Should I private educate my son?

[Trish1200]

I went to school abroad so I'm clueless about education in the UK. My son is only two and currently I would not be able to afford private education if I wanted to, but It may change in the future. So I wonder what makes parents spend so much on private schools? What are the main differences from state schools? If parents are willing to pay so much it must be worth it!?

I haven't got answers to all of your questions, hopefully someone in the know will come along. I have however been debating the fee paying school thing to and have a thread on the go which might be able to help you a bit
SAHM or Private School

Thank you Gatorade I'll check the tread

If you can't afford it now but have good/outstanding primary options in the state sector, save your money for secondary level which is where it really counts.

Thank you Peppin, it sounds like a good suggestion. It will give me plenty of time to save and improve my financial situation.

But I'm still curious about the main differences between private and non private in the UK.

The ones of you who chose to go private, what are/were your reasons?

I choose private prep for the usual reasons - small classes, lots of sport, music, languages, and other extra-curricula opportunities. And also because the smaller class allows teachers to see and deal with disruptive and bullying children. Choose carefully though, not all private schools are good. If your finances are not too good don't forget the possibility of bursaries; they are quite rare at prep/primary level but can be found.

Look at the schools around you nearer the time. Private doesn't have too mean best - look at the schools available to you and pick the best of those rather than worrying about private or state (as long as you can afford private, if you cant then it will have to be a consideration!). Or if you would be willing to move for a really good state school then that will take a bit more planning to move as close to the school as you can.

Some parents choose a particular private school because it has an excellent academic record.

Some parents choose a private school because it has excellent facilities and an extensive range of extra curricular activities.

Some parents choose a private school because they want their children to mix with children from the same economic or social background.

Thank you for all your replies. I'm hoping to get him to a local outstanding primary but he might not get a place, who knows. Apparently all the other local schools are not very good. I'm seriously considering private for secondary but I need to make sure that such a great financial commitment is really worth it. If he doesn't get a place in the outstanding primary I don't know what to do.

Does anyone know which are the good or bad private primaries in north or central London?

Hello in what way are all the other local schools not very good? Please don't listen to gossip - I remember someone I know telling me that 'nobody' went to my kids local school if they could get into the two other state ones that she perceived as better. She didn't have children at any of these schools (were at private) and one of the ones she said we should cheat to get into promptly went into special measures.
Also don't get too hung up on league tables and ofsted reports - they don't tell the whole story. Visit some schools in both sectors and it may help you make your mind up. We did and it felt as though the scales fell from our eyes - the school on our doorstep was so much more 'us' in all ways that I'd have paid to go there.
BTW I'm in north/central London.

I think alot of it really depends on your child. You need to choose the school that will suit him best whether that be in terms of the academic standards, teh subjects offered, the extra-curricular activities, travelling distance or any special individual needs. If you have the ability to go private then that will simply broaden the range of options available to you and your DS.

I grew up abroad, an initially got DS into state school here. I didn't know the system well, not having been through it myself and I found it very unstructured compared with what I was used to.

In Y3 I moved DS to private school (for other reasons) and suddenly I found the structure that I had been missing before. Things just seemed to be taught in what for me was a "logical" order, specially history. We have been much happier since (both DS and I)

I could have written the above post :)