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.

It's a common error to believe that NI is all put toward pensions, the NHS, or social care. It isn't, & no statue exists to ringfence it for that purpose. If there were, there would be enough money to fund all the services you mention.

You seem to have forgotten the purpose of society - that to obtain general wellbeing, the better off should pay more, to support a system including those who are already paying as much as they are able. And the government in charge of managing those funds should be looking at maximising general weal, not promoting big business & tax breaks for the already wealthy.

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.
Most people on lower incomes are contributing massively to society.
Unless you want to live in a country where your ailing grandma's hygiene needs are ignored, there is no food on supermarket shelves. no buses, no rubbish bin collections, no lights coming on when you turn a switch & no clean water coming out of your tap. Most of that functional gubbins only comes about because millions of people on minimum or low wages are a vital part of making that infrastructure work.

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
The main purpose of state education is to condition kids to work the kind of 40 hour weeks mentioned above. Providing compliant fodder that moves smoothly from classroom to forklift truck & care home loos. The government, & society, is getting good value for its £15k investment: 11 years school costs in return for 50 years labour.

'I didn't know there was an education board. I use the app and it's not the easiest to navigate.'

Don't let anyone chase you away OP. You're outraged about something that most of us don't give a shiny shit about - but it's up to you where you post.
You might get more sympathy on Education - or maybe not. Who knows.

It's up to you what you spend your money on.

I don't think you're boasting. I think you're a mug.

Yes we have a good income, but we made a choice to prioritise our DD’s education

My least favourite trope of these threads - only people paying for private education care about their children.

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?

Could it be because most of the schools are academically selective? Just a thought. Most state schools would get better results if they excluded the least able children.

(They are also selective by income obvs, and we know that parental income correlates to educational attainment.)

Basically, it's not that hard to get well off, bright kids to do well in exams.

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.

And

Private education will only be for the ultra-rich if fees continue to rise at the rate that they are.

Two phrases which don't sit well together considering most families have two kids still and the median UK income in 2022 was £33k

I will get out a tiny violin for all those parents who thought they were better than state education and could avoid it's shit side who are now finding out that they can't avoid private and the only state school places left available are in the 'worst' schools.

You'd think that families with such high incomes to be able to cough up this much on education will have been bright enough to see the having the political and economic sands shifting for some time against private schools and been able to work out which private school kids were going to be most vulnerable to those changes. But no.

If you want to go private, that's fine, but also understand how you fit into the pecking order and how exposed you might be if things go a bit tits up.

Yes it is up to her what she spends her money on. But when she comes on saying there are no local state school places available when they can no longer afford the fees then all sympathy goes out of the window. There are not enough local places for kids who enter secondary state in year 7, so no she carnt just expect a place to magically open up in year 9 or whatever to suit her

'Yes we have a good income, but we made a choice to prioritise our DD’s education
My least favourite trope of these threads - only people paying for private education care about their children.'

We can afford to send our kids private but aren't - so we don't give a shit, is that how it works?
As opposed to our parents who worked all the hours of the day just to make sure could ave a half decent life and make the best of our state educations?

Your user name is apt.
As I explained above, I meant that in light of our good income this is what we chose to prioritise. Not everyone does.
I think everyone wants what is best for their children and we all do whatever we can with whatever we have. I don’t deny that we are exceptionally lucky.

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?

Sure I have, & I didn't need an expensive education to work it out, but thanks for the patronising assumption that the conceptual ability is beyond me.

It's connections, luvvie - connections.

All those top government posts aren't filled by Oxbridge types due to their superior intellect or ability. Oxbridge simply placed them in the right spot at the right time. Ditto banking & industry.

We can afford to send our kids private but aren't - so we don't give a shit, is that how it works?

That's what it implies when people trot this out, yes. Your priorities are not the correct ones.
(Same, btw, we could but don't.)

choose to be arseholes for posting a sob story about their luxury product being subject to the COL that has seen families having to rely on food banks?

Couldn't agree more 😀

'Could it be because most of the schools are academically selective? Just a thought. Most state schools would get better results if they excluded the least able children'

I work in secondary education across schools of all types - Many private schools are selective but many more tutor, handhold, and teach children how to pass exams like little robots. And where they can influence a grade in any way with help, an assessment etc they do.

Look at the difference in grades during the pandemic when teachers were asked to assess their own pupils ... private schools suddenly were full of A*/9 pupils in everysubject.

