If you send your child to private school, do you think this will work?

How secure is your job? Would you have enough to cover fees for a few months if you get made redundant, or if you are too sick to work for a period of time. Do you plan on having any more children?

We have 2 children in state primary, our joint take home after tax is about 5k, mortgage is 1.2k, but likeky to go up end if the year when fixed period ends. We worked out we could afford fees for 1 but not both, which of course isn't fair. So unless 1 develops specific additional needs where we feel they would really struggle in state, we won't be sending either.

It all depends upon the school and their fees, as private schools vary hugely with regards to how much they charge.

Are you thinking through to y13? Our local Indy is 2100 per month this year in secondary, then lunch at £5/ day, laptop subscription, uniform etc etc.

25k plus extras for this year, that's your savings gone in less than four years.

It sounds feasible, whether it is worth it is another debate. Personally I don't think it is.

Depends how much the fees are?

Maybe think of it this way. You have a salary of £40k. With savings of £100k spread out over the next 13 years or so that gives you another £8k or so.
(Yes you'll get some interest on the savings and your salary will increase with inflation, but school fees will likely outpace both of those.)

£48K a year doesn't seem enough to support a private education to me (not without a huge impact on your standard of living).

Could you use your savings as a deposit to move to an area with really good state/grammar schools?

We had a lot less saved than you but only started private in Yr7 with the aim of 7-11 even though we know she could choose to stay up to Yr 13.
The problem is that fees are only going to rise each year + VAT.
You then need to factor in lunches, uniform, transport etc.
Personally at today's numbers you could do it but by the time your child is at secondary age it might be tight.
We have a similar mortgage to you in a 3 bed semi and we are managing but we definitely couldn't fund Yr 1-13.

FYI there are a lot more parents in the same position as you than the ultra wealthy ones.

Doable from secondary but not all the way through on those figures I don't think. There are also compulsory school trips, clubs, music lessons, other trips, uniform etc to pay.

48K would cover 2 years + several months of fees here

Just you or is there a second wage? On your own, no, you can’t do it. With a second wage, probably, but depends on how much that second wage is. You could easily downsize from a 4 bed detached with one child - long term that would reduce your essential outgoings - Council Tax, insurances, utilities. That would help.

Your income (you don’t say if it’s gross or net?) is low enough to get a partial bursary for fee assistance at both my DCs’ private schools (assuming there is no partner on the scene with a second income which I’m assuming is the case as you haven’t mentioned them). The amount of the bursary would depend on if you’ve quoted a gross or net figure.

I don’t think that prioritising school fees for primary (and definitely not age 4-7) is worth it on your income. Unless you are likely to have a big pay rise or come into an inheritance I would save your money for your retirement and pay down your mortgage.

Is your take home pay 4k after tax, pension, etc? So roughly a 70k salary?
How much are the fees for reception-yr 6?

Personally I would focus on sending them for secondary.

My advice would be to start at state, looking to transfer after year 5 or 6 depending on your financial circumstances at that time. Changing schools during the secondary years, especially after year 8/9 is more of an issue than when young.

Maybe wait until Y3 to go private, it will save you some money. Lots of people do that - we did. Public school is quite good for the first years IMO, before the academic starts being more important.
Money wise, at secondary level you can apply for bursaries with a household income up to 120k so you should be able to benefit from one.

Honestly OP, if your primary schools locally are OK and have wrap around club I'd send them state for primary and save the pennies for secondary at an independent. Personally I don't think it's worth it for primary, especially if you can afford some nice extra curricular clubs on top when they're younger.

Your mortgage is so small each month though (our rent on a flat in 2007 was the last time our housing costs were that low!) with a secure job and budgeting for the rest you should be able to afford it, if that's what you want.

To give you an idea, leafy SW London area, primary we pay 25k/year for everything (fees + clubs + lunches + uniform + trips etc.)
For secondary we budget 30-35k for fees + 10-15k for extras.

It depends how competitive the entry for secondaries is in OP’s area. Private primary from Y3 (or at least Y5) will teach children how to do the papers (time management techniques etc) but also interviews, help them prepare a portfolio etc. Who knows if it will make a difference but not something you can easily make up for, even with paid tutoring.

£100K savings stealth boast klaxon!

Actually that's a really good point. What are your goals / hopes with goung private @Amyia ? Is it all about academics, or smaller classes, rounded education, extra curriculars? Having a clear idea on what you are after may help make the decision for you.

We've gone independent as our secondaries are not great here, and wanted to still give our DC a well rounded, focused education. Exceptional academic results / prestige were not our no1 focus, so entry to our preferred schools were not all on exams (although the results are still better than our catchment school by a county mile)

But those aren't average prices, they are well above average over the whole of the UK

I find the idea of primary aged children “building a portfolio” and taking learning exam techniques extremely depressing. We actually left London to avoid all this nonsense after hearing about the stress of it from colleagues. Moved to a place with decent state schools never regretted it.