Do people expect ROI after paying private school fees?

One of the reasons I have an issue with private school is the expectations it puts on children. Particularly in families who struggle to pay the fees. Children often see far more of what's going on in their family than we think they do.

Children are not an investment opportunity.

Many people educated at private school go on to quite low-paying careers eg acting (where the vast majority make very little, and only the lucky few get highly paid roles) or careers where you need to spend years earning virtually nothing bedore you finally get a role that pays eg Journalism, music.

If you come from a family with serious monet you can afford to take a job that pays peanuts to do something you genuinely love doing.

The idea of ROI for education is ridiculous. Parentimg doesn't get a score sheet where the total sum earned by an adult offspring less the cost you spent to get them there is some kind pf objective measure of value.

School fees are just one aspect of what gets spent on a child - holidays, tech equipment, extracurriculars, cultural and leisure pursuits and housing are all costs that families will spend on whether or not they are paying school fees. Each family takes a priorities decision on what to spend their money on. In a lot of cases option A will cost ££££ more than B but will be a more enjoyable and positive experience and if the family has ££££ available they have the power to choose that regardless of whether it might or might not lead to getting ££££ back later.

They would be silly if they did. It's an unnecessary waste of money in some areas - our local state school gets better results and has smaller classes than the 2 closest private.

None of those in my social circle who were privately educated have done anything that they may not otherwise have done....several are stay at home mums, couple of teachers, couple of nurses, a midwife. However some of their grown up children who also went private seemed to have struggled more and had problems with addiction in comparison with our local comp kids.

Same - I'm happy to drive an older car, have UK holidays and buy cheaper clothes for my kids not to be bullied and for them to have the aspirations to have a professional career IF they choose to do so. I don't think of it as any kind of financial investment. I live fairly close to an Ofsted outstanding state school, a couple of weeks ago a kid was stabbed in the corridor during the school day and the exam results are terrible but its still considered 'outstanding'.

It's the journey, not the destination.

I hope my orivately educated kids have been given whatever opportunity to explore anything they want to and the confidence to do so.

If they end up bumming around - thats on them .

My money qas being spent on giving them opportunities and shaping their character. I won't regret this even if they don't make the most of their opportunities

I don't care about my child becoming a "high-flier". To be honest, I'd prefer it if they did something worthwhile rather than chasing the money. But the most important thing is that I'd want them to be happy.

A career (if you can call it that) as an "influencer" is neither worthwhile, nor a recipe for happiness. Take up a musical instrument or train as a landscape gardener.

Truly, honestly no. When I first decided to send one of my kids to private school, about 15 years ago, I made a very conscious decision that this was a choice I was making and I would not ever hold it against them- he wasn’t choosing for me to spend thousands of pounds on his education! And I’ve also made a conscious decision to support my kids in the ambitions they have - not what I’d quite like them to do. So DC1 is at uni doing a course many would think was likely to be a “poor ROI” - but he’s taking a crack at something he’s passionate about, and excellent at. Plenty of time later to be sensible and boring if he has to. DC2 also following a slightly optimistic path, but following his dreams. I’m sure people who know me mutter about the waste of school fees and how much better their kids have done in state school - but both lads have terrible dyslexia, and I know that without the schools they’ve had, they would not have got the reasonably good grades they have got!

DC3 is exceptionally intelligent, but also autistic, so the private education for her is really me just trying to buy SEND support again rather than battle for an EHCP. DC4 is a winning combo of very bright and very well adjusted, your textbook “will do well anywhere”. But having sent the first 3, I would worry by not sending him, it would sow bad feelings between the siblings. If I avoid that, the money will be money well spent. That’s enough of a ROI for me.

I have the money to send DS to private school but I know too many privately educated relatives and friends I was at state 6 form with that have massively underachieved that I wouldn’t dream of sending him to private school. The multi millionaires I know are state school educated. Some of them didn’t even do that well at school. They did all grow up with supportive parents in benign environments, which I reckon makes it much easier to experiment and potentially succeed.

DSis has sent her kids to private school.
Ive decided to give DS a state school education and have invested the equivalent fees in a JISA. Who knows what will happen but I think he’ll do OK.

I wouldn't send my child to private as a financial investment. A lot the children come from generational wealth and don't have to work - this attitude can rub off on the children. I think grammar schools tend to promote more traditional careers.

Yes I do if I'm honest. Not in the sense I'm going to add up all the fees and look at it as 10 Yr capital investment I want to see the money coming back on in the context of my kids income.

I do want to see them in careers they are happy and fulfilled in, and which give them choices in life through the financial income it generates. I also want them to realise that they can ff right off with any view they can coast through life in expectation of inherited wealth. DH is still living in a bit of a bubble whereas I'm fully expecting to sell the house and cash in any assets to fund our retirement and care homes. Not hand out hefty lump sums for 1st time buyers.

Private school might have given them the confidence and the networks to be a social influencer whereas state parents/,kids nowadays are thinking about careers due to frightening cost of living, student loans etc

I think different parents have different motivations. Some want it to give thier child future options and opportunities they might not have had otherwise.

Some just want thier child to have a nice time now and think it will be nicer than the alternative today and that's the return.

Extracurricular activities and academic excellence.

Yes I did and bullying was absolutely rife as were lots of other things. I don’t think expulsion was a major source of punishment at my school, in fact I don’t recall anyone being expelled.

Never going to be able to afford private school for my kids.

On one hand I would expect more, to reach their full potential. Set them up for a decent life. It makes me wonder if all that money would be better for a house deposit?

But I’m torn, I would rather they were happy and on minimum wage than 100k and antidepressants. But having finical security can make a world of difference.

Isn't there an assumption here that private schools will "make" your child intelligent and therefore successful?
Plenty of intellectually mediocre kids going through the private system who are not going to be cut out for university degrees at all, let alone red-bricks.
Could name you a few children of celebrities, for a start.

No I didn't.

I wanted them to have a good education within a nurtured environment

Children aren't possessions. Mine were state dd1 and private dd2 for 6th form and all the success is hers and hers alone.

Exactly. What were the other two out of interest?

Well, mine didn't. It was a very good private school too, sometimes top 10 in the league tables.

Behaviour was generally pretty good anyway so it wasn't really needed, I guess. Also detention would have been very very unpopular with parents who mostly drove to pick up their children, well into secondary school. I can't imagine it would have gone down very well if you had been told to wait around for an hour because your child was in detention.

Abother one here. I want DS to enjoy learning in a peaceful environment. Afterwards he can do what he wants to do. I hope we have given him enough common sense so that he won't be an influencer though..

Thank you, I was about to ask!

No, no ROI expected. I’m just paying for an easier and nicer life for them in real time (and me: school is open 11 hours a day; all extracurriculars are on site and then dropped home by school coach) . Zero expectations above what a state school could provide when l’m looking to the future.

Our private school recently did a survey of parents asking them what they valued about the private school experience. Good discipline was in the top 3.

Personally I think yes it just makes sense that private schools wouldn't be trigger happy to expell pupils because it would not only lead to loss of income - you can't instantly replace a pupil even if you are an oversubscribed school - but also it would be odd putting to potential parents. Who wants to send their children to a school that would expel them if they were at all difficult?