School fee hike - freaking out slightly

Any news on fees increases for GDST schools, either timing or amount? I believe that they all do it together

10% here too

10% snuck out, last day of term!

I’ve been watching with interest and then we got ours….9.5%😭🙃!

@Caps0218 Bless you. Wouldn't that be nice.

Any hard working child would do well in any setting

What a lovely sentiment
Not in any way grounded in reality of course, but it would be lovely to think that it was true.

Any hard working child would do well in any setting

Thats just not true. My DS’s passions and abilities lie in science and engineering, yet his state school struggled to provide any consistent teacher across any of those subjects. The only option was private.

I guess in theory we could have withdrawn him from school and used online tutors, but I would argue that is still private.

I think people underestimate just how bad some state schools are.

(And no, we couldn’t have just changed to another state school, because we are rural and the catchment area is huge. We would have had to move house for a different state school, which would have cost more than private fees, and is just another equivalent use of privilege.)

@Caps0218 Utterly ridiculous comment about the schools that 93% of the UK population attend. But you knew that.

Any hard working child would do well in any setting….the reason you send kids private is simply that the state schools are not safe.
you just have to walk past a central London state school at finishing time to see how rough it is.

Not really in central London….state schools are not great…..

I agree it’s going to be increasingly difficult and unattractive for those with very good, but not spectacular incomes to choose private education. Increasingly it will be the preserve of those who are super rich.

Those people mentioned upthread who have good but not especially super incomes who choose to live in flats rather than houses to fund school fees, or to go without huge amounts of other stuff that the affluent middle classes have who choose state education, will think twice about if it’s worth those sacrifices.

I think a good example will be teachers who work in those independent schools. Traditionally, teachers got big discounts on the school fees and many chose to send their kids to their school. They still paid perhaps £8k or more for secondary places, but felt it was worth it and just about affordable. With salaries rising much slower than inflation and big fee hikes over lots of years, they might be looking instead at fees of £14k or more with their discount…and those fees expected to keep rising substantially over time. More will decide they can’t afford it, especially for several kids, and opt out. And they are possibly the most informed about what private and state education can offer, especially if they’ve worked in both sectors.

There are too many private schools in the market at the moment. Smaller ones, single sex and those in less affluent areas will be more vulnerable to closure. Those remaining will increasingly have to offer more and more to justify the fees parents pay and to make them truly different to the free option available.

I guess that the well-off but not super rich people part way through, and especially those close to the end will grit their teeth and suck up the extra costs. But those embarking on the journey will think twice and more will decide not to do it. In some areas where there are still people queuing up for places, those schools will be fine….often larger, mixed schools in the south east. But many in other areas will already struggle to fill will find it hard and perhaps look to the international market more. Certainly the private school climate will be different in 10 years to today.

But if you can get 30%-50% above scholarships or bursaries, go for private schools. Many people select private schools over grammar, considering discounts. But with inflation fee increases and reduced discount values, scholarships are no longer attractive. It is ROI. I do not see see the worth of full fees. My personal opinion.

It depends on your lifestyle. Some parents prefer spending money on houses, trips and other events. Some believe the private system offers more. Many kids took private schools test as a backup for grammar schools. Private schools may have better activities or education early stages (before 11 years old). Secondary have many competitive state school options. We like to take control of our education to arrange things and drop out whenever we want more flexibly rather than lock the fees in others' hands unpredicable. Especially many outside schools are national level rather than just school-wide.

Only private schools can get visas; some Asian parents who came in the middle of the school year have no choice except for private schools. And agency always corporate with private schools to promote the programme.

There are some excellent state schools but many that really are way behind private schools, even the mediocre ones.

@SmallandSpanish I agree wholeheartedly. I also have experience of all 3 of those sectors and the leafy comp I worked in and the one DD is now, has some of the snootiest loaded parents I've ever met. They are always the most vocal about state schools and now much of a waste private schools are.
There are parents making huge financial sacrifices for private school fees. Very often they've been failed by state schools and they acknowledge the privilege they have to be able to move their kids. No one denies that. However, there are many many state school kids who are far more privileged. I'm aware however that this discussion is useless for OP so I'll shut up now!

Ours has only gone up by 4% for next year and I'm feeling grateful!

We've been in state, private and home Ed communities and by far the most flashy was the 'nice' state primary where rich stay at home parents moved house to be in catchment. And then stood around in the playground slagging off the local private school while booking 3 ski holiday a year.

By contrast, the private school was mainly double income parents working theirs butts off to afford fees.

The home Ed community is by far the most diverse, but even that involves a lot of sacrifices for most cos it's not cheap.

All I'm staying is, there is nuance in every situation. Private does always mean more privilege than everyone in state.

Exactly. Most private school pupils are not at Eton or whatever equivalent it is that'll give them a leg up. There are many who can't afford to move to a good state school and paying fees for a school that'll meet their children's needs is what they're choosing to do. Yes it's a privilege but so is the ability to move to a great catchment and have tons of disposable income to provide your kids with endless culture capital. Not to mention the flats these state school parents are buying for their kids and the questionable morals behind that.

Op means original poster. You are the original poster. No one else can be the original poster. It can also be opening poster or opening post. Again, all you.

It’s ok, no need to apologise, the forum isn’t all about you and she wasn’t asking you specifically.

But of course these lifestyles (and inheritances) absolutely do give children a leg up, of course - perhaps just in a less obvious way than private education (which many on MN would argue doesn't really give children much of a leg up, if compared with a really good state option).

Many people don't see these expenditures as equivalent though. While most people wouldn't argue if you want to spend your money on a nice holiday or new car, there's a valid moral argument that by paying for private education, you are using your money and privilege to give your child a leg up on other children, and trying to give them certain advantages that not everyone has access to, and also disadvantaging state schools by depriving them of largely bright, well behaved pupils and caring, involved parents. I myself believe this to some extent, and yet here I am sending my children to private school anyway because we all have a deep drive to want the best for our children, even at the expense of others, even if it doesn't sit right at some level!

I don't personally think paying fees over everything else would ever be worth it.

My siblings and I all went to private schools and never had a holiday outside the UK, lived in rented accommodation, had really unreliable cars, secondhand clothes. I absolutely disagree that that was the right balance of things and found the social side of it all incredibly difficult.

You could definitely level criticism at me - I've got 3 kids and a nice house and lifestyle but I could move somewhere smaller (it would cost more) and radically dial back on lifestyle and we still couldn't afford fees. The maths just doesn't add up for most people. Admittedly I could have only had one child but that seems a really weird calculation to make to me (and we possibly still wouldn't be able to fund fees!)

We haven't been abroad in years and only twice since having DC, but I'm planning to try and get away more. Bit a couple of holidays of £2k each does not private schooling for 3dc for 7 years make....