AIBU to discuss A level success without private school spending?

[Absorbthecost]

Parents/carers who have not spent a penny on Educating their children and they have just received great A level results.

The sacrifices made all the struggle,

I’m interested to discuss families where the child has succeeded without need for private school

https://www.gbnews.com/money/private-school-fees-soar-vat

https://www.ft.com/content/091b214d-231b-414a-8f3e-9ef9fc021926?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Those who did pay,

presumably to secure great results at A level

The same kids off to Uni, placements easier to secure as less international competition. Uni the playing field evens.

And now time to pay for Uni,

https://inews.co.uk/news/education/university-tuition-fees-11000-2030-4705197?srsltid=AfmBOorss52PSHD6xJzisWMdeNxcXDen3IrCGS49nnGH1ZyDnmvTOh_k

A child who did outstanding (without spending a penny) the same result as a family who spent £250k + The above article is a low estimation for a selective U.K. day/ boarding.

The kids holding the same result off to the same Uni, How are families feeling!?…. Did you save to help towards the Uni Fees/accomodation.

https://inews.co.uk/news/education/university-tuition-fees-11000-2030-4705197?srsltid=AfmBOorss52PSHD6xJzisWMdeNxcXDen3IrCGS49nnGH1ZyDnmvTOh_k

I am nowhere near this stage but I am not sending my children to private school for the grades. I am sending them so they have a happy experience of school without having to fight for resources or attention. Having taught in state schools for years I don’t want that environment for them, it has nothing to do with results for me personally

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here?

Private school isn't a guarantee of better A level results. A level results are influenced by a huge plethora of different factors. Spending money on education may or may not make any difference to this and its very hard to prove after the event whether it's had an impact as usually there is no counterfactual.

It's also, to be fair, not the only reason why people pay for private school. Where are you going with this though?

I don’t pay for school fees to get A-level results. I pay for a much nicer experience for my child while they are there.

The thought is a self driven, self motivated, resourceful child receiving the exact grade off to the same uni to mingle with the same people must today be feeling like they’ve won the lottery!

We don't pay for grades.

We pay for a happy, confident child who isn't having to constantly fight the system just to get through the day without being bullied or marginalised.

Worth every penny.

Good exam results aren’t the only reason parents send their children to private schools. I think the majority are aware that state schools also produce good results and universities are full of students from state schools. I’d say both private school and state school parents are proud of their children, whatever their results and whatever they are going to do next.

My son just got 3 A*, I didn't pay a penny for private, he want state. Private school is mainly for bragging rights. It has nothing to with a childs intelligence.

I doubt it.

I get you're trying to be goady but it's not how the majority of private school parents think. Sorry to disappoint you.

Huh? You think hanging out with privately educated kids will make a state school kid feel like they’ve won the lottery?

If you’re hoping to read that private school parents wake up today and feel like they’ve wasted their money… we don’t.

And state school kids can also have that

But it’s all cut backs to provision, discounts, support funds and begging for donations. The very people you’re hoping or assuming your children will be mingling with don’t do “cut backs” “economising” hence the shockingly low international draw.

I'm paying for the extra curriculars: the sport, drama, choir. I'm paying for the longer hours at school to allow me to work without worrying about juggling childcare arrangements. I'm paying for the small class sizes, and small tutor groups of 10 that mean my children's pastoral care is handled by people who know them personally quite well.
But I absolutely support state schools getting good results, and would be pleased if all the above were available at state schools too - I just want a good experience for my children, and would love it to be the case that everyone had that good experience. It's not about trying to be better than others, it's about it being good. And if the above is given to others for free, that's a really good thing, and not something I'd be sad about, or would make me wish I had not spent my money on procuring for my children.

Since the VAT, the state school I work in has seen a huge increase in 6th form students coming from private schools.

The 'problem' kids leave after GCSE so there is no advantage of a private 6th form for A Levels.

I remember a post a while back where the poster candidly admitted regretting the decision to send their children to independent schools. The results were ok, not stellar, and she felt the money would have been far better spent on other things.

But it’s nothing to do with who my child will potentially be ‘mingling’ with and everything to do with small class sizes, excellent sports facilities, subject specific teachers even in prep and the ability for the school to expel disruptive or aggressive children.

Not in our experience.

State school has been horrendous. Much happier in private school now.

I agree, but very few would admit that

My experience of mingling with private /public school kids at uni , not being one, was that they were part of a club I couldn’t join, and it was like a membership fee. Networking, experiences, jobs lined up - completely out of my reach even if I did achieve better grades - that wasn’t really the point.

Again, I don’t send them to private school to hope they can mingle with certain kinds of people.

I get that you want to obtain some type of schadenfreude here, but there isn’t any.

You sound a bit obsessed, tbh, must be a sore point for you.

There aren’t any cutbacks or reductions in provisions either, fees have been frozen at DC’s school for the first time in years. The VAT rollercoaster has died down; they know anyone who signs up at this point knows what they’ve signed up for.

But everything you mention are all being cut due to appalling financial mismanagement and misappropriation of “bursary” funds.

So in reality you’re paying for nothing.

Any child can join an external club. With a greater guarantee that true talent will be nurtured and staff will be available (not cancelled as teachers don’t want to work/cover) It seems clear increasingly private school is nothing more than Day Care.

Eh? I got 4 As at A-level (pre A stars being a thing) from state school. My children are at private school. Not because I think it will buy them better grades than me (that’s not likely) but because of a whole host of other reasons that their private school is far better suited to them than our local state secondary, which is the only state school they’d have had a chance of getting into.
My best friend’s son has just got 3 A* and an A at A-level from a state school, is off to Cambridge and I am nothing but ecstatic for him. No jealousy at all.

I didn’t pay for grades I have two kids with autism and adhd who have struggled at school. One tried a state school and couldn’t manage. So I found a small non- academic private school. She has done well at A levels. I don’t think she went to the school with the best academic performance or teachers, but they allowed her to do the subjects she wanted at A level which is what she needed to do well. I’m quite bored with reading people’s misperceptions about why we send our kids to private schools.

Yes, that will certainly be the case for some. I don’t regret it, for a whole host of reasons. Grades not featuring anywhere in my list.