To pay for private school instead of moving?

129 replies

Gijjjj · 23/01/2025 01:20

This is a very non urgent conundrum as we have one toddler and one baby on the way.
We live in a reasonably trendy suburb with £140k mortgage left, but expect our household earnings in 2 years time to be around £120k per annum. They are lower at the moment due to part time working / training.
We thought we were ok with kids going to local comp which seemed nice enough but realised the pass rate for getting a 5 in GCSE English and maths is 50%.
Although both state educated we attended schools with over a 95% pass rate, and we felt a bit concerned that we maybe weren't going to be giving our kids the same opportunities we had been afforded.
We looked at a grammar school area but obviously competition is fierce and the comps in the area are then generally worse than the one we are in catchment for now. So could spend a fortune on moving only to not get into grammar.
We thought we could buy a house next to an outstanding state school (with over 90% stats on the same metrics) but we would have to borrow an additional £300k just to have a similar standard of house to what we have now, and that is less convenient in terms of commute and amenities.
We probably would extend the house we are in, but even though £15k per year per child seems galling, would we be best off just paying for private school and enjoying the area we live in otherwise?
Or should we move to an area with better schools?

YANBU - stay put and pay private
YANBU - invest in property rather than fees and move

OP posts:

Meadowfinch · 23/01/2025 01:44

You are nearly a decade away from Senior school age, and schools can change beyond recognition in that time. Areas can go up or plummet in terms of parental aspiration. Equally, the private school market will change. Moving now is pointless.

I'd try to save £15k per year now. Put it in an ISA and build up a decent float. Good state primary schools are much easier to find than good state secondaries, so start them off in state and see how they get on.

You could move them across at 8 or at 11 if necessary, depending on how you think they are progressing and what state provision is like at the time.

Labour may be out of power by then and VAT on fees cancelled. So many things can change.

My DS went to state primary, but was miserable by year 5. I wish I could have moved him to private three years earlier than I did. But shifting across at 11 worked and he now has 10 good GCSEs, is happy and is doing maths, physics and design tech A'levels, aiming for an engineering degree.

Keep your options open.

Original poster

Gijjjj · 23/01/2025 01:41

OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 23/01/2025 01:28

£15.000 per year per child
for Primary
or for Secondary
or both Primary and Secondary ?

From what 2 years time ? depending on age of ' toddler '
for 12 years ?

it won't be £15,000 a year in 2 years time ?
it won't be £15,000 a year for all these years
Does the price not increase as the child progresses through Primary School
Does the price not increase at Secondary School level
Then of course you have University to consider...

Sorry I wasn't clear this is for secondary hence why it's a non urgent issue!

No intention of using private primary.

OP posts:

RogueFemale · 23/01/2025 01:30

How about paying for extra tuition and stay at the sub-par state school?

Either that or pay for private school. The state school options with moving house don't sound reliable.

OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 23/01/2025 01:28

£15.000 per year per child
for Primary
or for Secondary
or both Primary and Secondary ?

From what 2 years time ? depending on age of ' toddler '
for 12 years ?

it won't be £15,000 a year in 2 years time ?
it won't be £15,000 a year for all these years
Does the price not increase as the child progresses through Primary School
Does the price not increase at Secondary School level
Then of course you have University to consider...

Unflip

1 2 3 4 5 6