Would you be comfortable paying the fees in this situation?

Sorry missed your update, truly though if it’s something you very much want to prioritise for children I’m sure you’ll make it work

1K is not a lot of wiggle room when your child is in private education, the uniform, extracurriculars, the trips…. All add, the fees will inevitably increase as well.

Could you consider investing this money for your child, or an ISA to cover the cost of higher education, house deposits, starting a business.

Not enough info.

what is the state alternative like?
how much is your house worth/do you need to stay there for job reasons?
if you lost your job are you in an industry where it e would be (relatively) easy to get another one?

That’s a good point actually … do you have siblings OP? And do you plan to have more DCs?

I'd save as much as possible now and revisit in 18 months - presumably you don't need to make a decision till then. Have a proper look at state primary options as you may be better planning for private secondary instead of primary plus secondary.

If you cant afford private school without your parents help then you shouldnt do it. If your lical state school.isnt cost effective it might be better value moving to an area eith a better state school in catchmemt, this is what we did and kids did really well plus we had money to live

Have you considered state for primary. In so many places it's just not worth the money to private because state provision is so good. That a good few extra years of saving.

School fees tend to rise by more than inflation each year - and there are many hidden extra costs. If you’re not sure, then it is a no.
You mention your parents have not offered to help - so you can’t factor them in. My parents always wanted to treat all their grandchildren equally so would not have chipped in for fees for only one.

Forget primary, save as much as possible for secondary. I would want more of a buffer but it depends on your dc & other options. Don’t rely on your parents to help you out.

Teacher in the indie sector here: a lot of our parents really struggle to pay school fees, both juniors and seniors. They are parents who feel state ed isn’t right for their kids and parents who have removed their kids from state schools for a number of reasons.

I would say, if you’re not 100% sure, find out about primary options near you. Do they have values you share, what’s the OFSTED report like, meet people who have kids there already and find out what they think.

If a primary sounds right then send your DC there. At any point, you can pull them out and (spaces permitted) put them into the indie sector. You just need to find out the same sort of things for the indie primaries/preps. What are their values, what can they offer your DC and so they share your values etc.

It’s common at my school for pupils to join us in Year 6 so they transfer more easily into Year 7. They come from state and usually slot in easily. Doing something like this would allow more years of savings and give you greater security for taking on school fees.

What age is your child? I wouldn't do it to start a child age 5. It's too long a slog and a long time for other costs like expensive house maintenance to crop up.

But if I had a child struggling at secondary and wanted to move them then I would as you'd only have 4-5 years to get through.

If your child is young I'd do state for the early years of primary and save the full fee for four years to provide a cushion.

I'm not anti private school but I think starting a child in the private sector if you are not certain you have the funds to see them all the way through is foolish. Moving state to private is fine, the other way is bloody hard.

Why have you mentioned your parents. Take responsibility for your own life.

It is very entitled to even think they would help with a lifestyle choice If it doesn't go well for you

I'd be tempted to hold off, and direct what you could spend in fees into a specific education fund. Reassess at 7, then 11.

Fees will go up, but so will income?

I think if you save in advance and are willing to cut your cloth its fine...

I'd probably want 3 or 4 years worth of fees saved before school began to be sure they'd go through to gcse at least.

I would, and did. Is your job fairly stable and will your income increase, do you get an annual bonus at work that can also be saved or help with holidays/uniform? You have 2 years to save for a buffer, then still £1k a month savings after school fees.

Leave your patents out of this decision completely. If you worry that you’ll struggle financially with private school fees then the answer is don’t do it!

I wouldn’t be happy if one of my adult DDs put their DCs into private school with me as a back up! I’m very generous with them but that’s another level, particularly if they are unaware!

So when you say savings, I'm assuming that's all savings for holidays and car repairs etc? If that was covered and the remaining was long term savings I'd be more comfortable. What are salary increase prospects like?

Do you pay childcare fees now? How much more if the school once you no longer have to pay that? It’s basically carrying on paying for full time childcare sending children to private school. I wouldn’t personally but we have good state schools where I live so it’s a no brainer

With the figures you quoted, it is clear you can't afford private school.

There is no way I would make this choice, where then every aspect of life will be tight and restricted because of school fees.

State school.with maybe a tutor and all the extras is likely to lead to a happier home. No guarantee that yoir child will thrive in private ed, either.

It’s too tight a margin….I wouldnt