Private school eductions are not cheap. On average parents pay £4980 per term or £14,940 per year to have their child in a private institution. The cost alone represents to many an imbalance within the education system, where wealthy parents can simply pay astronomical fees to propel their children to better university spots and grade outcomes.
London has plenty of eyewateringly expensive private schools that cost parents well over the already unthinkable average amount. For instance, just for prep school, the Cambridges are paying well over the odds for Prince George’s education at St Thomas' Battersea - £7,520 a term.
However, this prep school for royalty is nowhere near the most expensive fee-paying school in London. That honour is reserved for a school that doesn’t even teach the English curriculum.
American School London is by far the most expensive school in London with annual fees placed at £29,900 for a kindergarten student and increasing to £34,700 by year 10. Founded in 1951 by journalist Stephen Ekhart the school, located in St John’s Wood teaches an American style curriculum.
Often rated “outstanding” by Ofsted the school has recently been downgraded after its previous principal Robin Appleby stepped down after the school was accused of ‘indoctrinating’ its students with critical race theory - how American. This means that London’s most expensive school is currently rated "requires improvement" by the UK’s school inspection board.
With annual fees almost totalling a person from the UK’s full-time average salary it’s not surprising that students have had a special experience in comparison to their state school counterparts. The school has had prestigious visitors over the years including U.S. Presidents Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
It is unlikely that a normal British student would ever step inside the walls of the costly school with a survey finding that 80% of the students in attendance held US passports. Despite being London’s most expensive its annual fees pale in comparison to British elite boarding school Eton which costs a staggering £48,501 per year - crikey you would expect to be Prime Minister paying that much.
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