to wonder how much income a couple realistically must have to be able to afford private education?

[stoppingat2]

Maybe I'm just being nosey, but when I see other peoples DC being driven to sch in big Land Rovers by very yummy mummies, clearly not on their way to work themselves..I do often wonder, just how flipping rich are you? We have a joint income of 84K and couldn't contimplate it. Just how much do you have to earn to afford private school (for 2 kids)..wishful thinking!!

My brothers and I were state educated for primary, independent for secondary in some cases - I was - my dad worked at the boys' school so my "sister" school gave reduced fees for me. 2 brothers on "Governors' scholarships" ie free at a different school. One brother Grammar school, one "ordinary" state secondary.

I can't afford private education for my son myself, could if my son were to attend the school my dad (still - after all these years!!) works at, as family rate would apply - 1/3 fees - but choose not to as 1: he would have to weekly board and 2: I want him to be state educated, as does his dad.

Also on the inside having taught at both state and independent schools.

Not as extreme as darlene - we have large house with a few acres of land, but rarely go overseas on holiday and i have a relatively old car - but our local schools are dire - nearest (catchment) had 4 heads in 5 years, the la sacked the governing body, behaviour awful, staff turnover high, results as expected - awful.
Next nearest - is under special assistance from the school i teach in 30 miles away!!
we had 150 of their students bused up to us recently to help with their GCSE english - most of them had had 6 or 7 teachers for english over the past 2 years (GCSE years).
On this basis - I will not sacrifice my kids life chances because we need to live half way between their dad's work and mine (and our mortgage is cheap!).
So we economise on non- essentials and pay for their education.
I would love to be able to live in the catchment area of the school I teach in(outstanding state comp), and send them there, but house prices are 3x what ours are, and DH has to live within a certain distance of his job, and it is too far away.

Like I say, every school is so different and its luck of the catchment very often!

And in primary, so much about a child's experience is the teacher they have.

I don't see rarely going abroad and having a relatively old car is a sacrifice - that is just normal living!

I agree though about the luck of catchment, having moved frequently between catchments.

Crossed post with Loshad who said just what I was trying to....only so much better!

fair enough jandb

And to make it worse, children at Private schools do do better......tests/scores/results wise anyway.

I am not having a dig, I just think you are in a very fortunate position.

That depends on the private school though tryingtobemarypoppins. Everything depends on the individual school.

ok girlies, must go to bed..school in the morning. STATE, not in my Land Rover, but hey, who cares!! xx

And even if they did better it does not mean they will necessarily do better in life. I have every faith that my children will do whatever they want in life regardless of where they go to school.

Parents have far more power than schools.

I have to go and finish marking my state school essays.

Right off to bed now.....worrying that £150 a week after all bills isn't very stable!

I've just finished my state school coursework..bring on half term!!!

no i honestly didn't think you were, i genuinely look out of the window every morning and think how lucky i am, though it still doesn't stop one feeling short of cash most of the time, but I really do know we are very lucky - i love my job, live in a nice house, my DH likes his job and our dc are happy.
i was just trying to state the reasons, not suggesting we are hard done by

I've known folk on smallish wages living in 3 bed semis worth about 90 thousand who sent their kids to private schools.

DS's school in London was about 10k per year. Was fine, we didn't own a house in London though and DH is one of the dreaded bankers. I also made good money before having kids which we had put aside.

Now we are back in a public school in Oz and the money we were spending on school is going towards paying off our little house so we can afford one bug enough to settle down in with the kids.

So a combination of good salaries and careful long term planning.

Last time I checked, the fees for independent for our dcs would be more than dh's and my joint income. So that rather lets me off the hook. State schools in the part of town where we can afford to live are good rather than outstanding, but we are satisfied. Besides, it wouldn't really make much difference if we weren't...

Seriously depends where you are- I'm in NI, and worked in a uniform shop last summer after finishing uni. Fees at the most expensive prep in Belfast are £3,300 a year. We had a lady in who had just moved across from England saying that she was paying £12,000 a year and was being crippled by the cost, waxing lyrical about our bargain private school costs.

I've often wondered the same thing myself. We have a fairly decent income but something like private school is just not on our radar. I can't ever imagine being able to afford anything like that. I feel the same way when I watch Portland Babies seeing women give birth at the Portland Hospital where it costs 20k+ per birth, I'm just amazed that people have that kind of money.

Lots of health insurance covers maternity costs (particularly if you work for the yanks), so you don't pay out of your pocket.

Hello, both my DSs (5 and 8 years) go to private school, DH did earn a good wage (over 100k) BUT then started his own business and things have been shaky for a couple of years, looking better now but still not up to previous wage.

Best state schools in our area are Catholic and wouldn't even consider my DSs (I did ask)who as yet have not decided what religion they will choose when they are old enough