On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 17:40:54 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

There are also a wide range of fees in the private sector

Maybe not as wide ranging as they should be:

http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article326055.ece

quote:

"The OFT said "regular and systematic exchange of confidential
information" between the 50 had led to parents being charged higher
fees than they would have otherwise been. In the three years covered
by the charges - 2001 and 2004 - school fee rises were often as much
as three times the level of inflation."

"The OFT has ruled that regular contact between the 50 - conducted
through Sevenoaks School, which collated information about fee rises
that was then passed on to the others - was contrary to the
Competition Act of 1998.

The information was regularly updated and recirculated to the schools
involved between four and six times each year as they went through
their annual budget-setting processes.

The OFT said the ruling "only relates to this particular agreement". A
spokesman added: "There could be more investigation into other
agreements""

cheers,
Pete.