• Julie Robinson, ISC chief executive

    "ISC schools are very diverse, with an extraordinary mix of pupils. There are single sex, co-ed, boarding and day, as well as small schools best known by their local communities."

     

Diversity

There are over 1,400 ISC schools with over 554,000 pupils bringing great diversity to the independent schools sector.

Diversity of school type

Schools within ISC membership include single-sex schools, preparatory (prep) schools, those with specialisms in music, drama or art, schools that cater for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), those that nurture sporting talent, highly academic schools, and boarding schools

Not all ISC schools are the larger well known independent schools, with many schools best known only in their local communities.

Nearly half of ISC schools are junior schools where all pupils are in Year 8 and below and some schools are small: half of schools have fewer than 290 pupils.

88% of ISC pupils are day pupils, but there are 434 schools that offer the opportunity to board.

Diversity in schools enables pupils to learn as much from each other as they do from teachers

Special educational needs and disabilities

There are also specialist schools which offer the very best provision for children with special needs.

These schools are often a resource relied upon by local authorities as specialist centres to which they can send children with special educational needs.

103,000 pupils at our schools have special educational needs.

55,000 pupils are identified with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) and 7,000 pupils have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.

Further information about SEND.

103,000 pupils have special educational needs