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hello@afis.org.uk
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About AFIS™
A Collective Voice and a Collaborative Community Platform for supporters of independent schooling
AFIS™ is a unique, not-for-profit. membership organisation that unites, supports, and represents families who value independent schooling—parents, relatives, and alumni alike.
We offer families a trusted, collaborative, and professional space to share their views—amplifying their voices in a way that social media cannot—while challenging stereotypes and fostering a fairer, more balanced conversation about private education.
Our work delivers real benefits to members, gathers robust insights into families’ profiles and experiences to shape public and policy debate, and raises vital funds to support families and schools.
What AFIS™ Does
• Support families and schools by providing funding that helps make independent schooling more accessible.
• Invest in research to contribute to constructive, well-informed debate about private education and the families who choose it.
• Offer value to our members through information, exclusive perks and events, special offers, and opportunities to get involved.
AFIS™ Funding for Families & Schools
Making independent schooling more accessible for families
The AFIS™ School Costs Fund
We know that many families are finding it harder to manage school fees and associated costs—especially with the added burden of VAT. This creates extra stress at home and, all too often, forces parents to move their children to other schools. Such changes are unsettling for families and disruptive for children’s education.
That’s why the AFIS™ community is coming together to create a ringfenced fund to support member families who need a little help with school fee payments, uniform and other costs of schooling.
The AFIS™ Bursary Support Fund
Every child deserves the chance to thrive in the right school environment. Yet with financial pressures on schools increasing for many reasons, fewer families have access to means-tested support.
That’s why AFIS is creating a Bursary Support Fund. Through this fund, our Partner Schools will be able to apply for grants to help more families benefit from an independent education.
Together, we can open more doors for more children.
More details coming soon!
Robust Research to Challenge Misconceptions
The increasingly divisive debate about independent schools is detrimental to families, children and society. One of the most constructive things we can do is improve the quality and integrity of the data that informs it.
Our mission is to foster a more balanced and constructive debate about the families who access private schooling.
We achieve this by engaging our members in rigorous, independent research that generates evidence-based insights—closing data gaps, challenging stereotypes, reducing stigma, and fostering greater balance and fairness in public and policy discussion.
JOIN AFIS™ to take part and have your voice heard (email hello@afis.org.uk, while we are getting our online application process ready).
“We urgently need research that draws from a more representative pool of parents and families, including those who are not at the top end of the income distribution, who make real sacrifices to send their children to independent schools, and whose experiences are largely absent from current datasets.
This is where AFIS™, in my view, can play a meaningful role. By building a platform that connects with a broad base of independent school families, AFIS™ has the potential to support the development of a more representative and transparent research base. Done well, such research can not only challenge misconceptions, but also elevate the level of public understanding around who chooses independent education and why.”
Dr Steven Watson
Associate Professor, University of Cambridge
AFIS™ Consultant Research Adviser
Financial Benefits for Members and Schools
AFIS™ is funded by our partner schools and via advertising and commission revenue from our retail partners. When our members make purchases through the special offers in the AFIS™ ARCADE shopping platform, they generate a commission that is shared between our members, our partner schools and AFIS™. This platform helps families save on a wide range of goods and services, earn bonus rewards, and raise funds for their schools.
Turn everyday shopping into rewards for your family and donations for your school/s.
Here are just a few of the brands that will be featured in the AFIS SHOPPING ARCADE,
offering our members discounts and perks.
JOIN AFIS™ NOW -- It's FREE! (email hello@afis.org.uk, while we are getting our online application process ready).
The Need for AFIS™
AFIS™ was founded by a group of independent school parents who were concerned about two growing challenges: the rise of negative and misleading portrayals of private education and our families in the media, and the increasing financial pressures limiting opportunities for children to access independent schooling.
During the heated debate on VAT and school fees, we saw the urgent need for a platform where parents’ voices could be heard in a rational and credible way. We recognised the importance of more rigorous, representative research—but questioned who would lead it and how it could be funded and sustained. With no national community platform in place for families like ours, we chose to create one.
A Credible Voice for Independent Schooling Families
The divisive debate over VAT on school fees exposed the urgent need for a professional, national platform to unite and advocate for families who choose independent schooling. Without a constructive forum, thousands of people turned to social media to voice their concerns—highlighting the importance of an organisation that can bring people together, commission robust research, and present a clear, evidence-based, united message.
AFIS™ exists to champion the rights and choices of independent school families through fuelling informed, balanced debate.
Challenging Crude Wealth Assumptions
We know that the blanket assumption that all private school families are wealthy and privileged is inaccurate and ill-informed. In reality, most families who choose independent education are not super-rich; they do so for a wide range of personal, practical, and educational reasons — with the specific needs of their children at heart, and make significant financial sacrifices. Many also rely on financial support from relatives and benefit from schools’ fee assistance and bursary programmes to make this choice possible.
Although public debate often focuses on the largest and most high-profile private schools, the reality is that most are small—71% educate fewer than 300 pupils. These schools make a vital contribution to the education system, providing tailored learning environments that meet the specific needs of their pupils and reflect the values and priorities of the families they serve.
Strength in Our Numbers
- • There are more than 550,000 pupils currently at private schools in the U.K. from about 350,000 families
- • About 9% of adults in the UK have been privately educated
- • There are more than 2,500 independent schools in the U.K.
Optimising the Benefits of our Members' Collective Spending Power
We represent a large and valuable audience for retail brands, many of whom are very keen to collaborate with AFIS™ to offer their products and services to our members. By shopping through the AFIS™ ARCADE on our website, members generate financial benefits for all AFIS™ stakeholders—without paying higher prices or missing out on special offers.
Commission revenue is shared with our partner schools and member families—truly an easy win-win for all. In addition, a portion of revenue supports our research programme, strengthening the quality of information and data on independent school families and helping to safeguard the future of independent education within the UK’s vibrant mix of schools.
JOIN AFIS NOW (email hello@afis.org.uk, while we are getting our online application process ready).
Membership is FREE
Why AFIS™ is needed NOW
The Independent Education Landscape is Changing
- • The public debate around private schools has become increasingly divisive and polarised.
- • Families who choose independent education face growing stigmatisation, driven by stereotypes and outdated, crude assumptions about wealth and privilege.
- • Rising costs mean fewer families are able to access private education.
- • Financial pressures are forcing many schools to reduce the level of means-tested fee assistance they can offer.
- • An increasing number of independent schools are closing due to mounting financial challenges — including the impact of VAT on school fees.
This has created a clear need for stronger research and new ways to support both families and schools.
When we spoke with other parents at independent schools, many said they wished an organisation like AFIS™ had existed years ago. “If only we had something like this to advocate for us before the recent VAT issue”. Better late than never—the need remains urgent and AFIS is here now and will help the sector prepare for future challenges.
Why an Association for Families
In striving to find a solution to the challenges facing families and schools, two key questions arose:
- 1. How can we reach the hundreds of thousands of supporters of independent education, so they contribute to our vital research?
- 2. How can the necessary work be funded?
The answer is AFIS™—the Association for Families of Independent Schooling.
Through our partner schools and member families, we are building a collaborative, solutions-driven community—one that will make a big, positive difference.
AFIS™ is not aligned to a political party, nor do we fund any party or think-tank. While we would like to see VAT removed from school fees, we are not a campaign or lobby group, or a single-issue organisation.
JOIN AFIS NOW (email hello@afis.org.uk, while we are getting our online application process ready).
Membership is FREE