British schoolchildren are being "priced out" of top boarding schools and are being replaced with international pupils.
Institutions across the country that once educated almost exclusively British children are now welcoming increasing numbers of foreign nationals into their classrooms.
Enticed by Etonian-style buildings, recent student figures show the number of overseas pupils has almost doubled over the past 20 years.
Youngsters from mainland China make up the largest cohort group from the 2025 data, figures from the Independent Schools Council (ISC) indicate.
Last year, mainland China had 10,959 pupils in Britain's boarding schools, with more than 7,000 from Hong Kong. The Telegraph analysis also found this figure has doubled since 2014, when the figure was 4,753.
Sir Peter Lampl, who founded the Sutton Trust in 1997, lauded British boarding schools for being an "extraordinary national resource" which had overseen the education of "many of this country's greatest achievers".
Over the years, Eton College has welcomed 20 British Prime Ministers, including Boris Johnson and David Cameron, as well as members of the Royal Family, including King Charles and Prince William.
The institution is also responsible for the education of George Orwell and James Bond author Ian Fleming, as well as actors Hugh Laurie, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston.
"Yet the situation now, of course, is that these schools are increasingly not British at all, but international," Sir Peter told The Telegraph.
Noting a "major shift" over the years, he added: "There are several reasons for this change, but the rising cost of a place at boarding school is without question the principal factor."
He attributed part of the shift to Labour's decision to slap VAT on schools fees, as part of its manifesto for the 2024 General Election.
Due to hiked costs, parents are less inclined to fork out thousands for their children to go to private boarding schools and are forced to shift the burden to state-funded schools instead.
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Sir Peter called the extra tax a "mean-spirited policy" which gives "our foreign competitors" an extra edge.
Back in 2005, just over a fifth of boarding students were from abroad. In 2025, this figure rose to almost 40 per cent.
The data also shows that the overall number of students dropped by two per cent to around 11,000 students, in 2025 since Labour's rise to power in 2024.
In 2025, boarding figures plummeted by 2,600 places, which comes to around four per cent, on the year before.
With day students thrown into the mix, the number of non-British students have soared by 70 per cent since 2014. Just over a decade ago, foreign students made up seven per cent of Britain's boarding schools.
At Eton, around 10 per cent of students are from abroad, while the Harrow student population is made up of 28 per cent of foreigners.
Earlier this year, research exposed how nearly two-thirds of wealthy parents had to make substantial adjustments to their children's education arrangements.
Wealth manager Saltus surveyed 1,167 parents with children in independent schools as part of its latest Wealth Index Report, which examined 2,000 high-net-worth individuals across the country.
The findings show that 65 per cent of these families have been driven to take significant action as a direct consequence of the tax policy.
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