Would you do this to ensure your dc could go to a good private school?

I'm not in your position 😅 (well done by the way, on saving hard🙌) but I would pay off the mortgage and go part time!

Your dd would benefit from having you home with her more, and having you be happy and not exhausted and stressed!

If her dad can pay towards the schooling, I'd start her out and see how it goes - you can always go back to full time hours if need be to pay the fees! But having your mortgage paid off will be invaluable ❤️

We had 32 in ours and 5 SEN in one class (they kept trying to mix them up more as the years went on but the other class didn't want them and pushed back!).

Quality of life is more important, pay off the mortgage

38 children in a class in EYFS/KS1 - are you sure?? That's not legal, is it? They're capped at 30 and go over by 1 or 2 in exceptional circumstances such as a mistake in admissions or a LAC moving late to the area.

If the state schools are poor and infant class sizes that big then I'd prioritise private school. Normally I would say use a decent state school unless money is no object (I teach in an independent and our actual teaching is no better than a good state school - it's the other opportunities, extra curriculars, facilities, resources and time with consistent, full time, subject specialist staff that you pay for really).

Also, if you were gifted the money for education then surely you need to use it for education. Or was it more of an inheritance 'yours to do what you like with'?

Depends on the state schools, how bad are they, do you actually know for sure they are that bad.
We were thinking private school or to move house for our DC as the local state to where we were was not going to suit him and had a bad rep for a few issues and we were too far from other schools to guarantee entry.
We moved house instead of going private, right next to a top state secondary and he is thriving.
The local state we were near was and is good for some pupils, who do do well there.

But how far would you be going realistically to get into catchment for a Good or Outstanding Primary school? 5 miles, 10, 30? A lot changes when a child starts school. They have a lot less time to spend hanging out with family for starters. But if you are relying on family for wrap around support irrespective of state or private then stay put while she is little.

How part-time are you considering? Is your job something you could go part time in for a few years and start her in a private prep at 7/8 and go back full-time or are you burning your bridges?

£150k is going to last 7-10yrs at best. So you don't have enough savings to go through the whole way if you go part-time. How committed is your ex to his share? Still manageable if he had another family?

Start state primary and see how it goes. It's nice from a local friends perspective and being part of the community. Then consider if you really want to go private at either 7+ or 11+. You could stick a bit in your mortgage so your monthly payments decrease, but you do have time.

38 in a class is very unusual….is that with one teacher? What is the PAN for the year?

Exactly
If OP runs out of money and is till PT and its time for Secondary then what?
Private for Secondary is more important than at Primary IMO

Good question:). I was thinking more in terms of priorities tbh. Go part time and mortgage would be more important than wasting money on private education on primary level.

It depends on the private school. But yes I would prioritise education over most things. You've able to save anything massive amount so paying off your mortgage shouldn't take long.

How can she send her to private for secondary if she has spent the money on her mortgage and gone part time?

I’d do private school over mortgage personally.

was always the plan with one but then we decided to have another as we have no other family &
i worried about her being all alone if anything happened to us. 2 would have been tight but just about possible but i had twins &
it was then a no go. I’d still give her siblings over private school (luckily state school is one of the better ones) but i’d do private school over paying mortgage.

having recently been in one (via work) it’s miles away from anything she’ll ever get in even the top performing state schools here

You're getting itchy feet and "tired of work" solely because you've got the money sitting there.

Obviously, plans can change, but I think if the original plan was to use it to pay for private school then you should at least give it a go.

That being said, £150k isn't going to get you through an entire private school career from 4-18. The cheapest private school near me is over £15k a year, and the best are over £20k.

I think if family have given £80k to support your daughters education that money isn’t yours to do with as you choose. That doesn’t necessarily sending her private but I’d be clear in showing how it was being spent to enrich her education. Have you asked your family for their view about what you want to do with their money?

State primary, pay of mortgage, go part time, send her to private for secondary. This was what I did and no regrets.

Depends on the sort of private school you’re looking at OP. There are private schools (GDST ones etc) and then there are private schools (Sevenoaks, St. Ps, etc. I.e the ones most people think of). The second set, even £150K won’t see you far. The first set, £150K will probably see most of her education off nicely.

So, if you want to send her to somewhere like Sevenoaks for secondary and sixth form £150K will last five years education at current prices. You’d need to find another £70K for sixth form. Which seems doable if you go state for primary.

Personally, I think you can’t put a price on a child’s education - particularly if the local state schools are poor. I couldn’t go part time and send my daughters to a crap school.

Pay off the mortgage. £150k will not be enough to see her through private school for the 13yrs of education, not even with your ex paying half – unless you can continue and very reliably continue to stump up even more. You're looking at £3-7k a term for primary and more for secondary, and that doesn't include fee raises annually.

I doubt that £150 K would be enough to see her even through prep. And you may end up needing to save faster than you earn.

Depends on many factors but no, I wouldn’t be working part time with my child in state school when I could afford it. Like another poster I think love and an education are the two most important things you can give.

But other factors play in. Likelihood of you or your ex having further children? How is your pension looking? Do you have an emergency fund in place? How many hours a week do you work now? What’s your career projectory for the next 20 years? Could you do part time for a few years now with the intention of going back full time? Could you spend your parents money on the mortgage?

State primary and invest your money until secondary.
If your worried u can hire tutors and do extra curricular activities.

If they gifted it with a purpose of paying for her schooling, is it even yours to use to pay the mortgage off?

DS' physics A'level class has 2 pupils.

In the local state alternative, it was 28. State sixth forms are centralised where we live

I would put her in state for primary with an aim to do private for secondary. Private isn’t always better just because it costs money. Our school is good, but not outstanding, but I wouldn’t send mine to the nearby private school, not even if it was free. I went to private school my whole life and I really don’t think there is an advantage when they’re little. You would be in a good position to afford private if you are mortgage free.

Quite - our outstanding state school sixth form often has classes of 4-8. Maths is more like 16 but they all seem to get good marks