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.

Private school isn’t just about exam results and getting into top universities. It’s about giving children every opportunity to see what they enjoy and what they are good at.

Of course there are children in state schools who do well (I attended a state school so am well aware of that) but, for every child like that, there are lots more who slip through the net and aren’t given enough opportunity and encouragement in the state system. Lots of children in the state system don’t reach their full potential. Are there children in the private sector who don’t take full advantage of their education? Yes, of course there are, but from what I’ve seen it’s far fewer than in the state system.

People often forget that tax, especially for the less well-off, is about more than just income tax. That sneering "most people don't even pay enough tax to cover their state pension" comment appears ignorant of the fact that poorer people pay a much larger % of their total income in tax than do the wealthy.

Say you work 40 hour weeks on minimum wage, & manage to pull in almost £21k a year. You'll pay approx £90 a month income tax, & approx £90 NI, leaving you the princely sum of £1320 net. Take off at least £150 for an average council tax cost - you now have £1170 left to pay all your bills. But most of your purchases attract 20% VAT. Most of your money WILL be spent every month, because you don't have enough to save, despite the hours you put in, working just as hard as most people on much larger salaries, so you will be paying approx £200 a month in VAT on top.
That's a rough total of £530 a month in tax, from a gross income of £1750.

Do that from the age of 18 - 67, & you will have paid £311k in tax. Certainly enough, over 5 decades of careful funds management, to have covered your lamentably small state pension. The problem here isn't people "not paying enough tax", it's government incompetence in tax allocation & money management.

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

Assuming you weren't at one of the really big name public schools It really isn't that much of an advantage. My D.C. all went to state schools and have all done very, very well in life so far, far exceeding public school contemporaries. Although they haven't tried to enter politics!

So many people have absolutely no awareness of just how critical it is to have a healthy independent school sector for everybody in the country. It serves two key functions:

1. Independent schools are not dependent on government funding. They are free to set their own standards with regards to the quality and quantity of education they provide. This raises the bar for everyone by putting pressure on government to keep state funded education standards high. They don't always reach the same levels, and opinion will be split on whether a state education is as good as an independent one. But there's no doubt schools are underfunded as it is, and without an independent sector, that does a completely different cost/benefit calculation, those standards would gradually fall away even further.
2. Independent schools are free to teach a curriculum that they deem appropriate, and by extension that the families of their students deem appropriate. The government of the future may one day decide it's not important to teach children about, e.g. WW2 and the Holocaust, or the theory of evolution. Free from government control of the curriculum the Independent sector helps ensure people are educated on what people other than politicians feel is important.

There is a third which involves the freedom to combine religious and academic education, but most people have a hard enough time buying the fact that 1 & 2 are already a sufficiently critical benefit to the whole of our society. When you hear talk of of "banning" private schools, just think "handing complete control of education to the next extreme left/right wing government this country elects in 10, 20, 50 years, and it's the stuff of dystopian nightmares.

Independent schools with charitable status are by definition not businesses. They don't have shareholders earning profits. Removing that charitable status would have undesirable consequences, not least of which is making it unaffordable for even more families, leaving them only more elitist institutions.

It is a terrible policy loved especially by the hardline authoritarian left, but one the authoritarian right also feel ambivalent about at best.

If you are a libertarian, if you believe in freedom, you should strongly oppose attacks on independent education. Unfortunately many people can't see past the unavoidable unfairness and elitism that comes with it. Many don't even care that the alternatives wouldn't be better for them (the politics of envy), but worse still most are too naïve to imagine that the alternatives would be worse for them.

Attempts to sell the benefits of abolishing independent education as "more money into the state sector" and the frankly laughable "more sharp elbowed parents demanding better" are just fantasies.

@Emotionalstorm - that is what you are buying for your DC given your circumstances.
For others, private school means a safe space for their DC with SEN. Just a quieter environment where they won’t get bullied or have to comply with rigid rules that lead to anxiety and school refusal. Some of those parents don’t want to pay for a luxury item. Just a safe space for their DC - which really the government should provide. I think the government should be funding part of the school fees for all children with SEN… but then we have huge issues with waiting lists and the official diagnosis of SEN in some areas. Catch 22

That’s brilliant, but it’s a rarity. The majority of state schools, including the one my DC went to, don’t have the resources to do anything like this.

It's absolutely a luxury I am just saying. There are so many private schools in my opinion that are simply not worth the fees. Even though money is not an issue for us, I would never send my daughter to any private school that wasn't very selective and one of the very top ones e.g St Paul's Girls, Wimbledon High etc.

"NEEDED" - well, if it were needed, and he had an ECHP and that was literally the only school that could protect him, you could be getting it for free? Are you aware of that?

I'd personally have found a better state school. Privates are actually shit at dealing with autistic/adhd children as they want everyone to progress at the same rate and expect the same grades/behaviour from all irrespective of special needs.

