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Original poster

Private School

69 replies

HuntyGirl · 08/09/2023 11:58

For those of you who send your DC to private school, what are the main professions of the parents? There has been lots of articles recently about the squeeze on middle class families ability to afford private school due to the current economic circumstances and I would be interested to know from those with experience. It is definitely something we want to do and hope it will be possible.

I do not want this to be a private school bashing thread so please move on if that is your intention.

OP posts:
Pedallleur · 08/09/2023 12:55

what they always are. professional people eg doctors, law, architect, vet, academic. People who have their own business and can afford the fees. Occasionally a family who got lucky and got a Bursary.

BananasinOodies · 08/09/2023 13:04

Lots of bursaries at our school so a range, but I've had children in independent school for best part of a decade and am fairly sociable but have no idea what most people do for work.

JaukiVexnoydi · 08/09/2023 13:11

How many kids do you have? We have just the one, and are both mid-level professionals earning well above average but below the threshold for higher rate tax. Jobs in e.g. band 7 or 8 in higher education related roles. SEO or Grade 7 roles in Civil Service. Typical doctors' salary after foundation training finished (but way less than a specialist or consultant grade). Top of Band 7 or start of Band 8 for Nursing jobs. All perfectly normal professional high-quality careers have opportunities for progression to this kind of salary level, but obviously the sums become trickier if you have multiple children.

The key to being able to do this for us was to manage our lifestyle expectations so that we always lived several steps of lifestyle and luxury options cheaper than we could theoretically afford, and put plenty into savings. We used state school for primary and by the end of primary knew that we had enough slack in our monthly budget to manage the fees for senior. If we had spent the preceding 7 years spending every penny we earned then it would have felt unaffordable.

Interested in this thread?

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General education Private schooling
JellyComb · 08/09/2023 14:03

We have our own business in a niche area of construction and could afford to send 3 boys to private school for senior only.

GreenMeanMachine · 08/09/2023 14:08

Management consultancy, lawyers, IT, banking, some doctors (but consultants with private practice). A lot of entrepreneurs, business people. Also some families where it is clearly some family/trust money (parents in very “normal jobs”).

Toansweraboutfees · 08/09/2023 14:16

This will depend alot on location of school and age range.

What is noticeable about my kids prep is that all the families have almost all the adults working. There is only one SAHM across the two kids classes (prep school).

So there are people there including teachers, finance people, marketing, NHS (doctors, physios), IT, Lawyers, admin, academics.

They are generally university educated. Some families clearly have one higher earner and one lower earner. Some have two higher earners.

Mumsanetta · 08/09/2023 14:18

Only 3 mums in my DD’s class are SAHP, all other parents work. Seems to be a disproportionate number of lawyers.

newhere24 · 08/09/2023 14:22

Teachers (a lot of teachers, all secondary school), doctors, marketing, academics, IT people. Almost all university educated, almost all 2 parents working full time. Prep in the SE

Twentytwo22 · 08/09/2023 14:23

It's really varied. Even within one school. In my school it's a lot of doctors, lecturers, teachers and entrepreneurs. But also the caretaker and cleaners send their kids there! Lots of kids on burseries/scholarships and some whose grandparents pay for the fees.

PatsWoggle · 08/09/2023 14:24

Mine don't go to private school but DC have several friends that do/did. In no particular order their parents occupations,
Dentist and Doctor,
Radiologist and Council Accountant,
Own a load of corner shops and HMO's,
Chicken farmers,
Restaurant owners,
Something high up in insurance and SAHP,
Accountant and IT,
Owns a small electrical store and has some rental properties,
Run a boutique B&B and glamping pods,

Blinkingbonkers · 08/09/2023 14:36

We’re in a bit of a backwater county - at the local independent my kids go to there are all sorts of professions amongst the parents….a good few of the ‘usuals’ like drs/lawyers/accountants but also phone engineers, nurses, shop/retail owners, care assistants, estate agents, photographers, artists, builders (mainly chippies actually), pub landlords, gas engineers….all sorts!! It’s one of the great things about the school - very few snobs or mega rich nobs😅😆

Teentaxidriver · 08/09/2023 14:43

TBf in my experience A LOT of the money for school fees is inherited/ given by grandparents (especially outside London). The number of PAYE fee-paying parents is really quite small by comparison. Otherwise, main professions would be private equity, fund management, venture capital, finance, management consultancy, law, accountancy, medicine plus lots and lots of business owners.

BibbleandSqwauk · 08/09/2023 16:39

@Teentaxidriver that's interesting. Do you work in school finance? Just wondering what your field of experience is? I am outside the SE and would say the smaller mortgages generally mean that more "average" people on professional wages can afford it.