You send your child to private school to buy grades. IS that good for them? No
Do they struggle if they leave to go to a state 6th form. Yes.
Does it affect their resilience, they're ability to work on their own, their self esteem? Yes
Does that matter? Yes for some, but many go from Private privilege to Oxbridge/Durham/St Andrews privilege to jobs in mummy or daddy's firm, or their friends firm, or get given seed money for a little business of their own.

Connections don’t get you good exam results or entry into a decent university any more. Any in any case, taxing school fees or banning private schools isn’t going to get rid of “connections”.

You know absolutely nothing about my life. Champagne socialist? My dad left school with no higher education. He worked as an apprentice in an electrical company and after being made redundant, he managed to get an admin job at the public sector offices next door to the company he was working at previously. He worked his way up, studying nights whilst working days and stayed in the public sector. He finished his career as a finance director. My mum studied at college when I was a baby and used to take me to class with her. She continued her education when my youngest brother went to school full time - she qualified in a healthcare profession. My parents lived with my grandparents until I was 8. They paid the bills in my grandparents house that entire time as they would have lost the home. My grandparents didn't work. When my parents moved out, they had to find a way to pay bills at both properties. They made sacrifices. A lot of them! We didn't have sofas for over a year and made do with cushions on the floor, we walked almost everywhere, my mum sewed clothes for me rather than bought them and we ate whatever was on special offer in the supermarket that week. Those are just some of the sacrifices my parents made. My parents worked really really hard to change our lives for the better so please do not make assumptions about circumstances you have no knowledge of. I have provided for myself and lived entirely independently since I was old enough to.

I've been a labour supporter all my life because historically labour policies allowed people to try and better themselves and change their fortune if they wished to do so with a bit of hard work. Things like sure start centres were a hub of community support for those who needed it. They offered classes like baby massage, baby sensory and a toy library. The healthy start scheme was another great initiative for giving those less well off the best start in life.

Any in any case, taxing school fees or banning private schools isn’t going to get rid of “connections”.

It's not taxing - it's taking away an unfair CHARITY status from a business. Keep your connections. No-one gives a damn. But don't claim charity status for businesses that only cater to the wealthy.

"allowed people to try and better themselves and change their fortune if they wished to do so with a bit of hard work"

Ah, so poor people who can't afford private schools just didn't work hard enough. Like your parents did. Serves them right to have to subsidise your private school fees through tax, and they better feel sorry for you when you find that your hard work actually wasn't enough to keep up with the private school Jones'. Bad times OP, bad times.

So, you were ok with a system that some people can afford and some can't when you were in the group that benefitted, but you aren't ok with a system that some can afford and some can't if you are in the disadvantaged group?

You signed up to a discriminatory system, now you have to live with it.

Just go to the state school that is a bit further away.

It absolutely doesn’t imply that - there is a huge chasm between “prioritising education” and “don’t give a shit”.

'I've been a labour supporter all my life'

But you'd pull it because your school fees are going up? Get a grip. Your fees going up right now having NOTHING to do with Labour and everything to do with the shit the Tories have got the country in. You'd be a bit thick to not blame the goverment who've been in charge for over a decade and are STILL trying to blame the previous guys.

I agree OP

Getting rid of a charity status does not mean that VAT would apply. Education (private schools, tutoring, university fees etc) are exempt under the VAT legislation. The charity argument is totally separate. So many people don’t seem to understand this basic fact when stamping their feet about “unfairness”.

All the bullshit about ascribing advantage to just choosing to prioritise education or just a bit of hard work does indeed imply that such advantage is available to anyone who would only do the same.

What will actually happen is:

1. Private schools will raise fees
2. Eliminate the free places for poorer kids
3. Some private schools will close
4. State Schools will have to absorb more kids with limited funding
5. State School class sizes will increase

Makes little difference if the fees are raised from £20k to £30k for a well off family.

The families that will be impacted by this are the aspirational middle class that is making sacrifices to send their kid (s) to private school, as well as the poorer families which will not have access to the free places.

This policy is in effect levelling down the middle class further.

Be careful what you wish for because those people will not forget that you made them poorer, and they will vote accordingly.

This is why the politics of resentment never works. It stops you from thinking about the situation logically.

Exactly. I wonder if all these anti- private school complainers realise that their own children would be disadvantaged if there is a switch from the private sector.

This is why the politics of resentment never works. It stops you from thinking about the situation logically.

I don't see the logic though in most of the highest paying jobs and positions of power going to the privately educated when they make up only about 25% of the brightest in society. Surely we are missing out on a lot of state educated talent?