The Association of Parents and Friends of ACT Schools, the peak body representing parents of students attending non-government schools, said most ACT schools were raising fees by about 5 per cent this year.

The association says parents are bearing the financial brunt of funding uncertainty resulting from the protracted Gonski funding model debate.

''Parents need certainty to forward-plan their own budgets and commitments,'' association president Charuni Weerasooriya said.

''Political developments cast further ambiguity for schools and the parents of over 43 per cent of the schooling population in the ACT. We fear that [ongoing] uncertainty will drive up school fees as they have done for 2014.''

While the government has now committed to four years of funding as per the previously agreed system, schools say ambiguity remains.

''There are still questions being asked as to the exact amount of funding that will be received from government sources,'' said Brindabella Christian College principal Elizabeth Hutton.

''Uncertainty about what exactly we'll receive is a diabolical mix for independent schools which are trying to make sure our fees are affordable for our families,'' she said.

''Parents are all feeling the pressure - I know we have a number of parents who have just gone, 'It's too hard, financially.'''

The college has increased its fees by about 4.5 per cent for 2014, but took some time to release its fee schedule.

''There were different points where it seemed we knew what was going to happen, because we'd be told one thing, then there'd be something else that would come forward, and you've seen that … prior to the election [and] after the election,'' Mrs Hutton said.

''So we chose as a school to wait until the last possible moment to try and be as certain as to what we thought would happen [in 2015], but in the end we actually had to make a call of where we'd go to.''

She said the school made an ''educated guess'' about government funding for 2014, but had to be conservative to ensure there was no budget shortfall.

''[Uncertainty] has created enormous pressure for the board, for our financial controllers and for our parents to know exactly what is in front of us, but hopefully [this year] things will sort through a little more, because there has been a long period of uncertainty.''

Andrew Wrigley, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools of the ACT, said there were many cost pressures faced by independent schools, with the 3 per cent indexation built into government funding increases not necessarily meeting the cost increases in real dollar terms.

''[Independent] schools have to take on their responsibility for servicing their debt for capital infrastructure - school buildings and so forth.

''They have to be able to provide for staff salary increases, and a substantial cost is computer systems and software that always requires increased investment,'' Mr Wrigley said.