School fees have risen by 19% in the space of 12 months

[Findingfactsaboutfees]

AIBU to think this is outrageous ?! Fees are exorbitant anyhow and in the last 12 months we have had an increase of 19% by way of 2 increases in a 12 month period. Fees per year for the senior school are £16690 per year and do not include state of the art facilities as other local schools do. The junior school fees aren't much less either! This is a school in the north of England. If you are paying for education, where are you based and how much do you pay? I wonder whether it is comparable.

Private education will only be for the ultra-rich if fees continue to rise at the rate that they are. It is unsustainable for most working professionals who are comfortable but not ultra-wealthy! Parents locally have tried to take their children out but can't as there are no state school places to be had within a 12 mile radius. The only other option is home schooling which isn't possible when the parents are working full time. We're not yet at the point where we are thinking of taking our child out of school but hearing the plight of those who are in the process of trying to is worrying. I've always been a labour voter but if they do go ahead with the introduction of VAT, I fear it's going to get even worse.

If this thread wasn't started as a goad, it's astonishingly oblivious to the plight of millions of people struggling to heat or eat. That obliviousness is no more attractive than a deliberate goad.

I strongly suspect she ‘gave up the place’ as it wasn’t the state school she wanted, rather than any benevolent intentions…

They are not using care, they are providing care 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Also, it gets complicated as a person's contribution to society can not be measured by taxes paid. Many low paid essential workers put in far more than they get out.

I'm a private school parent, and its nonsense to assert private education isnt a luxury commodity with the eye watering fees attached to them. Its exactly the same as someone who pays for a private doctor, because they don't feel the standards or care are high enough at their local hospital, its a preserve of the those who can afford it.

If you can afford 20K+ on fees, you can probably afford to move to an area where the state school provision is good, or at the least, beef up your DC's education with private tutors etc. I don't know any child minding costs that would equal the costs of private school with all the money pit add ons of uniform, trips, special workshops, specialist lessons etc, etc, etc...

19% across 2 years is higher than most of the private schools around here, but your fees are also a fair bit lower. Even the cheapest senior is several thousand pounds a year more than that. I would like to think that the extent of the increases is a temporary problem because of the current rate of inflation, but the risk of VAT being added is a very real one if the Labour Party get in, so you need to bear that in mind.

With regard to negative posters - just ignore them. I don’t know why they bother to even read threads like this, let alone comment.

What will be amusing to see is if the VAT on fees is brought in, and a lot of private parents decide to make the switch to state, is all these people starting to moan about how there aren’t enough state school places at R, Y7 and Y12. Current private school parents will use the money to pay for tutoring and expensive houses in decent state catchments, which will give them a better chance than most at getting a place at a decent state school.

For those who say that private school is a luxury, I don’t think that my children being able to be educated in a class of well behaved, content and engaged children, with happy teachers, is a luxury. You only have to read other threads on here to realise the diabolical situation of many state schools. Do I think the state schools should improve? Yes of course I do. Taxing or banning private schools isn’t going to help state schools though. Improve state schools rather than trying to drag private schools down.

Private school is no more of a luxury than private healthcare. We have an NHS in the same way that we have state education. Add VAT to private healthcare and insurance premiums as well.

Plenty of “luxury” items aren’t subject to VAT, air fares being a good example (air passenger duty is far less than the equivalent VAT would be in many cases). You can buy expensive designer children’s clothes free from VAT.

Why are people allowed to complain about the increased prices of holidays, restaurants and days out for example, but as soon as someone mentions school fees, they’re fair game for vile and nasty comments?

If anyone is struggling to understand why the OP isn’t getting much sympathy;

https://apple.news/AVwqtsJj8STG4F5fi38yM0w

It's her whole attitude, we should be greatfull she gave up the place to make room for someone else when she can afford to privately educate. No we shouldn't be greatfull.

Plenty of “luxury” items aren’t subject to VAT, air fares being a good example (air passenger duty is far less than the equivalent VAT would be in many cases). You can buy expensive designer children’s clothes free from VAT. Why are people allowed to complain about the increased prices of holidays, restaurants and days out for example, but as soon as someone mentions school fees, they’re fair game for vile and nasty comments?

Because buying a Rolex doesn’t also mean buying a position of power over the public so you can fiddle the rules to suit yourself at their expense.

But it is a luxury, as far out of my range as buying a new Porsche would be. So I don't drive a Porsche but a Vauxhall.

•I just think 19% in one year is a lot and I know of a lot of parents who are looking to take their children out and are struggling to pay fees. It feels like social cleansing just as has been done with residential property in cities.•

My father's nursing home has just put up its fees by a similar amount.

If a child is bright then they can do well in a state school. My son dropped out after his GCSEs and now works in a pub (good for him as he hated education and is happy). My daughter worked so hard and has an offer for Cambridge.
I couldn’t have bought a better outcome for her in a private school, and would have cried at the money wasted on him!

It's normally people whose babies and toddlers went to nursery who come out with this line.

I personally don't know why couples have children and then both have jobs which mean they never see them, but there you go.

My children went to schools with Saturday school until they went to boarding school, so I must really hate them! I'm bloody glad to be relieved of school fees, though.

@Findingfactsaboutfees How can you possibly be a Labour voter and support private education? Genuine question. Labour has always loathed private education (unless they are using it for their own children, in which case there are "good reasons") and has made no secret of it...

So you're happy for inequality in education as long as you can afford it for your kids but once you can't afford it then it's outrageous. Right 🙄

Inflation happened. Everything is getting more expensive. Not sure why this is a surprise?

@Findingfactsaboutfees Hospital doctors are not middle income. They deserve the rises that juniors are asking for, but please just google to find out what the uk middle income is. Take some perspective from that.

I'm sorry but there is people that can't afford to eat and heat their homes 🙄 can't afford it go without

“Buying a position of power”? You mean paying for a standard of education which should be available to everyone? No one is “fiddling the rules”. Perhaps people should concentrate on improving the schools that 94% of the population attend rather than whinging about the other 6%. Sort the state system out and the majority of people wouldn’t feel the need to send their children to private schools.

Also show me nurses sending their bairns to private school 😂

Exactly this. Then bleat about the fact they have to send their kids 12 miles away to the nearest school with places. Again, state schools will not save places just in case private parents can not afford the fees anymore. In many cases there are not enough spaces in local state schools for kids already using state education.

My daughter is going to a private school in September so I am by no means a private school hater. Both my husband and I are lawyers. He earns 10x what I earn and is now a partner. I am a senior associate. He went to a state school. I went to a private school. That said we want our daughter to go to the local private school because it is one of the best and most elite in the country. If it was a mediocre private school I don't think it's worth the money.

Wahh wahh

Forgive me for not caring that the price of buying your children an unfair advantage over mine has gone up a bit 🙄

Not a luxury then 😂

“Sort the state system out and the majority of people wouldn’t feel the need to send their children to private schools.”

The state system is very variable. There are some amazing schools which are, in my opinion, far better for the DC and their parents than many private schools. However, the demands on teachers in the state system can be extreme due to the amount of kids in a class and the paperwork required these days across the board. I want good schools for all DC that are fair on the teachers too. On thing many private schools do actually do is provide a better working environment for teaching staff. People tend to forget that. They make it all about fairness amongst the DC. There is more to it than that.

If other families locally are managing to get their kids to the state school 12 miles away I guess you could too. Problem solved and money saved.