To make my ds sit for an entrance exam for a private school I can never afford?

[lexlee]

We live two streets away from a very expensive but great private school. DS is clever (particularly in Maths and music) and has already sat exams for the selective schools. I am confident he could pass the exam, but at the moment unless he got a 100% scholarship, it is is not affordable.

For some reason, I have my heart set on him going to the school. I just know he would thrive there.My husband says it is wasting everyone's time, notwithstanding the 150 registration/exam fee. If ds gets in but no meaningful scholarship is offered then it is a waste and ds will be disappointed. The school website says the only scholarship they give is 10% of the fees.

I have been a sahm for the last 10 years and have thought about returning to work just so we could afford the school. We worked out I need to earn at least 25k a year to afford the school. I am not sure what work I could get - I only ever worked as a civil servant in another country and have never worked in the UK. But what job pays 25k working between school hours?

Oh well, sorry for this rant!

Any advice is welcome.

Agree with others. Without knowing your qualifications and/or skills, it's impossible to say. With private school you are looking at additional money on top of fees however, so bare that in mind when you do your calculations.

Of course he should sit the exam. If anything it is good practice at sitting exams. Pick up the phone and speak to the school. A lot of schools don't openly advertise that they have funds to pay for those who can't afford the fees. Also there are quite a few charities that will pay for school fees if the child passes the entrance exams. The school will know about these charities.

As for getting a job, I would start your own business. After being out of the workplace for 10 years you are starting from scratch and it isn't worth getting a job IMO as the pay will be minimal.

I work in a private school and staff (including support staff) get a 50% reduction in fees this is pro rated if part time. There are a couple of 100% bursaries on offer and various other smaller ones plus some pretty low scholarships. I think that getting a job in the school could be the way to go plus a small bursary.

It is utterly pointless. Stop thinking about it and move on.

I dunno. If this gives the OP the motivation to restart her career after a long break in order to pay the 50% of fees not covered by a bursary it's possible that it might be worth its weight in gold.

I wouldn't personally send my child to independent school if they were likely to be the poor relation so to speak.

Unless you are likely to get a 100% scholarship or bursary, then I wouldn't let my child sit the test. Unless you're a lawyer or doctor (or similar profession), then it's unlikely you will get a??25k salary. I'm sure you child will get a great education at the selective schools.

You and your husband could do what a lot of us do - both work full time and yes amazingly loads of us have to take jobs which do not fit around school hours. I know it's a strange thought and might feel difficult but yes we suffer that to get our children a good education. So yes you could afford 100% of the fees. So go and do it!