I say this as a parent of a disabled child and feel glad that the state sector is there. Private is shocking for SEND (just in case anyone is reading this thinking, I will just send them private)

I will also add that the standard of teaching is much higher in the state sector. The reason privates get better grades is generally due to a brighter cohort generally (genes) and smaller classes. It's not due to better teaching. You don't even have to be a qualified teacher to teach in the private sector. You're paying to not mix with the riff raff - let's be honest.

I'm so confused why you would come and post this on AIBU. Do you not know there's an education board or you just wanted to show off? I can't stand people like you.

Like I said previously, we are not looking to move our child and can comfortably afford the fees

Oh good.
Lucky you.
I was worrying that you'd be scrimping and saving to keep your child at school, but you can comfortably afford the fees so no worries, then.

I don't mean to speak for parents with kids that have learning difficulties. I can't imagine what you're going through. This is just my opinion for parents with kids that do not have special needs.

Yep.
Tone deaf.

So go somewhere else.

@Another76543 "Private school isn’t just about exam results and getting into top universities. It’s about giving children every opportunity to see what they enjoy and what they are good at."

This!!! I went to state school, albeit in a different country, and I am shocked by how much the conversation here seems to centre entirely around exam grades, as if the goal of an education is to take exams rather than broaden your perspectives, deepen your understanding of the world and prepare you for a world with complex information and challenges.

So many comments on MN are some version of, "I'm glad I didn't pay for private school, my child went to state and left with a good set of A levels."

I feel I got a well rounded education at my state school so I'm definitely not saying you have to go private to get a holistic education, but somehow everyone just focuses on exam results! You can do well on exams and still not be well educated!

It's no wonder though - university admissions here are mostly based on how you perform on a handful of tests, and then graduate programmes only care if you have a first or a 2.1, rather than the content of your education. So if all anyone looks at are your credentials rather than your knowledge and abilities, I guess it makes sense that the UK has an education system designed to deliver credentials, hence why the education system doesn't compare well to those in many other countries.

You've always been a Labour voter yet you send your children to private school? Labour: the party of the working classes. You are a champagne socialist with capitalist views, so please don't pretend otherwise.

Assuming you weren't at one of the really big name public schools It really isn't that much of an advantage. My D.C. all went to state schools and have all done very, very well in life so far, far exceeding public school contemporaries.

Privately educated people are disproportionately represented at Oxbridge and in jobs paying the most and with the most power. (By disproportionately I mean taking into account what proportion of the brightest students attend private and state schools.)

I don't think people are saying that any parent, let alone any child, is evil for going private. Just that it is a bit insensitive to complain about rises in school fees on a public forum when some people cannot afford food. Also of course schools need to put fees up, they need to pay their staff more, pay more for heating ect. The nature of private schools is also that they can charge what people are prepared to pay.

We could afford to send out DC to private school when he is older, although like you it might make our budgets tight. I really don't intend to though, and want to try to support our local state schools in whatever way I can. However, in your situation, I can see why you have made the decision, we might do the same as you too, who can tell. We are fortunate to have the option though, a lot of people who have equal need, cannot event afford private tuition, let alone private school fees. It is just unfair, but that is not your fault and I hope no one would paint you as evil for doing the best you can for your child. I am sorry if that is how this thread has come across.

I don't think people saying private schools shouldn't have charitable status, can be compared to people demonising migrants though. Completely different issues. One is looking at how to reduce unfair tax breaks to make a fairer society and one is trying to reduce support for some of the already most vulnerable, not really comparable.

As someone who has attended private and state, and has also taught at private and state, you're absolutely deluded if you think there's no bullying at private school.

Private school just buys a better class of bully - and more opportunity to get into county drug lines as the kids have access to money.

I would always say - move house and find a decent secondary. They do exist.

Why aren't people honest and just say they don't want to mix with riff raff ? As that's the main reason people pay for private.

"Like I said previously, we are not looking to move our child and can comfortably afford the fees. 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."

This has to be one of the most bonkers comments I have read on Mumnset. Where to start. Social cleansing of private schools?! Lol.

@SmallFerret it’s NI that’s meant to cover the cost of a pension and most people are not paying enough to cover it. You also seem to have forgotten about the cost of education, healthcare, social care etc…the hard fact is that the majority of people are not paying enough to cover what they take out of the system. £7460 per child per year to cover funding of a standard school place. So a family need to be paying £15k in tax just to cover their children’s school places if they have two kids. But they come on these threads and stamp their feet and demand that the people who are paying for it pay more. There are some people on lower incomes that do contribute to society in other ways (e.g. carers) but there are plenty more that don’t.

Why aren't people honest and just say they don't want to mix with riff raff ? As that's the main reason people pay for private

Well exactly.

If it makes you feel better than I will be voting conservative while partaking in private school services for my child.

I went to Oxford and there were tonnes of state school people around. They form at least 50% of the intake on my course.

However, I work in a Silver Circle law firm and most of my colleagues come from private school (over 75%).

At least you are authentic

I can't comment on the qualifications of the teachers but they don't get less time in the classroom - the longer holidays merely offset the longer school days.