How can I calculate the cost of private ed for my dx for the last 2 years of their education?

[Badvoc]

I.e. from 14-16?
My dc are 9 &3 atm.
There are many changes coming up in the next few years wrt ed, particularly in this la and I would like to try and plan for the future if I can.
I have 5 years to save for ds1 and obv 9 years for ds2.
There are 2 private schools near here that offer day places.
I guess my questions are;
Can dc enter private schools in yr 9?
What are the other hidden costs if any?
Is it feasible bearing in mind dh and I have (atm) a joint income of £50k. I am hoping to go back to work at some point but things are very uncertain atm and I may need to retrain.
TIA

Can you call the school you are thinking of and ask them about uniform costs etc. they will probably have a list they could send yu. Prices will change of course but it will give you an idea at least.

I know family would help (gps) but obv and rightly the main financial burden would be on us.
I spend over £50 for uniform for a state school!

OK.

It depends on the fees (obviously) Senior school fees vary enormously and can also be much lower if local (e.g. Blundells in the West do this) On £50,000 you will not be sending your kids to a 30,000 a year school.

You need to look at some favoured schools and work out what you need to pay each yr...basic fees, a bit for school trips (not thousands, but £500 pr year is realistic) and start up uniform costs of between £300 and £700. Each year you need to replace and add to so add another £100-200 each yr depending upon how fast growing your child is!!

Start a spreadsheet per year of entry for each child and get the basic figures worked out - do they overlap, are you planning on them paying for uni etc.

Once you have that, work out how much you need to have saved by any year in order to then afford the education. You will of course earn money on your savings, for instance, if locked away in high income bonds you can earn a good deal more than in a normal building society account. Good luck...we're in the same boat here and work constantly to pay for it....worth it though x

P.S. I meant that if you don't spend the £500 in one yr, keep it for the next - you'll need it!

It just does not seem to be worth all the saving and scrimping if u are borderline financially. You may as well move to a better state school area or provide extra tuition. And after all that of ur dc ends up not 'achieving', then how bad would u feel?

I tend to think that (with the obvious possible exception of your DC1) it would be more valuable to send them private for the two years of sixth form.

After all, it is A Level grades that universities are worried about (honestly, they barely give a toss about GCSE grades so long as they have English and Maths at grade B/C), and private schools are often more experienced at getting students into top-tier universities.

Something to think about anyway? Especially as it would give you more time to save up.

It would be worth checking now if the schools you have in mind do actually have a year 9 entry. Many do - especially those which used to be all boys. But it's common for girls (or formerly all girls) schools to do their entire entry at 11+ and have only ad hoc places beyond that.

This might sound mad but I am really not worried about the academic side of things but I think that a private school would afford both dc opportunities they just cannot/would not get at their state school.
I really like their school atm btw! Am just trying to plan ahead.
I do take your point about 6th form being more useful wrt a levels and uni but what if they don't get the grades to go into the private 6th form?
Sigh.....I guess if that's the case it's not meant to be?

Sorry to sound so dense but dh got his degree through work and I stopped after a levels at state school so we really are all at sea wrt this.

If your son has special educational needs you might want to check that the private school can accommodate them? Of the schools are very academic they might not give him the additional attention he might need.

Badvoc if your concern is not based on academic factors then you would be better off saving your many thousand pounds and providing the enrichment you refer to by way of extra curricular activities, trips, holidays etc. honestly it is a huge commitment and as I said before to consider it for only 2 years would IMHO potentially disruptive both academically and socially for your children. From what you have said I don't think you really know what it is you really want and why.

Fair point hbts thanks

I agree with home. We went private because we had the spare income as opposed to the local state schools being bad.

If our income was borderline then we would have gone to the state school, spent money on extra curricular stuff and maybe tutoring when GCSE time approached. The above would be a fraction of the indie fees. Same bang for less bucks :)

I like that phrase!
I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew how the changes the LA are planning will affect the school system here....it's all going to be very different by the time ds1 takes his exams that's for sure.

One thing you should do is check the financial position of any private schools you are thinking about sending your kids to. It is easy to do this at the www.charity-commission.gov.uk/ Charity Commission website.

You should look out for any where Expenditure has been exceeding Income for more than 2 to 3 years unless there is a good story in the accounts to explain it.

Quite a few private schools are struggling and it can be very disruptive for the kids if the school folds.

You might be better supporting DS1 by state school and as many private tutors in as many subjects as he needs out of school.

You can get a lot of tutor hours for one fees at a private school and the help with be focussed on his needs only.

For example, he could have regular help with homework from a number of specialist tutors who come to the house and just work on what he has been given e.g. maths (not doing it for him of course).

This is what a friend of mine did. She was also paying for a rather selective private school which he had happend to get into but was struggling to keep up at.

Sorry. Should say "one year's fees at a private school"

Badvoc you say the "last 2 years of education" in your OP but it's not 2 years of education, it is at least 3 (Years 9, 10 and 11). Are you proposing they don't stay on for A Levels? Will they go somewhere else for A Levels? Including A Levels, you will need to fund 5 years worth of fees for each DC.

My LEA still has 3 tier education, so all upper schools in my area, (state and independent begin at Year 9). Most other areas begin at Year 7, so it may be strange for your DC's to enter at Year 9 if everyone else has already been there for 2 years.

Day prices around me vary from 12K pa to 16K pa - but with the £12K schools, everything else (lunch, books, exams, travel, some activities) is an "extra", but with the £16K one everything is included. Uniforms themselves tend not to be too expensive, it is sports kit and equipment that bumps up the costs for me.

It does sound as though it might be tight for you - keep doing the research.