To ask if you do/would get into debt for school fees?

[AgentRoss]

• 8 year old.
• 99% of LA secondary schools are dreadful. Some are simply riot control.
• Moving isn't an option.
• Increasing our income is unlikely but we're looking.
• We don't drive for medical reasons so can't go to a school further away.
• We have no debt apart from our mortgage which is about half way through.
• We have some savings but our house is literally falling apart so we MUST spend them on that.

Are we being stupid thinking about getting into a not insignificant amount of debt to pay for private school? We could pay maybe half the cost of the fees and exams without borrowing but that excludes uniforms, extra-cirricular activities, all the other random stuff. We are confident we could get the credit at good rates.

Obviously this would then have a knock on effect on the amount of financial support we could provide for uni, first house etc.

Plus the headache of getting back into debt we've worked hard to get out of and the finincial imlact it would have on us long term.

State boarding school? So maybe there is no catchment area?
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_boarding_schools_in_England_and_Wales
This school is known for its generous bursaries
www.christs-hospital.org.uk/

No way, unless perhaps I had a rich and sympathetic family to borrow from. But I would investigate bursaries and every option of moving over the next couple of years. And although I wouldn't make promises I couldn't keep just to get int a school, I would support my child if she herself wanted to be baptised (you don't say whether DD herself has any interest or faith, though you say your families do).

The other one my husband went to and hated and he refuses to even consider it. TBH what I've looked into, I support this decision

Presumably if you have a DD who is nearly high school age, your DH has been out of school for at least a decade? The school could have changed a hundredfold in that time

Try Christ’s hospital as suggested. It’s boarding so doesn’t matter if you’re not local. Also, other schools offer good bursaries for bright kids. Do a bit of research and you will turn up some options.
Good luck and ignore the carpers - you know your situation best.

How tricky..... have you looked at bursaries and scholarships? I think good education is so important but I don’t think I’d risk the roof over my kids’ head. We have sent 3 to private primary with little spare cash and dipping into the overdraft if we have a ‘nice’ holiday because at the time the eldest started, there were no local primaries we could have got a place at that were decent. Also we are in a grammar area and private primary is substantially cheaper than secondary and the hope was obviously that they’d get a good grounding and go to grammar. I think we would have to contemplate private secondary if grammar didn’t work out because the existence of the grammar has such a bad effect on the local state secondaries but it would be a stretch.

I used to have a job which involved visiting a lot of schools (think supply teaching for half a day at a time, but not).

I rapidly learned that Ofsted reports, inc special measures, had little relation to what I saw on the ground. I saw plenty of allegedly outstanding schools where crowd control was an issue, or the kids looked miserable, and more than a few schools with shocking Ofsted reports, where the kids were bright, engaged and thoroughly pleasant.

I'd visit all the local schools before you make too much of a judgement. You may be pleasantly surprised - a bad Ofsted often spurs a school into major improvements.

Personally, I'd save your money for private sixth form; that's where you get most bang for your buck in terms of improving future life chances.

I do laugh slightly at all those posters blithely saying; "move to a grammar area." I presume they're aware that the majority of children in these areas don't go to grammar school?

I live in Kent and know more that one family who has moved here for the 'wonderful' grammar system, apparently failing to realise that it's not a 'grammar' system, but a selective system - and it's not guaranteed that their dc will go to a grammar school. When their child is 'deemed suitable for a high school education', they're suddenly and loudly joining STEP (Stop the Eleven Plus).

I would move nearer a good state school. It will be much cheaper and less risky than trying to keep up with private school fees and with the extra things they will want to be involved in if they go to private school.

I would only borrow through a payment plan that we could cope with paying off within each year, though as others said looking bursaries and scholarships might be able to help. Probably wouldn't while there are other large expenses like doing up a house though unless you could get significant help. Paying for a tutor instead as others have suggested seems a more viable option alongside a special measure school which may improve.

It's rough living in an educational black hole and I'm surprised how many people seem to think they don't exist. The two closest schools and most realistic are in special measures with 10% and 16% for GCSEs, regularly in local news for thefts and violence, and have had so many headteachers changes in the last few years (and each time a uniform change which is heavily complained about). There are plenty of similar in the city where I live beyond where we can get in. There are a few good schools in our LA but it's entirely unrealistic we would get in from where we live.

