Two London colleges publish a termly fee within a few hundred pounds of each other for 2026/27. One is £13,100 and the other is £12,325. The second one is the more expensive of the two, by about £5,000 a year.
The difference is VAT. One figure includes it and the other does not, and neither page is hiding anything: both say so clearly, just not in the same place as the number. That is the single most useful thing to understand before open day season, because it is the thing that makes most fee comparisons wrong.
Here is what six colleges actually charge for 2026/27, taken from each college's own published fee page, and put on the same footing so you can compare them.
VAT Is the First Thing to Check
Since 1 January 2025, education and boarding provided by private schools in the UK for a charge have been subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%, and fees paid from 29 July 2024 for terms starting in January 2025 or later were caught too. The government's VAT on private school fees publication sets out the rules.
What varies is how colleges present it. Some publish fees with VAT already included. Some publish fees without it and add 20% on the invoice. A few publish both side by side. A £12,325 termly fee quoted before VAT is £14,790 on the invoice, which is why a comparison made from headline figures alone can be out by thousands of pounds a year.
The question to ask at every open day is simple: is that figure including VAT?
Day Fees for 2026/27, Compared Like for Like
Every figure below is the college's own published 2026/27 fee. Where a college publishes its fee before VAT, the annual column adds 20% so that every row is on the same basis. That arithmetic is ours; the published figure is theirs.
| College | Location | Published 2026/27 fee | As published | Annual day fee including VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MPW London | South Kensington | £12,325 per term | Excluding VAT | £44,370 |
| Westminster Tutors | South Kensington | £13,100 per term, three A-levels | Including VAT where applicable | £39,300 |
| d'Overbroeck's | Oxford | £12,160 per term, sixth form | Including VAT | £36,480 |
| DLD College London | Westminster | £29,850 a year, two year A-level programme | Excluding VAT (£35,820 including) | £35,820 |
| MPW Cambridge | Cambridge | £9,703 per term, A-level | Excluding VAT | £34,931 |
| Rochester Independent College | Rochester, Kent | £10,550 per term, Years 12 and 13 | Including VAT | £31,650 |
Three patterns come out of that table.
London costs more, but not by as much as the headlines suggest. Once VAT is consistent, the spread between the dearest London college and the cheapest outside London in this sample is about £12,700 a year. The same group's Cambridge college charges roughly £9,400 a year less than its London one.
The pricing models differ. Westminster Tutors prices by the number of A-levels: £13,100 a term for three subjects, £9,200 for two and £5,100 for one. MPW quotes a basic full-time fee that depends on the number and level of courses taken. DLD publishes one annual figure for the programme. Know which model you are looking at before you compare.
Two years is the real commitment. A two year A-level course at the cheapest college in the table is £63,300 including VAT. At the dearest it is £88,740. And a published 2026/27 fee does not fix the price of the second year: DLD, for example, states that its 2027/28 fees are not yet set and will be published twelve months before that year begins.
What Boarding Adds
Three of the six publish boarding fees for sixth formers. Each figure below includes VAT.
| College | Tuition | Boarding | Annual total |
|---|---|---|---|
| d'Overbroeck's, Oxford | £36,480 | £29,715 (boarding house, £9,905 a term) | £66,195 |
| DLD College London | £35,820 | £29,652 (twin en suite room) | £65,472 |
| Rochester Independent College | £31,650 | £24,600 (full boarding) | £56,250 |
Boarding roughly doubles the bill and closes much of the gap between London and elsewhere. DLD's single en suite room is £37,548 a year including VAT rather than £29,652. d'Overbroeck's also publishes a weekly boarding option at £6,630 a term, and Rochester offers weekly boarding on request. If your child could manage weekly boarding, ask about it, because the saving is large.
For the wider question of whether boarding is worth it at all, see our guide to boarding versus day sixth form.
The Extras That Never Make the Headline
This is where two colleges with similar published fees stop being similar. Read the small print on every fee schedule, because the extras below are all taken from the same published pages.
| Charge | What the published schedules show |
|---|---|
| Registration fee | £195 at d'Overbroeck's; £250 plus VAT at DLD for UK students; £360 at Rochester |
| Acceptance fee | £1,055 at d'Overbroeck's |
| Deposit | £445 at d'Overbroeck's (UK students); £1,500 for day students at Rochester; £2,000 at DLD, refundable less expenses at the end of the course |
| Exam entries | Charged separately at Westminster Tutors (£385 per A-level), DLD and Rochester |
| Science practicals | £1,500 per subject per year at Westminster Tutors; not charged separately at Rochester |
| Lunch | Included at Rochester; a separate charge at d'Overbroeck's |
| Textbooks | Included at Rochester |
| Trips and materials | Geography field trip £1,000 and art or photography materials £600 at Westminster Tutors; trips extra at Rochester |
Rochester is the clearest example of a college pricing all-inclusive: lunches and textbooks are in the fee, and it states it charges no supplements for additional A-levels or for practical subjects. A college with a higher headline fee and fewer extras can end up cheaper over two years than one with a lower fee and a long list of add-ons.
