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.

So nice to know that it's critical to have good independent schools. And that they raise the bar for the rest of us plebs. Much the same way the grammar school I attended raised the bar. Fine for those of us who passed the 11plus,bad for those who didn't.

They also have a better teacher to student ratio. At my private school, the math classes were five students to one teacher.

For a lot of us who aren’t white the wrong school can get our kids killed as they join gangs etc. If only State schools took gang culture seriously - but they don’t because it doesn’t tend to impact white kids. I know single black mums breaking the bank ton send their kids to private for this reason.

@EndOfEternity
I agree with your post in many ways - but please don't tar Eton with an imaginary "Eton brush". Eton is not the stereotype that people think it is! Of the various schools my DC have been to (all independent), Eton has been the nicest, happiest and most caring of all of them. The real Eton is very different from whatever it is that people imagine.

State Grammars and Private schools often have the same social demographic. Lets not pretend the only difference isn’t tutoring and buying into catchment vs fees.

I'm not against independent schools at all. I don't really care whether someone educates their children privately or not. I personally can't afford it but if I could I wouldn't rule it out. But this thread annoys me so much, especially because it's on AIBU. There are lots of private education threads on the education board that gets better responses because...well it seems there's a larger percentage of people on there who privately educate their children so it makes sense. I think the OP just wanted a lot of responses so posted on AIBU and is now getting flamed, rightfully so. Imagine going into a room where some are struggling to make ends meet and then whinging about the vast increase of private school fees, I mean come on 🙄

That’s like saying ‘buying a standard of car that should be available to everyone’ because you have a brand new Mercedes versus my old banger. It’s not available to everyone that’s the point.

They won’t be improved because of the system you’re paying to perpetuate

I’m loving all these ‘don’t be angry with me, be angry at the people who force me to send my kids to private school’

You mean the people that are only where they are due to the fact they went to private school themselves..?

couldn’t make it up

Actually I am very working class. I just passed the 11plus which was a huge advantage. I actually did my A levels at a technical college and surprisingly enough there were several people in my class who had gone to fee paying schools and failed their O levels and had to retake. Imagine spending all that money on fees to find you are at a technical college with kids that you had looked down on for only going to the local grammar! It's a long time ago now, but it did make me laugh!

*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%).*

Both of these are wildly disproportionate when you consider that of all the students achieving Astar Astar A or better at A level, ~75% of them come from the state sector. Oxford are doing better now though, they're up to ~68% state intake.

You're complaining in the wrong place @Findingfactsaboutfees If you aren't happy with the cost or service provided to you by a business then you need to speak to them about it. Or choose another business.

You should find out if they're intending on passing on any of the cost to you of having to pay VAT once their dodgy tax dodge loophole is closed. I would.

Good luck. I know the last thing you want to do is to be forced to vote Tory over having this. I mean, you could have a look at the state of the country and it's public services and decide that there's something bigger going on but up to you.

Hopefully your children won't be have to go into ( shudders) state education, like the 93% of the rest of us. How would they ever cope?

Indeed. I'm chair of governors for a local primary and at the governing board meeting last night, the head took us through the current financial position. Costs - especially of energy - have skyrocketed (obviously), as have a range of others. This is going to be true for independent schools, too - and they're businesses, so their recourse is to raise fees.

State schools, of course, just go into the red...

So annoying that any question about private education turns into a thread about private vs state. It’s a perfectly valid topic, and somewhat ironically I agree that private schools shouldn’t exist, but while they do I will use them if I can - but the debate doesn’t address the matter in hand.

Like you, OP, we are a two working parent household and send our DD to private school. Yes we have a good income, but we made a choice to prioritise our DD’s education so our income is stretched and fee rises will be very difficult. As someone who is a second generation immigrant, my parents sacrificed so much to do the same for me (even seeing their family back home less) because to them (and me) there is nothing more important than education, at the right school for the child. For them, it was also a way to balance out the racism and sexism I would likely face in the job market and workplace. And it undeniably has helped with that. It remains a factor in our choice for our mixed race child. We know we are exceptionally lucky we can afford this choice.

If fees go up a lot more, I’m not sure how we will manage but we put aside any leftover money each month into an account to address likely increases in the future. Rises are inevitable. I don’t know that we’d manage if VAT becomes payable. It won’t stop me voting out the Tories though, whose policies across the board ONLY assist the ultra rich. I think many at the school would struggle if VAT becomes payable - I can only think of 2 really super rich families in DD’s class. Everyone else has two working parents and there is a lot of chat about the fear of losing an income.