However, as others said, there is time for change. Many schools do make great turnarounds in that time and many places are seeing new schools and pushes for transport for UTCs and similar which may suit from Y10 though if the new places are accessible and are better is a bit a mixed bag (our closest UTC has far better GCSE results but rated worse by OFTED) and as said, many are closing not many years after they open which makes it hard to plan.

This would be incredibly unreasonable. Children can do well in all types of secondary schools. Even the worst ones. Getting yourself into debt over something that you can quite literally get for free is ludicrous.

This would be like paying for your medical treatments with money you don't have instead of getting it on the NHS.

A private school won't do much good if you're having your house repossessed due to your debts spiralling out of control - which it will when funding private school for 5+ years.

Yes. My parents did. My husbands parents did. As aco sequence we haven't needed much finacial assistance in adulthood. I would sooner leave my children with no one else to rely on than unable to rely on themselves. I can understand why people would sooner use state schools. It's so easy isn't it? But if you are living in an area with poor state schools then it is very short sighted.

Do also plan ahead for scholarships/bursaries

Sorry, had to rush the stupid cat to the emergency vets.
I'll read through everyone's thoughts.
Thanks for your replies.

No way are years of private school fees cheaper than moving.

No way are years of private school fees cheaper than moving

We did 9 years of primary school fees, it comes nowhere near the cost of moving!

Well could you please explain your working cause I dont see how that's possible.

Don’t be ridiculous- and I say that as someone with two children around the age of your daughter at private school- it simply isn’t worth it. A bright child with plenty of home support, private tutors and plenty of activities outside of school to meet nice wee friends will do just as well. We do it as we can afford it. But honestly not worth getting into debt for.

We did 9 years of primary school fees, it comes nowhere near the cost of moving!

OP is considering private secondary which is much more expensive than primary school fees. Assuming 7 years of private fees (from Y7 to Y13), I’d estimate a minimum total of £120k in fees (at today’s prices).

You need to visit the schools, attend open days etc. (It seems like you haven’t, apologies if I’ve misunderstood.)

Assuming nothing changes as a result of seeing the schools, I’d personally consider getting your house into a state where you can rent it out, and relocating (permanently, or at least until DD is through secondary), to the catchment of a good high school, assuming local rules don’t prohibit this. I don’t endorse relocation to get into the school before moving back - it’s fraud - but in your circumstances I’d genuinely look to permanently relocate and it seems like this is the way to do it.

OP is considering private secondary which is much more expensive than primary school fees. Assuming 7 years of private fees (from Y7 to Y13), I’d estimate a minimum total of £120k in fees (at today’s prices)

Of course secondary is more expensive. The ones near here we were considering for secondary are still nowhere near £120k for her secondary school career.

My house is worth maybe £90k even when we've spent the money doing it up. Our mortgage is down to about £45k but we probably need to spend at least another £10k on it after everything else we've already spent.

We will have spent more than that's worth because we stupidly didn't realise what we were buying.

Our income is now over a third less than it was and although we didn't max out the mortgage then, we probably wouldn't be able to get a much bigger mortgage now. If we did, due the amount we'd be borrowing, the interest rate wouldn't be as good as ours is now.

Houses in a decent catchment area start at around £180k I think. They are still going for asking price. Our daily costs eg commuting would also increase significantly.

School fees average out at about £10k a year plus exams and whatever else. As I say, it's a cheaper school.

That is how it is not cheaper to move.

My private secondary was £30k a year, and this was 30 years ago. I guess it depends on the school.

op you’re in a dreadful situation. I would do as others suggest and look at bursaries, which are means tested. Also look at going out of borough, which is easy and very common where I live.

I think a good state secondary is miles better than a good private, just in terms of sociability and also on principle. But faced with failing schools and health problems I would certainly look into alternatives.

What are your dd’s classmates thinking of doing?

Arse, a state school would be my preference too.

Someone I know rented a house in a good area for a few months just to get her child in a good local school, she didn’t even live there. Would something like that be an option? I know that would still be expensive but surely a lot less than private.

So your house is worth 90k, you will have a mortgage for 60k and have to pay 60k school fees.

I think you would be out of your depth.

I honestly don't know how parents in the UK afford the private school fees. No way cojd we afford that. I wish you the best of luck.