If someone offered to pay for private schooling, would you take up the offer?

Depends. Mine are Uni age and above now so not relevent but looking back on their school days, they went to a mix of Independents, state primaries and selective state secondaries. All were good schools but honestly, here where we are, the state schools were better. The Independent may have given them a head start though, in terms of small class sizes, and that possibly have helped them overall, though it is apparent they are all academically high achieving so may have happened anyway.
I’m not ideologically opposed to private schooling (and one was educated almost entirely abroad, so had no choice) but I’m also not opposed to paying higher taxes either, to ensure public services are fully funded for those who can’t afford it. We’ve been a highest rate rate tax paying household for years now and never really done much in the way of tax minimising.

Nah. I'm not sure they're good value for money, even if it's someone else's money. The kids I see at the local independents haven't achieved tonnes better than mine at the very average comp. And the school-based extra curriculars can't be all that, because they buy in the same out of school extra curriculars that I do. I'll take the cash equivalent .

*lesser experience that friends kids who were going to private secondary I meant! Sorry!

No because my kids are very happy at their state school. But if you'd asked me as either of them were about to start secondary I'd have jumped at the chance. Out of fear really that they were about to get a lesser experience than friends kids who were going to secondary, or fear that they'd fall in with a bad crowd and change. I'm very relieved that those fears turned out to be unfounded so far but I was genuinely worried before they started.

Depends on the private school. I'm vvv happy with state primary school. I wouldn't want my dc to go to the closest private school even if it totally free. There are others ill be happy for dc to go too if free.

No.

My mum offered when DD was struggling at primary school but I worried about her transitioning from private primary to state secondary so I declined.

In the end we did end up moving her to a private school at the start of Y9 but by then we had enough money to pay the fees ourselves.

No, fundamentally against my principles.

I wouldn't have swapped my children's state primary school if someone paid me to. It was everything I want in a school. DD is now in a state sixth form college which is, again, better than the available private options for the subjects she is studying, so no for that.

I would consider it for DS if it was a genuine case of a no strings offer. But I'm not sure if I would take it up. He is a clever, confident child with a strong friendship group in an excellent comprehensive school, so the benefits of a private school would not be huge, and it would be a case of genuinely weighing up the pros and cons of each school, and I'm not sure which would have the edge.

If I worked long hours and had to travel a lot, I would probably have a different answer. The opportunities for wraparound care and flexi-boarding at the independent schools nearby seem to be their biggest advantage over the state schools.

I would give it a go - but also note the extras are a lot.

The private school I sent my children to added extras without consulting me. If they're behind in English - they'll get extra tuition and you will be billed.

Absolutely everything else comes at a cost. That adds up in itself - they'll make you feel like you don't love your child enough if you don't pay for any extra.

If my daughter wanted to go, yes. She's very happy being home educated, but if that didn't suit her, a private school would be the next best thing.

Probably. Fortunately all 3 of my kids were very academic and all got top grades at state school

Yes 100%

Only secondary mind

Not round here, we don't have any mixed sex options and everyone I knew who went to our local girls school came out very weird, in various ways. But if there was a private school I liked then absolutely for secondary. Don't think it's worth the money for primary.

No. 1) I’m anti-private school and 2) I don’t believe in living outside of your means or being supported by other adults, especially for luxuries.

No. We can comfortably afford private school and choose not to.

Yes. Even though my kids go to a great state school, the connections and facilities in private school would mean they had far more experiences and opportunities, even if the education was equivalent or poorer.

Yes. And I used to work in public schools.

Yes

For those of you “ideologically opposed”, would you pay for private health care to save your child?

You do realise that for many parents paying up for private school these days is to “save their child”, it may not work out quite as intended, but that is exactly what has happened to a number of parents with children with SEN.

.

No, because I'm ideologically opposed. But I know I'm lucky to live in a country with a decent education system, and our local school is good - might find it harder to stick to my ideals if faced with terrible schools.

Yes because our local state schools are dire and both of mine would have massively benefitted from smaller class sizes.

No.

I'm ideologically opposed but even if I wasn't there is no need. Our state school gets better results than the private local one, the classes are small and I prefer my children to a get more rounded education. The SEN provision is far superior too.

No point really.

Maybe, depends on the schools and on my children. Having worked in both sectors, it is really school dependent rather than state/private, some private aren't as innovative and would be classed as coasting by Offsted, some are run in a very corporate way and breed entitlement into their pupils+parent attitudes are disgraceful. Some private schools are just incredible and I absolutely would have loved to send my children there for a more well rounded experience, as some offer much better sport and trips etc.

If I'm honest it depends on the cohorts of children who'd be in my children's classes too, as a smaller class with awful children can be worse than a larger one with more chances to play with others instead, equally a smaller class gives more breathing space to a shy child.
So it depends.
We chose to spend less on state, make up the difference with private tuition in sports etc. And spend money on a house in a better area so the state schools were outstanding.