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/when Labour get into government one of the first things they plan on doing is adding VAT on to school fees. That will make them even more expensive.’

taking away the fake charity status tax break from

businesses that cater to the wealthy is LONG overdue

Its interesting that fees have risen by about the same amount since that ISC report was published by about 20% using 2018 as the base year and none of the outcomes they predicted have happened.

This and the data about the household incomes of the vast majority of those who send their children to private school clearly indicates that the slippery slope suggested by posters here will not occur.

10% here, just outside M25

Fees are going up to cover pension liabilities. Pensions in the private sector are a disaster.

@Poopoolittlekitten so is sponsoring a state primary and helping to turning it around from OFSTED “inadequate” to “outstanding” a fake tax break? Is running a service which supports vulnerable members of the community including the elderly and disabled a fake tax break? Is running holiday camps for children from disadvantaged backgrounds a fake tax break? Is providing a chapel and parish centre for the local
community a fake tax break? Is giving free places to Ukrainian refugees a fake tax break?

I could go on…but you get the picture….

NinetyNineRedBalloonsGoBy · Yesterday 22:37

Always baffled by the fact that private schools can (and frequently do) employ unqualified teachers, and, due to the extra long holidays, kids get less time in the classroom than in state schools..
Feels a bit "Emperor's New Clothes”

Ours were in (from Junior School) from 8.30 am (lessons began at 9, after chapel or tutorial) until 4.20 pm when the last lesson finished.
Thereafter, sports/extra curricular clubs took them up until 5.30.
There were several things we weren’t impressed with but lack of tuition was most certainly not one of them.
Our children were day pupils but boarders were in supervised prep every evening after dinner.
Where we are now, I drive through town and see state school pupils going home at 2.45pm. That’s doing them no service at all.

Wow @Noontimes thankyou for this.
I knew there would be no financial gain but even I am shocked at the massive cost should Private Schools go.

This sort of report needs to be out there before we have another Brexit moment of misinformation…

"so is sponsoring a state primary and helping to turning it around from OFSTED “inadequate” to “outstanding” a fake tax break?"

Depending on what the Private school actually did and its involvement. Even then this is not the majority.

Anecdata does not contradict the actual data about charitable status provided above.

@DrPrunesquallor I’ve shared it before. I know exactly what is going to happen. It’s going to be the same as the tax changes imposed on landlords. People will be complaining in five years time that it’s made things worse for the poorest in society. They will be the ones whose kids get pushed out of the good state schools.

"This sort of report needs to be out there before we have another Brexit moment of misinformation…"

As it was published in 2018 and average private school fees have risen since then every year (above real wage growth). The average fee rise 2021-22 was 3%, this year 7%.and also rose at a higher rate than inflation in the decade prior, I'd suggest that the data from a survey sent to 21 schools, by the independent schools council, might not be too accurate..

Apologies I should have said
These are uk children, figures do not include those from abroad.
Some parents may work and pay tax abroad but they are uk citizens.

@hillaryswankfan as I’ve said before and which you conveniently chose to ignore, imagine what would happen if instead of spouting bile about private schools and parents who send their kids there, people used their energy to encourage private schools that are not doing their bit to do more. Imagine the results you could get. I mean my DC’s school has helped to turn one state school around and has applied to run another. Just imagine…

Reactionary Governing to get those votes.
Wonder if there’ll be a bus too

"if instead of spouting bile about private schools and parents who send their kids there"

I haven't spouted bile, I've accurately pointed out that the mumsnet narrative about average income earners sending their kids to private school is incorrect, and the numerous reasons given to justify it are usually just excuses.

Yes private schools could do that, they already have the option, they should be doing it for their charitable status ( and a lot more), but again the majority don't as is shown by the research into this.

I'd also need to see a lot more information about the private school's involvement in turning a school round before I took it as verbatim, I've seen it claimed before, but the private school was actually running a MAT and that comes with all sorts of other issues.

@hillaryswankfan come on, it’s not the same as a one off increase of 20%. I actually think that it will be worse than the ISI survey as that was before the cost of living crisis kicked in. I’ve sat down recently with other private school parents who have expressed their concerns and some are saying that it will be the nail in the coffin for them. There are far more than usual in my DC’s school year who are putting their DC’s through the 11 plus for the local grammars this year.

I don’t imagine anyone who can afford to pay £16/17/20k plus a year PER child is going to be much bothered by a bit of a rise in fees.

In many peoples mind you get somethjng of ‘worth’ for your 19% because it goes somewhere, is spent within the school but 20% of VAT might be seen as psychologically very different.

"come on, it’s not the same as a one off increase of 20%."

Its an increase of 20% on the fees in 2018 and they were claiming that this would cause xyz effect then. So yes, fees raising at a faster rate ( and they also rose at a faster rate than inflation in the decade preceeding 2018) is not going to have too much of an impact.

Your anecdata is not representitive of the majority of PS parents though, and tbh could be anything. Lots of parents go for the grammar at 11 because prep school and secondary fees are often a big difference.

"In many peoples mind you get somethjng of ‘worth’ for your 19% because it goes somewhere, is spent within the school but 20% of VAT might be seen as psychologically very different."

So its not actually financially different its psychological. That's got to be the best mumsnet reasoning so far. :)

Clearly a financial difference, but the question is what is the effect of this tax change? Will parents be more willing to stump up for an increase in fees for inflationary costs over a VAT cost? I think VAT will piss people off a lot more than a cost increase.

@hillaryswankfan I have already gone through the 11 plus with my other DC. Far more doing it this year. Many are openly saying that they can’t afford the fees for seniors. Why are you denying my experiences?

And that they’d all leave. Most of them wouldn’t.

@Dibblydoodahdah Why are you denying the data about the average household income of private school students? Your anecdata doesn't beat this.

Like I said, some parents will go to the state sector but it will in no way have the impacts suggested here or in that report ( as represented by the average fee rise over the decade preeceding it, and the 5 years after).

You Are VERY Unreasonable to expect sympathy for YOUR inability to afford school fees.

PS. If this is YOUR only worry in life you and your children are very lucky.

PS. My cousin pays 41K per annum.

16k...peasant!

It's there money. I'd rather live in my own home but to each his or her own. She attended the same school and came out with 5 GCSES. I went to state and attained 14 GCSEs - 9 A stars, 5 A's!

Dibblydoodahdah

There is nothing private schools can do that will
counteract the huge amount of disadvantage they cause to the rest of the population with their pupils over represented in the best unis and jobs.

I think it’s great if more parents are priced out, The more the better.

Their charity status needs to go and there
needs to be more contextualisation for all state pupils.

YABu op to think anybody should or would care that some wealthy parents are now in the same boat as the rest of us ie unable to pay for private education.