Institutions such as Eton and Wellington College, Bedales School in Hampshire and Malvern St James Girls' School are taking in foreign students at a higher rate than ever before, according to a Sunday Telegraph survey.

 

News of the changing demographics comes just days after Eton headmaster Tony Little warned middle-class families were being 'squeezed' out of the country's elite³ institutions because they could no longer afford the fees.

 

He said schools were in danger of being 'polarised', with only the very rich able to pay and only the very poor able to obtain bursaries.

 

The survey revealed Eton and Wellington Colleges attracted 15 per cent of their pupils from abroad - almost double that of two decades ago.

 

And foreign students at Bedales School have grown from 2.6 per cent to 3.6 percent of the total enrolment, while British students among new entrants at Malvern are among a 46 per cent minority.

 

Ten days ago Mr Little warned that average boarding school fees had risen faster than inflation and disposable income, increasing by four times more than the average increase for other goods and services between 1990 and 2013, according to one measurement.

 

He said: 'Many of us are conscious that there is a risk that boarding becomes polarised, in the sense of being accessible to the very rich on full fees and the very poor on bursaries, with the middle squeezed out.

 

'It is important and a wonderful thing, to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds by helping⁴ them gain access to our schools.'

 

The survey results come just as new figures from the Independent Schools' Commission (ISC) reveal Chinese students are by far the biggest nationality from outside the UK studying in British schools.

 

Sarah Hamlyn, author of The Good Schools Guide, told the paper that overseas parents often remained able to afford costly⁵ British boarding schools.

 

'If you have the money but you don't like the rigidity⁶ of the education system and the politics in your home country are not congenial, you opt⁷ for independent schools in the UK that encourage creative thinking.'

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