To think if you can no longer afford school fees...

I'm aware but if their needs impact them significantly they will have.

It’s a bit of both.

It’s an apples to orange comparison because private schools take different GCSE exams than do state schools. Private schools do the IGCSEs. Which are known to be easier.

And of course, every child with SEN, or SEMH, has an EHCP.....
The threshold is high to get an EHCP, there will be many you have additional needs, and struggle in a classroom of 35, but dont have an EHCP. Like my daughter, who is thriving in a class of 18 children in a state school primary. But the 2 weeks they merged classes to 35 due to staff sickness, she had multiple breakdowns, emotional outbursts and was off school as she just couldn't cope.

So yes, unashamedly, we will be paying for private secondary, through whatever means we have too. We both work for the NHS in middle level clinical roles, so no means 'rich' or 'posh'. And one of us, again with no shame, will probably move to private practice to pay for it. Our child, our responsibility.

And yes, the world is not equal. Or fair.
Some children are born unable to see or hear or walk. Some pass away young, like the one I watched pass away today after 5 years of fighting a horrific illness.

This wish to bring down those who are perceived to have 'privilege' is horrible. We shouldn't wish to lift ourselves up by pushing others down.

Spiteful attitude.

But you don't buy results. You (potentially) buy that child being able to reach their relative potential, whatever that might be

Lots of people buy a good education. A minority do it by paying for private school fees. More do it by buying a house near a good state school.

I'm not one to judge. People understandably want to try to get the best school for their child's needs, and that isn't always about academic results. Pastoral care, catering for SEN, or other needs depending on the individual child. I just don't get why private school parents are judged by some people but the group who pay through house buying aren't. (Like I say, I personally don't want to judge anyone and would prefer looking at the wider picture regarding addressing inequality).

I'm like a broken record so I'll shut up and go away after this post, but the better way to address school (and general) inequality is with more social housing. Spread evenly in every area across the country.

Why on earth can people just be civil to each other, accept that people make different life choices (be that a bigger house, nicer car, once in a lifetime holiday, private school etc)?

I fully accept the above. I don’t accept that private school should be availvld tax free. Taxes are charged on everything else you list- VAT, stamp duty, council tax, etc. Why should a luxury like private education be tax exempt?

For those who are spending their money on a foreign holiday this year, I’m sure there’d be plenty of complaints if you were suddenly hit with a 20% tax penalty..
? Holidays are already taxed. There is VAT on package holidays. Have you looked at the break out of the cost of tickets for flights? Almost half the cost is taxes of one sort or another. Then, where you go usually has additional tourist taxes per night charged by your hotel.

There will always be people better off than you. There’s little to be achieved in feeling bitter about the fact that some fly around in private jets from mansion to mansion for example.

Yes, so those who can’t afford the fees with VAT, should stop feeling bitter about no longer having access to better education than 93% of families.

@MyBoiledEggIsTooSoft

Who has been gleeful?

Seen this more than I've seen gleeful posts

The majority of the country doesn't have grammar schools, I would say many ingrain inequality as much as or even more than private schools do.

@MojoJojo71 I cannot even imagine what you must be going through with your husband’s illness and potentially having to uproot your children.

The fact that some posters are gleeful over other parents’ misery is awful. 🌺

@dunkdemunder

"Guess they shouldn't have bought according to your reasoning."

There were plenty here during that time who said this.

The largest proportion of private school fees pay teachers and staff wages who in turn pay tax and NI.

Most of the women who are working full time to pay school fees will significant cut their hours and will still have plenty of disposable income if they decide to move to state.

Now DS has finished school I have cut my hours from full time to one day a week. Even if I didn’t work we would still have the same disposable income. Net result, I am no longer paying the huge tax and NI bill each year. So net loss to the government purse.
In addition, with just one income DS is eligible for a full maintenance grant at uni.
It’s called clever financial planning. It’s likely we will pay off DS’s student debt when he finishes but we might as well make the interest on it over the next 3-4yrs.

That's not true. Our comp gets better results and has smaller class sizes than the nearest private school.

You mean like people who took out a mortgage who can't afford the payments since interest rates went up 4% huh. Guess they shouldn't have bought according to your reasoning.

No it isn’t, but it’s still 20% I wasn’t banking on. I had to make adjustments to my finances to pay it. End of.

I'm like a broken record but there are excellent state schools out there that provide wonderful environments for children with SEN to thrive. Dc school has really small class sizes for example.

It's not either or. People really need to get out there and see what is actually on offer in some areas instead of blindly believing the false narrative that private good/state bad.

As I've said on other threads, I could afford private if I had to. I don't need to as our state school is better than our local private one. We aren't the only ones either. People should cast their net wider.

They could also consider using some of their wealth to seek legal representation to appeal the refusal of an EHCP. My dc are academically very able and we had no difficulty obtaining them.