Our school fees have gone up this year. Though they have not gone up by as high a percentage as yours, the starting point was much higher. We are in London, so that’s inevitable but they really are MUCH higher than yours and so I saw your post and thought that was pretty good! Schools have rising costs like electricity and wages to meet CoL issues for the staff (not just teachers but ALL support staff including the cooks and cleaners etc) so I think increases are fair. It is important to recognise that schools are not profit making, so when there are rises in costs, they have to be met by fees.

So I don’t think the position is unfair, albeit that it is tricky. Good luck OP.

We always said we wouldn’t go to private school (couldn’t afford it anyway right now). But state school and if needed pay for a tutor which for us is better use of our money.

It does suck that the prices have increase esp if you’re not super wealthy with all the other increase costs too. I would pull them out and look at a decent state school

'I'm not against independent schools at all. I don't really care whether someone educates their children privately or not.'

Me either, but the whining about fee or about how parents who go private are perceived really gets on my tits.

it's privilege and money. You have it, you've used it, why give a stuff about what anyone else thinks?

Sorry for the essay! Didn’t realise how long that was!

This post makes your school sound much like my children's bog standard comprehensive.. I hope you are getting far more than that for your money

I think the argument we need doctors is poor. We also need cleaners to make sure hospitals are sanitary, what about their childcare costs going up and pushing them into poverty? If doctors can’t afford the school they can send them to state school and pay for a childminder.

I think if you want to pay for an advantage for your children you aren’t going to get any sympathy. Most people don’t even get this as a choice.

'but we made a choice to prioritise our DD’s education '

Oh for fucks sake. THIS AGAIN. like WC people and everyone else chooses NOT to prioritise their child's education.

And yet despite these apparently unqualified teachers and less time in the classroom, the children generally have better outcomes, if you are looking at exam results, universities, jobs etc. Have you thought why this might be?

The “unqualified” teachers often come from another job where they have real life experience of their subject, rather than being career teachers. For example, an engineer who has had an actual job in engineering rather than just learning the theory behind the teaching. Or an economics teacher who has got real life experience of financial markets rather than just text book knowledge. So whilst they might be “unqualified” teachers on paper, that does not mean they are of lesser quality. Teachers with real life experience are often, arguably, more inspiring for students. They haven’t been ground down over the years with OFSTED inspections and constraints of the national curriculum.

As for the argument about having less time in the classroom, I’d choose quality over quantity. A longer lesson time is of no use if 75% of that time is spend on crowd control and dealing with disruptive pupils.

In any case, private schools often have much longer days, starting earlier and finishing later, and often Saturday school as well.

I meant in light of our good income it was what we decided to prioritise. I thought that was pretty clear in the context? Some people have a good income but make other choices.

People cite these smaller class sizes but it isn't really borne out. There were only 5 people in my A-Level History class at a completely ordinary state school with a Sixth Form of 200 people.

We’re in London, the private school nearest is about £4.5k per term for primary, £6k for secondary. Way out of reach for us.

' School starts at 8am without additional cost and officially finishes at 4pm. There are lots of free after school clubs and the library is open until 6/6:30pm with staff support available too. Given that the kids have the opportunity to take part in various sports as part of school, it takes away the need for additional activities outside of school.'

I hope you aren't paying for this because this is EXACTLY what our DC's state secondaries are like, along with all the other secondaries around here. They can go in from 7.30 pm, classes end 3pm when extra curriculars take over. Library, music rooms, and school bases stay open til 6pm. 8pm for the GCSE students.

They actually start early as the free swimming, basket ball club, orchestra, band and a few others are at 7.30am each day. Oh and free breakfast is available in the canteen from 7.30am for any pupil who wants/needs it. Not fancy, porridge, toast & fruit basically.

I didn't know there was an education board. I use the app and it's not the easiest to navigate. It wasn't intended to be a boast post. For context, my child's year group includes children who's parents are university lecturers, a librarian, teachers, doctors, nurses, architects, business owners, taxi driver, a hr consultant, lawyer, electrician, sports coach and a family who are quite open about the fact their child's school fees are paid for by a great uncle who left some money to be spent on education, university and related cost for their kids. Most of those jobs seem relatively normal to me and are a result of hard work and/or education. I find some of these comments very judgemental. I wasn't aiming my post at those who don't pay fees and my question was about whether 19% is unreasonable in comparison to other schools.