School & Pupil numbers

There are around 2,600 independent schools in the UK, educating about 628,000 children. The actual number fluctuates more or less daily as new schools are registered. A "school" may be very small indeed: schools have to be registered if they educate five or more pupils, or even fewer in some cases. ISC schools range in numbers from 30 to over 2,000 pupils.

In England, independent schools educate just over 7% of the entire school age population. Proportions are lower in Scotland and Wales. Between them, ISC's 1,234 member schools in the UK educate more than half a million children - over 80% of the pupils in the UK independent sector.