Original poster
HuntyGirl · 08/09/2023 21:57

Thanks. I wonder if this will change more towards those who have family money and business owners. Hopefully professional salaries keep up so that that isn't the case

OP posts:
whathappenedtosummer23 · 08/09/2023 22:09

I think there will be a significant difference in the jobs of a London secondary where fees are about £8k a term and a northern day school at 4/4.4K a term.

Our school is lawyers accountants management consultants fund managers IT directors doctors (consultants with private practice) staff children and a few celebs, actors, pop stars and premier / championship footballers

Badback44 · 08/09/2023 22:16

Accountants

SmellsLikeTeenSpirits · 08/09/2023 22:25

People who aren’t paying via family trust: Dentists, Hedge fund managers and other city roles, LOTS of people with own businesses, sales people, lawyers, Big 4 partners, c-suite corporates, surgeons and doctors, management consultants.

JaukiVexnoydi · 08/09/2023 22:31

HuntyGirl · 08/09/2023 21:57

Thanks. I wonder if this will change more towards those who have family money and business owners. Hopefully professional salaries keep up so that that isn't the case

I think the squeeze on pay is mostly happening at the lower end of the pay spectrum. In some industries pay is relatively healthy because there aren't enough qualfied and experienced people for the work that needs doing so anyone skimping on pay just doesn't get the personnel they need.

It's not simply about who is earning "enough" because "enough" is a fluid threshold which depends on how awful the alternative state school option is, and what the lifestyle aspirations the family has which have to be sacrificed to meet the fees. Worse situations in state schools combined with a general cultural "lowering of expectations" for what are the essentials for a good life could shift the threshold downwards among higher earners.

There are a lot of people who could theoretically afford private but have instead spent similar money buying into the catchment areas of good state schools. Those kinds of dynamic influences could shift significantly over the years too. A future government could reform school admissions so that buying in a posh area doesn't buy access to a great school, and you'd see a massive exodus into the private sector over the subsequent 10 years or so.

stonedaisy · 08/09/2023 22:38

My husband has a managerial job and i do part time admin. We get a bit of help from grandparents parents. The fees are a lot and it is a struggle. We don't really go abroad or have expensive things but we have a nice house. All our money goes on the mortgage, school fees and living costs. We only have one DC.
The school is really amazing and our child
is truly thriving. DC is in a class of 9. To us its well worth the sacrifices and after my experience of state school this is the best gift we could ever bestow

Georgiepud · 08/09/2023 22:43

I disagree that a lot of money for school fees is inherited or paid by grandparents. At our son's school, most of us pay by monthly direct debit. All the usual professions mentioned above, but also graphic designers, and artists.

afterworld · 08/09/2023 23:39

We send ours to a London prep school. DH is a software engineer for a big multinational and I have my own business Other parents are lawyers, investment bankers, art dealers, consultants, entrepreuners, City workers, actors, entertainers.

Our fees are paid from salary (no inheritance or family help) though we have substantial assets (investments which were bought from salary and have grown massively - enough that we can cover the full cost of fees until uni and beyond). So we're not concerned about job security, COL or political changes to private schools. We don't make any sacrifices to afford the fees, though we're not extravagant and do without many luxuries that some might take for granted (e.g cleaner, car). But that's more about lifestyle than not being able to afford it.

Original poster
HuntyGirl · 09/09/2023 09:14

Georgiepud · 08/09/2023 22:43

I disagree that a lot of money for school fees is inherited or paid by grandparents. At our son's school, most of us pay by monthly direct debit. All the usual professions mentioned above, but also graphic designers, and artists.

I oftentimes see on PS threads on here that grandparents are helping a lot. We definitely wouldn't be in that position. We'd be paying from salary

OP posts:
whathappenedtosummer23 · 09/09/2023 11:22

Also quite a few doing the MN prohibited thing of having having one child in excellent state school and one in private. The state one then comes into private for 6th form and the private one moves to state at 6th form

Quite a few started off with all kids in state secondary and due to SEN or MH have moved one to private and kept the other one state because no need to move etc etc

Lots having a decent age gap so that they do state primary and then a 4 school year gap so only doing double fees for 3 years etc. the ones with serious money are the ones with 5 kids all in private school. That blows my mind!

Original poster
HuntyGirl · 10/09/2023 09:51

@whathappenedtosummer23 5 in private is crazy! I feel like even 3 is a lot in this day and age. 2 feels doable including all the extras and making sure they don't miss out on anything

OP posts:
TheFutureMrsWolowitz · 10/09/2023 10:00

Parents of my Dcs circle;

  • finance director of a local firm and charity worker
  • plumber (single widowed father)
  • taxi driver - self employed
  • owner of local Indian restaurant
  • NHS manager and nurse
  • accountant and solicitor in high street firms
  • teachers x 2 (teach at the school)
  • Psych working with CAMHS
  • Owner of private nursing home
  • manager of a local cafe (child on almost full scholarship)
  • owner of local fish and chip shop plus landlord of another high street shop