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Cost of Private Schools?

(25 Posts)
sozzledchops Wed 01-Feb-12 10:52:35

Husband is keen to send our children private for secondary education. Just curious as to how much you reckon you pay a year with everything included. thanks.

azazello Wed 01-Feb-12 10:59:03

It depends on the type of school/ boarding or not etc.

As a general guide, girls day schools seem to be cheaper than boys. Fees for our local girls private secondary are £10k per year (£3,300 per term) plus extra for music lessons etc. After school care is charged per session at £5 for 2 hours.

Boys day is around £13k per year so just over £4k per term.

Boarding is at least double that.

happygardening Wed 01-Feb-12 10:59:36

Boarding: £33000 + a year.

mummytime Wed 01-Feb-12 11:03:38

Here the fees are about £15000 per year, and increase about 5% a year. Then there are Uniforms (3 sides of A4 rather than one side for the comp). Then trips, extra tuition (music etc.), lunches etc. The close minor public school is £30000 fees as a day pupil.

Ladymuck Wed 01-Feb-12 11:05:17

Co-ed day school Surrey

Fees with lunches £15,500 per year
Music lessons £720 per year per instrument, £50 or so per music exam
Day trips £150 per year would cover it.
Uniform - ours isn't ridiculously expensive, but there is an awful lot of it, especially for sport. I tend to use the 2nd hand uniform sale a lot for sports stuff as by the time he's rolled around in the mud a few times you can't tell the difference! But I guess £400 for an initial full kit, and £150 for replacement per year on average.
Optional trip - there's usually an optional residential of some description of between £500-900.
Transport - strictly may apply anywhere. Private schools often have private coach networks which again come at a cost.

Our schools takes the fees via 10 direct debits of £1,550 monthly (you get the summer off!), then other items billed termly or as needed.

I think that there can also be a cost associated with peer pressure, though this is optional, and certainly not confined to private schools!

sozzledchops Wed 01-Feb-12 11:07:08

for boys and would be day not boarding. Thanks for replying.

Colleger Wed 01-Feb-12 11:26:50

Fees will be cheaper if you pick a school without boarding as this increases the day fee. Sometimes the cheapest schools are the most selective because they are always oversubscribed and have large endowments.

wordfactory Wed 01-Feb-12 11:45:01

Day schools are around the £5k per term mark.
Factor in bus fares, lunches, trips too. Say £6k ish per term.
Unifrom kit is a heavy initial investment, but gets used to death and there is susually a brisk trade in pass-ons.
But check the particular schools you are looking at.

wordfactory Wed 01-Feb-12 11:46:01

Oh and factor in an increase in sixth form. Again it will be on the website.

obladi Wed 01-Feb-12 12:07:24

indie girls school with day and boarding. Day starts at 5k a term and goes up to 6.5k a term in year 9. Fees are almost always on the school website. Mine have sports scholarships which take 15% off the fees. If you need any more off you need to get a bursary.

happygardening Wed 01-Feb-12 12:23:45

close minor public school is £30000 fees as a day pupil where?
The well known schools like Harrow and Eton are only a little bit more expensive!

willali Wed 01-Feb-12 12:26:57

boarding / day co-ed in Surrey- nearly £8k per term basic plus trips ( have paid nearly £1000 so far this year, but this is optional) plus uniform (£500 to start, then additions as required from school shop). This is on the high side and my observation would be that the day schools with highest academic standards round these parts tend to be cheaper

suburbandream Wed 01-Feb-12 12:29:52

My DCs go to a mixed school in Kent which also has a small number of boarders. Senior school fees are around £3.5K per term.

ragged Wed 01-Feb-12 12:36:44

Budget option, £6k including transport & uniform. Not including exam fees, fund-raising or trips (not many really).

hwjm1945 Thu 02-Feb-12 14:47:31

please tell me where the budget option is!!!!!!!!!!

phoebeophelia Thu 02-Feb-12 16:21:22

I budget £33,000 per annum boarding at Rugby.

MollieO Thu 02-Feb-12 16:22:39

£33,000pa? <<faints>>

EdithWeston Thu 02-Feb-12 16:29:58

I had a google. London day schools seem to be mainly around +/- £5k per term.

But you need to check what is included - lunches? Trips? Stationary? Exam fees? Also, what clubs attract charges? How elaborate is the uniform, and what parts can be had only from an official supplier? Will you need to use school transport to get there - that can add another £500 per term.

takeonboard Thu 02-Feb-12 16:41:57

London day school boys approx £15K pa icludes lunches but everything else is extra

LIZS Thu 02-Feb-12 16:44:50

One of the optional trips at ds' is £1750 !

sue52 Thu 02-Feb-12 16:45:02

Boarder £31000 (6th form). Also in Kent. Where abouts is your children's school suburbandream?

sue52 Thu 02-Feb-12 16:56:44

You can usually negotiate a bit of a discount if you pay a couple of years up front.

Breitling Thu 02-Feb-12 20:14:43

12k per year for day students
Allow at least 600-800 per term for extras and school mini bus travel etc.
south east

sozzledchops Thu 02-Feb-12 20:23:17

We're near the Wiltshire/ Gloucester area. Any schools to look at?

Boys London Day School - about £18,000 + trips
Girls Surrey Day School - about £15,500 + trips

The cost includes book room charges, lunches, school buses (not for the boy), etc., but not for uniform which as a percentage of the overall cost is minimally minimal.

Sorry can't advise on schools beyond SW London and Surrey except the big name public schools which DS refused to consider transferring to for 6th form because he was so happy where he was. Of those we loved Eton and Winchester but ds thought the concept of boarding was on a par with child abuse - dh and I regarded it as a potentiallly amazing privilege.

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