Is private schooling mainly an English thing, and what does it cost?

[Misoniso]

I’m from NI so the majority of children here attend public schools, I don’t know anyone that attends a private school at all. But I always read about them on mumsnet, is it mostly an English thing? And what sort of cost is it to send a child to a private school? Genuinely curious

There are far more wealthy people in England than NI.

2.5-3million millionaires in England alone vs 12-14,000 in Northern Ireland.

4.2% in Scotland. 25% in England.

@Octavia64even if they had state funding I think it would still be £££. I think there is a particular elitism to the system here vs many other countries.

?

I was comparing to France, Australia or Ireland….

No way are 25% of English children privately educated!

Well it also depends what school you’re looking at. We have some of the most expensive but there are loads of independents that charge less. The one near me is £7,000 a year.

It’s not 25%

https://www.civitas.org.uk/2023/02/24/private-schooling-in-britain-a-snapshot/

2023 says between 6 and 7 percent

6.3% of English children are privately educated

It is around 6% in England and over half are special needs schools with most of the places funded by the government.

@RoseOliviaAu I’m aware there are cheaper ones here but I’m talking average costs.

Surely you know that the King went to private school in Scotland OP?

As did Tony Blair.

My friend in New Zealand has 2 kids in private school.

Can’t believe you’re too lazy to look at fees on websites!

There are more dc in private sixth form but I’m sure it’s still lower that 25%.

Edinburgh has a huge private education proportion

www.google.co.uk/search?q=what+%25+of+Scottish+children+are+privately+educated%3F&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

In England public school means private school. We call it state school. The government funded one.

Lots of wealthy or fairly wealthy people from other countries send their kids to English private schools. I guess because of the tradition.

But I think any country where there's people with money there will also be private schools. And international schools which are also private.

Well the "general gist" of the thing which you can't be bothered to Google yourself is that of course NI has private schools too - have you ever heard of Methodist College (Methody), Campbell College, Hunterhouse and several others I can't remember. Several grammar schools (or at least with Grammar in their name) in NI are also private. Also, given that you are geographically attached to the Republic of Ireland and unless you are living in some kind of bubble, surely you have heard of schools like Clongowes, Blackrock College, Wesley etc in Dublin?

That gives figures for Edinburgh not England.

It would depend if the child is a day pupil or at a boarding school.

And no, it definitely isn't an 'English' thing. There are private schools all over the world, educating the offspring of the wealthy (and, on the rare occasion, children with an exceptional talent for something who are from a low income family and are on a scholarship or similar).

Oh so it does! 🫢 Sorry 😣

In France a lot of private schools are heavily subsidised by the state. Both buildings and staff I understand.

Definitely private schools in Wales. Just googling ‘private schools north Wales’ (not even Wales as a whole) brings up 10.

I also googled ‘percentage of children in Wales who go to private schools’ and it’s apparently 2.1% but it’s not evenly spread. Again according to google, it’s apparently 12% in Monmouthshire for example.

lol why on earth would I know that?
id assume the royal family went to private schools yes but why would I ‘surely know’ where 😂😂

honestly mumsnet is mad! If you aren’t interested in answering my little queries then move on to the next thread. I don’t want to Google, I wanted to have a discussion about it rather so I can understand it a bit more

Never heard of those schools in Dublin.
have heard of those NI ones, I knew Campbell college is a boarding school but pretty sure methody and hunter house aren’t private fee paying schools no

Just googling here, but apparently the Methody prep schools are fee-paying but the second level school isn’t.

They are pretty popular in USA, Singapore and Australia too