Would you pay school fees in this financial situation?

[ipalo]

I’ll start by saying if you’re not interested in private schools then not much point responding… or at least put yourself in my position that I would love to send my dc to private school so it is very important to me.

I will have around 1,800 spare cash as in cash that could go direct to savings each month. I have already built up around 15k following a recent house purchase where I had to start saving again from
scratch. Obviously 15k is nothing for school fees but this is where this 1,800 is going each month at the moment. Dc due to start school in a year.

Would you put this into school fees? If I do it will mean my savings will be around 300 a month (private schools round here are circa 15k a year).

You know Labour will put VAT on private schools? This will mean it will be difficult to get in to good state schools and some private schools will close.

Do you know anyone with a child at the school you are considering, ask them about extra cost trips, music lessons etc. Also consider the % fee rises each year and potential 20% VAT that could be added if they loose their charity status.

Well, they say they will. Starmer doesn't have a great reputation for sticking with his promises. They'll think about it, do a feasibility exercise which will show how many kids will leave for the state sector, where there isn't the space for them, and I rather suspect it'll then be kicked into the long grass until at least after their second electoral win.

All the people I know with kids going private are moaning about the steady increase in fees... plus everything that would be free in our local state secondary schools ( music, sports lessons after school clubs, before school clubs, breakfast club) are all charged as extra...

I don't think that's a comfortable enough margin.

Starting private and having to pull out is worse that not starting I think.

Labour are talking of sticking VAT on private schools. If that comes in at 20% how do your calculations hold up ?

IMO anyone who is thinking of private school at the moment and is in a marginal situation should be very wary.

You’re in a better position than we were. We took a bigger mortgage on our current house than we would have if DC not in private school. (It’s fine, payments are less than a third of salary and we will downsize in 5 years if we have to/want to)

we haven’t had any scares with extra costs, most things are included lunches day trips. School uniform is reasonably priced.

I’m not sure it’s worth it with that margin, unless your state school options are really terrible. Even then I’d still probably save it for secondary.

you could give your DC so many other experiences with the money you’ll save which will probably be more beneficial long term.

private school is a nice luxury for those who can easily afford it, but in my experience is by no means a necessity. But I guess I say that as someone who lives in an area with good schools which are not over subscribed. I might fee differently if nearby schools were awful or really hard to get into 🤷‍♀️.

It’s when they lose their exemptions for biz tax that you really need to worry.

Honestly, with those margins I'd save the money. State until 8.....then if not happy with it look elsewhere and there will still be plenty of time to catch up before the more important years.

We were all set to send our 1st child to private school but wanted her to have local friends. As it turns out, she's just finished year 2 and is doing brilliantly. Very happy with her education so far and most importantly she's really happy. If the situation changes we will move her but so far really pleased we gave our local school a go.

That's a good point to do it I agree. We will consider it at that point. Still on the whole easy enough to get in and plenty of time to 'catch up' (if needed....)and get into a decent private secondary. That being said, many kids don't need a private education and smaller class sizes to do well, and won't particularly benefit from it. It really depends on the child and the school!

Don’t bother with private primary IMO. Send them at 11 or even 13/15 when it’s much for valuable to have higher quality teaching

Not unreasonable, but ask yourself why you want private school, and whether the one you can afford is right for your child.

You have to consider fee rises (likely each year, and especially so if Labour win an outright majority at the next election and remove charitable status). Consider uniform costs (there might be a good second hand shop), trips in holidays etc. Clubs/music lessons etc cost a fair bit too if they’d want to do that. Plus you have to pay for any external examinations (GCSEs, A Levels etc).

you can always talk to the bursary team once they’re in (or before they join) to see if you’d qualify for a little discount. Always worth checking as schools outside of London (and especially prep schools) are likely to be very eager to recruit new pupils.

Also, I was privately educated and at uni I could always tell if others had been. Confidence, nicely spoken etc. Maybe it takes one to know one? over time it has become less obvious and far less interesting to me.

Why/how does DC (single or plural?) have their house deposit sorted? Can that money be diverted to school fees?

Yes I’d do it. Because you’ve saved a year’s fees in advance all you do is drip feed fees termly (or monthly) from the highest savings account you can thus effectively giving yourself a 4-5% discount.

Haven’t read the full thread but in our area most parents do prep school then state grammar school for secondary.

So so much depends on what your local state primary is like. We did ‘state til 8’ and for us it was a mistake as the school was crap and put DD years behind where she could have been. But if I lived a few villages further away there is a fab state primary thatnis as good as the prep schools. So much depends on what your exact local options are.

Look into bursaries and scholarships, there are some very generous schemes around.

You can't afford it now so hold off for reception.

only you know when the cut off date will be as it will be very child specific.

My ds is off to state (fair enough a "good one") in y7 very bright and competitive and I think he will do well. He Refused to.consider private and local grammar. As he figures out subjects and academic interests and indeed matures maybe private will come later maybe it won't.

Dd 8 I would.consider sending earlier IF it was right school. Currently her state primary is her happy secure place. Secondary option is pretty large so not sure. So maybe y7.

My third who knows as still get most joy from finding snales and bugs in y1!

My point is don't risk not affording it to then miss the actual opportunity that is the best time for them and you financially.

Good luck xxx

The thing is private school isn’t just the fees. What happens when the fee increases every year? Every year there’s a gala to raise money (and all parents are expected to donate)? There are clubs after school, extracurricular and tutoring. Where I am it’s mandatory at yr 3 to pick and instrument and a sport (which you pay for in addition). Then all the invites to kid’s friends holiday houses abroad (once old enough but that comes surprisingly quickly) and the expectation to reciprocate…. And the list goes on.

yes state till 8. Making local friends through state, focusing on play and saving seems a balanced way forward

I completely get all of the messages saying that you don't sound financially secure enough... BUT... we had the same dilemma and chose to send ours to private school.

I have one heading into year three, one heading from kindergarten to reception and a one year old in nursery. And it totally depends on the level of risk you're willing to allow.

If you looked at us financially on paper, people would tell us to leave it too. But the schools near us (fairly inner city) were not good so we went for it anyway. And yes, there's a LOT of extra expense - but there are nearly new uniform shops to help. And yes, we take a deep breath and do a bit of juggling when it's time to pay the fees - but we always make it - and our children never miss out when it comes to school stuff. My oldest has violin lessons with the school and we make it work.

I should add that we make big sacrifices elsewhere though. We haven't been abroad for six years and we take advantage of cheap UK breaks (even got a tent so we can go camping now). And we budget HARD when it comes to food shopping and our own expenses. And we put less than you into our savings currently.

Our saving grace is that we have a bit of equity in the house, so if we got truly desperate we could raise some there.

It's 100% doable - just depends on where your priorities are and what you're willing to sacrifice x

Yes. Plenty do it on that or even less.

The other thing I don’t see many others consider is that the school holidays are typically longer at private school, so more childcare to pay for those weeks.

I agree to stay state for primary and reassess at secondary, you may find a state secondary actually suits them better anyway.

Nothing wrong with a grammar school, one of my siblings attended a grammar school and got a first from oxford university

Also my ex was privately educated and he is a waiter in a restaurant at age 36.