Private School or Reduce Down Mortgage?

[MamaOfWobbles]

If you could afford Private School for your young child but it would mean you couldn't reduce down a 35yr mortgage, what would you do (this is assuming little one is in private school from reception to year 13)? Would you send your child to private school or would you sort the financial security?

Would you always choose private over state if you could afford it? I'm wobbling because in state the reception is just like nursery whereas in private it suddenly seemed so formal.

In this scenario l would choose private from secondary.

I don't think you should wobble over the change from reception in private, but over the fact you don't have financial security to commit to primary and secondary private schooling if you've taken a mortgage over 35 years.

I would always choose state over private unless my child had a very specific need for non-state.

The £100k plus cash for private could benefit your child(ren) much more if it doesn't get wasted on fees.

Plus my view is state is better socially too due to far more people. I found it hard at private school as it was a very small pond.

I'd reduce my mortgage. Nobody can predict the future.

I would definitely reduce the mortgage. No question about it.

I would go private from secondary. The difference at primary between state and private isnt that great, whereas in secondary it can be. Plus gives time to save between now and then

Mortgage and try and get into a good state school.

Otherwise there is no financial legacy to pass on to your privately educated child.

If you are in a good catchment for local schools, state and reduce mortgage.

If not, put the money towards moving somewhere that does have good state schools.

There is little difference between state and private primaries - so if I only had the one child I'd do private for secondary only.

These days, private schools are no place for parents with problematic mortgages.

If you went to private school but can’t afford it for your own children, it’s really not your fault.

Back in the day, the Assisted Places scheme, the Church Commissioners and a massive standing army and FCO subsidised fees and conspired to keep independent schools going, and affordable for the middle classes. Now they’re very likely to lose their charitable status if a Labour government gets in, and it will be the final nail in the coffin for all but the most elite schools.

I would definitely reduce my mortgage, because anything could happen e.g redundancy/sicknress). Financial security is very important to me. When ever we had extra money, we've chosen to put it down on the mortgage. Now we hardly have any left. It makes us feel nice and secure. By the way I know people who had private education who didn't do well in their exams. They ended up joining the navy/taking an apprenticeship. Private education doesn't mean that they'll be more successful, they need encouragement from home and drive to do well.

I’d go for education, schooling can only be given to your child at a specific time and cannot be taken away or undone. Having said that, it doesn’t always have to be private over state, depends on your local schools. I’d probably go for a compromise, as others have suggested, private for secondary.

I’m in a professional job (public sector) and have some colleagues who were privately educated. I didn’t take any exams at my state school (abusive childhood) and did an Access course a few years later, leading on to Uni etc. Many other colleagues of mine are state educated. We’re all doing the same role on the same salary. So me personally, I wouldn’t have spent money on private school if there were decent state schools nearby (in my DC’s case there were).

From my close friend who went to private, I get the impression that unless you’re very well off and live the lifestyle of those who easily afford private, it’s not a very nice environment friendship wise. Her parents earned a decent amount but she always felt like the “poor” kid because she didn’t live the same lifestyle outside of school.

To me it would depend a good deal on what the state schools in your area are like. And whether the child in question is fairly bright - or not - or has issues that would mean smaller classes would be very beneficial.

Id choose mortgage.

Private education has no guarantees and although we could take money from house for school id rather pay for private tutors or sell to be in an area with great standard schools

I have absolutely nothing against private education but do feel that so many uncertainties right now id rather have the stability of home equity and shorter term mortgage

I’d focus on the mortgage. A 35 year mortgage suggests that things are stretched a little tight as it is. The longer you are paying that off, the less time there is to save for older age, private care etc.
In addition, DC will need financial support for university, deposits on housing....

Private school - class sizes make a difference. Had experience of outstanding state and private. Private schools vary along with the parents same as state - the worst competitiveness I've experienced in terms of money has been state. I was state educated.

Mortgage for me. If you sent your child to private school then suddenly lost your job unexpectedly and had to pull them out that would be a big adjustment. I'd rather have the financial security of less mortgage and try and get them into a good state school.

@QueenofLouisiana children don't need house deposits from their parents, I don't know anyone who can afford that. It's not a necessity.

There is no way I’d send my child to public school before 9 years old. I’d weigh up the options at 9 years and start tutoring if he wanted to remain in his state primary, making the switch at 11

I would go state for primary as others have said. Try to pay mortgage down then review for secondary.

Children learn through play

We are in the same position but also moving house from an area with good and outstanding schools to needs improvement and inadequate. Coupled with wraparound school care 8-6 4 days a week we've decided private. It has however reduced our house budget by 100k.

If we weren't moving we'd do state then private secondary. It's a tough call but I think the right one.

It depends on the state schools near you. A good state school isn't very different IMO to a private school in terms of the teaching. The private school will usually offer lots of extra curricular activities, but you can organise those separately for your child if you want to. However if the local state schools are poor, then it's worth paying for private.

State for primary, or at least until Year 3, then reassess. If your state schools are good, you’ve got nothing to fear. The foundation phase is very play based, yes, but the school will hit the ground running from Year 1 (and you can always do extra at home if you are worried).