Sorry to ask but how are people affording private education?

You'll be in a precarious position if Labour do carry their policy through. The sensible thing would have been to save a bit and just do private for secondary.

We have quite a modest house compared to many others where we live as school fees are our priority as DC are so happy and thriving at their private school. Mother in law does help out with school uniform occasionally. I’d sell a kidney to keep my kids there. Hopefully I won’t have to.

Incorrect. There are plenty of areas in e.g. London where pretty challenging council estates are next door to reasonably affluent areas. This creates vicious cycle when those middle classes are horrified for their kids to mix with council estate kids, many of whom also have EAL, and it's cheaper to send them private, esp if 1-2 kids family, than to move to equivalent house in a "properly" wealthy area. Then school catchment area expands to catch lower socio-economic layers from wider area and so on

I do. Not all poorly performing state schools are in bad areas.

@CurlewKate I live in the catchment of a fairly average state school. The area itself ranges from £1m+ old houses to council estates. Not dissimilar to a lot of towns in the central belt of Scotland where the catchment of a school takes in a very wide demographic. Most people in my area who can afford it send their kids to private school. Decent area, not great school. But much cheaper to live than the city centre where a 3 bed home in the best catchment school is £600k+.

We have a combine family income of £100k ish. We have one DC in private school. Been there 9 years, 6 more to go.

• We drive one car. It’s old.
• Holidays are staying with family and house sitting for friends. No package deals etc.
• No take always, ever.
• We eat out a few times a year, I’d say 6 max.
• No adult gifts at Xmas & b’day, little things so DC can see we have something to open.
• DH has one main job and does another job occasionally as freelance
• I have about 5 or 6 income streams. I am always looking for my next job/client. I do anything and everything. My career had to end to afford the school
• absolute clear minded focus on the goal - which is the sChoi lol fees (£1,800 p/m)
• our house is very very small and very cheap to run
• no credit cards, no debt, no savings either.

We are affording it and we have what we think is a nice life. We are a happy family. There is, incidentally, no money for the labour VAT increase. We are not one of those families who will just find the 20%. We’ll leave the school at that point.

edited to add, we have 3 state high schools in 3 miles of our house (live in a city). All rated inadequate.

They might if they’ve spent all their money on private school fees!

If I was sending DS to private school, we’d be in a one bedroom flat somewhere cheap, because that’s all I’d be able to afford.

Yep, this is basically it. Or they have rich grandparents.

I have a colleague on the same pay as me, and she has three in one of the local private schools. Her FIL is paying. £90k per year 🤯

@Heatherbell1978 But people with the money to go to private school are incredibly unlikely to be living in the catchment of poorly performing state schools in the first place!

We have one in private prep currently (fees around 14k) with combined income of 130-140k. Our second doesn’t start for 3 more years. As of next year our combined income will be £180-200k. Truthfully private Ed is a huge sacrifice. We know our children would be fine at state. We aren’t keen on grammar (same sex setting, competitive culture) but we love the school and it’s a choice we have made. Not because we think it will guarantee results, but purely the style of teaching/experience.

I agree look around schools before making a decision. I do think different schools suit different children.

But people with money can either choose to move to an area with an excellent state school or choose private if their catchment state school isn't great. So either way that leaves the poor performing state school with lower income families.

A mixture of very high earners - international banking, tech, project management etc, inherited wealth and grandparents paying. But the expense is not the only con attached to private education and even those schools on the TES shortlist for independent school of the year can have what seem to those used to the State system to have strange and opaque ways which Ofsted would drive a carriage & horses through.

So even if you think you could put one of your children through private school, please go in with your eyes wide open & don’t just see the surface of it.

"The very reason many use private schools is because they don’t live near decent state schools so of course you’ll find a high percentage claiming the local state option is poor."

OK. What I don't understand is that the vast majority of lower performing state schools are in areas of social and economic deprivation. Which are not the areas where people can afford private schools live.

Confusing, eh?

The very reason many use private schools is because they don’t live near decent state schools so of course you’ll find a high percentage claiming the local state option is poor.

If the state schools near me were of a high standard I wouldn’t be using private schools. I’d much rather not have to spend 250k+ but don’t really have much choice.

Wow so now we are happy for half decent?
Considering Northern schools receive less funding than Southern schools and that the NE has done of the worst outcomes in England I don't accept half decent!

Most state options are at least half decent. It's very strange how so many private school parents don't live near any of them.

(Not counting specialist SEN schools here; totally appreciate many of these children aren't accommodated in the mainstream state sector).

Pension contributions. I consider them separate to savings as I suspect OP does too.

We have two in private school one in senior and one in prep. We put aside £4k a month to pay for this - that includes fees, lunches, transport, trips etc etc and we have a "buffer" of £50k in case one of us is made redundant etc.
We've been frugal for a long time to be able to afford this - overpayed our mortgage for years, etc etc, so our outgoings are low.
We're both lucky to have decent salaries - around £12k per month between us after tax.

This surprised me as well. Unless there is uni debt or some other debt coming out each month?
Surely however you earn £130000, you'd take home more than that?

I wonder what you mean by 'cannon fodder'?

@Hoppinggreen "I tend to find that people who "don't understand" the need for Private Education have an at least half decent State option"

Really? I tend to find that people who talk about the need for private schools don't understand the meaning of the word "need."

We’re in Scotland where DD went to her catchment secondary school as do most students here. Said school is in the lower half of league tables and takes students from a wide demographic. In the 6 years she was there, there were daily fire alarms, disruptive students and the like but my goodness, what a fantastic education she received. She had some amazing teachers who went over and above what’s expected of them. She’s now finished 2nd year at Edinburgh University and is doing far better academically & on a social level than many of her peers who were privately educated.

The bottom line is there are good and bad teachers at every school and if a student wants to learn then they’ll do it at whatever school they’re at. I would recommend sending your kids to a local school & save what would have been spent on school fees to help them through university.

I tend to find that people who "don't understand" the need for Private Education have an at least half decent State option

What is this 'choose a state school'? We were allocated a place - take it or leave it. There was no alternative. And that school had just been judged inadequate by Ofsted who openly said it wasn't safe, and subsequently wound up the trust before handing it into the care of a new trust, causing years of disruption.

You must live in a more densely populated area with a choice of state senior schools. Not everyone does.

Same here.

We earn way less than you do, OP.
No family inheritance or even help with childcare. The exorbitant nursery fees made us realise that we can afford a private secondary school.