Do people expect ROI after paying private school fees?

I’ve never heard of a private school that doesn’t even do detentions. The pressure from parents paying £££££ a year for their kids to learn around other well behaved kids is usually the reason for the strict discipline.

Are private schools likeky to expel pupils (.except in extreme cases) due to loss of income?

I think there are a HECK of a lot of children with SEN who were socially isolated / bullied / not challenged enough etc at staff who were moved to private by their parents who just want a happy child. And people who don’t send their children to private don’t see this. Quite frankly the state system is appalling for so many children. The government needs to take action to control the bullying fgs. Remove the disruptive kids. Stop pouring all the effort into the not so bright kids and ignoring the bright. And up taxes on all of the population to allow the education budget to be doubled.

I don't think it is. I know lots of people who went to other private schools and none of them experienced many expulsions either.

Hard to answer either way - as I don't think private schools have to publish stats on this

Having worked in the charity / arts sector is is heaving with private school types as very few people in the working class community I grew up in knew what classical music / modern art etc was. And it’s handy to have a trust fund when you are working on low wages.

That’s highly unusual for private schools.

God no. I paid school fees to minimise the chances of my DCs being completely put off education. ROI didn’t come into it.

I don't think many parents expect it, there was a trend at our university of girls going to check a box - they were expected to move to London, marry a banker and become a SAHM after their degree, so never using any of their education. It was purely to kill time and as a status thing.

I knew a couple of millionaires who flat out owned private schools - it wasn't their main business, they used it to funnel money as a tax dodge. So ofc they sent their kids there too.

Most people I know who were privately educated don’t earn a great deal. This is because they had choices. They went into the arts, the charity sector, media, teaching etc.

My colleague had an awful bullying experience in private school. It happens anywhere. I'm glad your daughter has found somewhere she can be herself and happy, that's all that matters.

No - I don't care what my child does with her private school education so long as she's happy and fulfilled.

My parents definitely had an expectation of what they'd be buying by paying for my education - unfortunately my public sector career path has been a constant disappointment to them.

our children go to private school - orimary and secondary because we like the relative small classes, the good teaching, the sports / drama / music opportunities and yes like minded parents who value education.

they know the tap will be off if they dont have a project whether it is uni or something else, if they have a project we ll support them of course.

so no. Children are not an investment.

we support our kids becauee we love them wnd because we hope they ll find their spark and rhey have their own drive.

we stopped at 2 because we knew we couldnr support them the way we wanted to if we had more children. Our retirement plans have nothing to do with them earning. Their future earnings will be for them.

how selfish parents can be if they expect their children to give them an ROI is beyond us

Of course they do. Same as grammar schools, you send your child there in hopes they'll perform better than average that will lead to better options in life.

There are obviously some children who go to private as there aren't any decent state alternatives, but lots are from rich families who want their children to have a step up.

If I paid £120k rather than use an average state system, I'd be pissed too if they ended up being 'influencers'.

My kids go to private school and we sacrifice a lot for them to go. I want them to have options, support and a great experience. Would rather they didn’t go to university to be honest due to the debt they’ll be saddled with. A happy, well balanced young adult at the end of the process would be a win for me.

I did go to private school. In my 7 years at the school, no one was expelled or suspended. Actually there was no punishment system at all really, no detentions either

This is absolutely the difference! Private schools can expel, whereas here in Scotland it’s impossible to permanently remove a child. The child knows it, and do whatever they like.

100% this.

Our grandparents and parents made too many sacrifices to see us fritter away opportunities.

I wonder If this mindset is more common in people who had immigrant parents/grandparents. My mum never got a chance to study beyond a few years of primary because there was no secondary school in her village and only boys got to travel further for their education. My grandmothers are completely illiterate and were married by their mid teens.

All they ever wanted was for the daughters and grand daughters in particular, to have a chance at receiving an education.

Exactly the same experience here! Totally transformational after a hellish state school experience. My child is so much happier. They are more rounded as they are allowed to express interests in so many areas without getting beaten up for being a weirdo anymore. Private schools teach children to respect other people in the way that no other school experience has time / energy for. We are not private school parents - my child’s siblings all go to state school and we didn’t go to private schools ourselves - but my goodness it has taken a child who was pretty much refusing to go and who can blame them and made them happy and whole again. Incredible.

And yes disruption and bullying is 1% of that experienced in state school - in our extremely limited experience. And no we couldn’t give a fig about ‘Return on Investment’. What a vile, transactional way to think of people you love!

Absolutely not. I'd expect them to work hard and try everything to work out what their talents and passions are though.

I speak as someone who went to Oxford and is now a sahm and way way happier than I ever was using my degree, which I hated. No return on investment for me!

I'd be disappointed if they got trapped in a career they hated just because of the pressure. It's a bit sunken costs fallacy.

Having said that... I do hope my dc wants to be something more worthwhile than an influencer.

We’ve considered private for one of my dds for the sake of her happiness. Smaller classes, greater enrichment opportunities would help her where mainstream state school fails her (Sen). I absolutely do not imagine her going on to have a high flying career but if she’s happy that’s enough ROI for me

I chose to send my children to private school for smaller class sizes, good facilities and for a broader education than they would have received at our local state schools. We believed the schools we chose would give them the best chance of being happy and having a good experience of school.

In comparison to our own experiences of state school years ago and from others children more recently, our children have had a far better experience in every aspect. It's never been about ROI, just what we believed was the best for them, to allow them to be confident and happy.

If one of my child became an influencer then I'd be concerned just like lots of parents would be. I'd worry about them getting involved in such a shallow industry. I also wouldn't encourage my children to be doctors though as that's a tough career. Ultimately they'll choose their own way in life and I'm happy with the schools we chose to give them a good start.

No not at all! I don’t care what my children achieve - they aren’t commodities. I do however love the friends they make, the experiences they have and the happiness they have and the wrap around care / holiday cover we need .

It’s just a really nice experience and I think how lovely that is for them to be happy and content - worth paying for! Nothing to do
with academic success. They’ll be whoever they want to be when they’re older. In fact I think their experiences shows that you don’t have to conform into normal jobs, they could do ski seasons and just enjoy the simpler life .

@LucyLLL most people are middle class, middle earners and where I live uni educated. That is the average.
I don’t think young children should learn about abject poverty or lawlessness until an age where they can understand the root cause.
A private education will not stop a child from seeing homelessness, the drug addicted, alcohol abuse or domestic problems. But maybe it allows a gentler introduction to global unresolved issues.

Those saying “well you can get that in state” school are missing the nuance of the argument. The point is private school maximises your child’s chance of success. There’s nothing to say that they will succeed (whatever that means). Or that state school children won’t succeed. It’s just that they’re given maximum opportunity through smaller class sizes (both my children have classes of 13) and better resources.

I'm sorry I get very tired of the stereotype that all private schools / private school families are like this / have this expectation.

For us who moved our SEN kids to private schools - we are just bloody happy they are getting an education any education rather than school refusing / dropping out of school etc. Seriously just want them to be happy and healthy.

Lots of private schools are not hot housing their kids - they provide nurturing environments with small class sizes for kids who need this.