Tuesday, 8 April 2008

The cost of State education per pupil

If you've arrived via Tim W's post on the Spectator Business 'blog, the calculations to which he refers are here.

My latest blogpost: The cost of State education per pupilTweet this! Posted by Mark Wadsworth at 23:59

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5 comments:

Matthew said...

It's an interesting piece, albeit one that doesn't show what Tim thinks it does.

Pensions - I don't think you can count most of that as it would have to be paid anyway, even if all state schools were shut down.

8 April 2008 at 18:00
Mark Wadsworth said...

Private school fees, by definition, must include the salaries and perks (incl. pension contributions) for their teachers.

So why should we exclude the actuarial cost of pension entitlements that are being accrued by teachers in the State sector, which, as mentioned, adds at least one-third to the immediate cash cost?

8 April 2008 at 18:19
Matthew said...

That's right, but most independent schools teachers are in the government scheme, aren't they? So if the true actuarial cost of the pensions is twice the stated cost, then I think you have to include that additional amount in the private school total as well.

8 April 2008 at 19:33
Matthew said...

Yes, I think you've made that point well. It doe seem to have got misread as 'the same' though.

8 April 2008 at 22:22
Mark Wadsworth said...

It depends what you mean by 'the same'. I never claimed that spending per State pupil was 'the same' as average private school fees, which include £25k a year stuff like Eton and boarding schools.

What I said was that spending per State pupil was roughly 'the same' as the private school fees for the better-value, i.e. cheapest, private schools (like where my kids go, outer London, about £6k - £7k per child - fees elsewhere in England are 20% lower).

8 April 2008 at 23:05

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