Number 34th

8th January, 2019

It is not often one is proud to come 34th in a list. However, in a recent breakdown of tuition fees for 34 independent schools in Scotland by the The Evening News, we are happy with our position. Further still, when comparing the tuition fees for the last four years of education at Edinburgh Steiner School to the next lowest Edinburgh school on the list, their fees are 126% of ours (2018/19).

Steiner schools have always been rooted in ideals of social inclusion. With no public funding, we endeavour to set our fees so as to be financially viable. It has long been an ambition of the School that access to a Steiner education should not depend solely on the ability to pay. This ethos is supported by our Bursary and Hardship Funds.

Each year the Trustees distribute a percentage of the previous financial year’s net fee income for the forthcoming session. This is in the form of 5% for Bursaries, open to both new and current pupils; and 1% to support the Family Support Fund, providing financial support to families who have been in the school for a year or more.

We are a small but socially conscious school. Expenditure per secondary school pupil by the State in Edinburgh  – educating 4 in 5 secondary pupils – is £6,252 (£6,806 across Scotland), compared to Edinburgh Steiner School fees for a child aged 14- to 18-years old at £8,336 in 2018/19, educating 3% of the independent sector in Edinburgh.

From Kindergarten to the final year (Class 12) subject matter is linked to a child’s developmental stage, which both inspires and motivates the pupils. Teachers teach to the whole child – and each lesson is revealed in a three-fold manner: through the intellectual capacities (thinking), artistic and emotional capacities (feeling), and practical skill-building capacities (willing). All subjects are linked, and each lesson integrates academic work with fine arts and practical arts, so that a child is not only intellectually engaged, but emotionally and aesthetically invested in their learning.

This holistic approach to education, something which Curriculum for Excellence is striving to achieve, made Steiner an educational flagship in Scotland.