here’s the full breakdown of Britain’s most expensive private schools for the next academic year.
The UK’s top 10 most expensive private schools for 2025/26
- Cheltenham Ladies’ College: up to £22,290 per term
- Brighton College: up to £22,125 per term
- Westminster School: up to £21,992 per term
- Sevenoaks: up to £21,419 per term
- Gordonstoun: up to £21,300 per term
- Harrow School: £21,245 per term
- Eton College: £21,099 per term
- Wellington College: up to £20,750 per term
- Concord School: £20,588 per term
- Winchester College: £20,000 per term
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Are those schools actually worth the money? Check out whether they made it onto Carfax Education’s latest Schools Index 2025.
We’ve also got a list of England's 10 best private schools based on last year’s A-level and GCSE results and the best for getting students Oxbridge offers. See which comprehensive state schools ranked highly on the Sunday Times Power Guide here, and the best selective and grammar schools, according to the same guide. If you want to check out other league tables, these are the UK's best state secondary schools based on 2024 GCSE results, according to Which School Advisor.
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