A worked example makes the point. A student taking chemistry, biology and maths at Westminster Tutors pays £39,300 in tuition, plus £3,000 in practical fees for the two sciences, in each year. Add three A-level exam entries at £385 each and the second year comes to £43,455 before any trips.
Tutorial Colleges and School Sixth Forms Are Priced Differently
Most of the colleges above are independent sixth form or tutorial colleges, which typically teach in small groups and price accordingly. A sixth form at an independent school, like d'Overbroeck's, sits in the same broad fee band but comes with the wider school around it: its facilities, sport and activities, although individual extras such as instrumental lessons are still charged separately there.
Neither is automatically better value. A tutorial college is paying for teaching time and flexibility, including the option of one or two subjects or a one year course. A school sixth form is paying for a whole school around the A-levels. Decide which of those your child actually needs, then compare within that group. Our explainer on what an independent sixth form college is covers the difference in more depth.
Reducing the Bill
Many colleges offer scholarships, bursaries or both, and they are worth pursuing seriously, because a means tested bursary can take a meaningful share off the fee. Rochester, for one, publishes its scholarships and bursaries page alongside its fees. The deadlines often fall before most families have finished comparing fees. Our guide to sixth form scholarships and bursaries covers how they work and when to apply.
The other lever is the length of the course. Some families use an independent college for one targeted year rather than two, or for one or two subjects alongside another setting, which changes the arithmetic considerably. The per-subject pricing some colleges publish makes that easy to cost.
For payment schedules, fee payment plans and budgeting over two years, see our guide to sixth form fees and financial aid.
Questions to Ask About Fees at an Open Day
Many colleges hold open days in October and November, and they are the right moment to get the fee schedule in writing. Our list of private sixth form college open days has dates, and our guide on what to look for at a sixth form open day covers the visit itself. On fees specifically, ask these:
- Is the published fee including or excluding VAT?
- Is it priced per term, per year, or per subject, and how many A-levels does it assume?
- What are the registration fee, acceptance fee and deposit, and is the deposit refundable?
- Are exam entries, practical fees, lunches, textbooks and trips included?
- When will next year's fees be published, and how much have they risen in recent years?
- What scholarships and bursaries are available, and when is the deadline?
If the college has been affected by the pressures of the last eighteen months, it is also reasonable to ask about its financial position. Our piece on what the VAT year did to London schools explains why, and what to check.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a private sixth form college cost per year in 2026/27?
Among six colleges' published 2026/27 fees, day fees including VAT range from £31,650 a year at Rochester Independent College to £44,370 at MPW London. Boarding adds roughly £25,000 to £30,000 a year, taking annual totals to between about £56,000 and £66,000 at the colleges that publish boarding fees.
Do private sixth form colleges charge VAT?
Yes. Since 1 January 2025, education and boarding provided by private schools in the UK for a charge are subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%. Colleges differ in whether their published fees include it, so always check before comparing figures.
Are London sixth form colleges more expensive?
Generally yes, but the gap is smaller than headline figures suggest once VAT is made consistent. In this sample, London day fees including VAT run from £35,820 to £44,370 a year, and those outside London from £31,650 to £36,480. The same college group charges about £9,400 a year less in Cambridge than in London.
What extra costs should I expect on top of sixth form fees?
Registration fees, acceptance fees and deposits when you accept a place, then exam entry fees, which Westminster Tutors, DLD and Rochester all charge on top of tuition. Depending on the college, science practical fees, lunches, textbooks, trips and art materials may also be charged separately. Some colleges price all-inclusive and some itemise heavily, so compare the full schedule rather than the headline.
Do fees go up between Year 12 and Year 13?
Often, yes. A 2026/27 fee fixes the price of that year only. Colleges typically set the following year's fees in advance, and some say explicitly that they publish them a year ahead. Ask for recent increases in writing when you compare.
Is there any funding for private sixth form fees?
Not from the state for an independent college place, but many colleges offer scholarships, means tested bursaries or both. A bursary can cover a meaningful share of the fee, and deadlines tend to fall early in the application cycle.
The Short Version
Put every fee on the same VAT basis, multiply by two years, then add the extras from the full schedule. Only then compare. In this sample, that turns a list of termly figures that look nearly identical into a real spread of more than £25,000 over the course.
If you are starting from scratch, our parent's guide to choosing a sixth form college is the place to begin.
