School fee hike - freaking out slightly

@oatmilk4breakfast why are you so worried, there’s loads of excellent schools in SW London. Save the school fees and buy a house in catchment!

I am diverging slightly but I always find these post fascinating. I didn’t feel that I could comfortably afford school fees doubling so for me it was simply off the table as an option. Must be an attitude to risk but just needed to feel I had huge wriggle room - I live a relatively frugal life through choice anyhow but glad not to worry about fees.

Bedford doesn't have bad schools. Have you looked at Biddenham or St Thomas More? Your kids will be in year admissions so your catchment shouldn't matter.

I also agree with the poster who says private won’t suffer a drop in numbers. The funding shortage in state schools mean more parents are unhappy with them. More will make the type of sacrifice the OP made to afford private.

I went private too (but in NZ). My parents are more affluent and can truly afford it. However same as you, I didn’t achieve anything amazing from it. I don’t earn anything more than DH who went state.

Back to the OP. 12% isn’t unusual give the inflation we have currently.

@CurlewKate Hi. I was a high earner where I could get called out at 3am and not get back till 11pm. My DP was a 9-5 but working an hour away from dc'S state primary school. This was a rural area. There was no breakfast club or after school care ("We are teachers with our own kids", totally agree but no idea about the gathering cloud of both couples working) - now that school has a breakfast club and after school activities organised by a company that does just that. In the mean time I sent my child to a private school.

But I do agree that the more people ignore the private school route the better the state schools will be. However, they are thinking of their children and if a local state school ignores bullying, and county lines and can hardly staff the teaching programme what are they to do? It truly is a vicious circle.

I get what you are saying, and price increases on some things may come down, but for most schools the big costs are energy bills and staffing.

Energy seems to be going up and up even though oil prices etc are coming down.

Staffing- an average 5% pay rise in state schools this year, and potentially a better offer than the current 3% for next year may come out of current pay negotiations. My experience locally (admittedly nowhere near OP) is that private schools have to at least match state pay to recruit decent staff...

Plus, the cumulative impact of the pay rises means that 5% on the previous pay rises may well push people over the edge.

@wingingthings What year are your children in? If things are getting tight I would give serious consideration to moving before exam years.

Then don’t. Why even post such a pointless reply? It doesn’t help anyone

A family friend had 3 kids in private school. They gave notice to remove 2 kids back to state. 1 child remains in private as they have started GCSEs.

Not sure yet what our % increase will be but if it’s 12% it will be a hefty extra to pay.

I don’t think independent schools will struggle. I went to an open day at Epsom College and claim to be oversubscribed. Everyone is making sacrifices in their own way. I believe independent schools won’t lose large numbers of kids.

To be fair to the school, their energy bills will have gone up by way more than this. That's usually the school's second biggest expense after staffing. If they don't have very large reserves, they'll have no choice.

And staffing costs may well have gone up too.

OP said they’d been state through primary I think.

Back of the envelope calculation is that school fees will double between reception and upper sixth.

Where are you OP? I’m sorry you’re going through this but I’m asking because I am very nervous about our local secondaries in south west London / Kingston way

Definitely don't stay wedded to the idea of private at the cost of everything else.

My dps sent us all to independent schools despite not having high incomes - the grandparents chipped in and paid for uniforms etc. I genuinely can't work out why they all felt it was so important. We never went abroad, had anxiety inducingly unreliable cars, wore hand me downs and they never bought anything for themselves. None of us has achieved anything that we couldn't have done going to the local state schools - as our peers and friends from childhood quite ably demonstrate. I would have much rather had more diverse experiences - travel, days out, theatre trips etc, and parents who weren't working all the time to cover the fees.

There is no way I would want my DC to go without family fun and experiences and foreign travel for the duration of their education. I would much rather we shared that money to enjoy time together and for a fraction of fees we can pay for any tutoring they require and they get to go to workshops and activities to follow all their interests without me committing to years of fees.

Jesus christ. That's a lot. I wanted to send dc to our local private school for secondary but 12% is shocking.

Our private school isn't a posh one per se (it isnt well known or has ponies 😂!). It's just where all the bookish quiet kids go who love chemistry, physics and chess. Where they can relax, use the bogs when they want and study without the fear of being assaulted after school

Local secondary has a huge bullying problem and the police are often involved as Year 7s are targeted :(

@2kool4skool private schools are assuming they will get the 20% VAT on fees - that Labour will get in. Many are anticipating closing as a result, I would guess this hike is an attempt to stave off some losses (because cohort numbers will fall later) by adding an above inflation rise now - gives them a cushion.

Have a look at state schools OP. The reality is they are fine - children with supportive parents will do well wherever they go to school.
I really wouldn’t consider not having new cars or foreign holidays a sacrifice! Shopping at Aldi is not a sacrifice either, just normal.

And to answer the OPs question- I don’t use private schooling so don’t have any experience to share with you. I hope you continue to get helpful input

You’ll be delighted to hear that you don’t even have to respond. Not compulsory. Scroll on past. It’s actually less effort than replying!

most people are struggling with cost of living at the moment, albeit some more than others. OP is probably worried about the possibility of interrupting her children’s education and removing them from a school which they are settled in, which is understandable.
it’s so mean spirited to make this type of post and of no help to the OP

I'm sorry-I can't engage with any post about private school which talks about parents "making sacrifices."