What are the additional costs associated with private schools ?

[mumtosp]

Hi all,

Firstly, I am not looking to start a state vs private debate :)

We are just starting to look at some local schools for 2 yo DS (state and private) and also trying to decide whether we can have another child and afford to send 2 DCs to private. I do not want to compromise on having another child just so that DS can go to private school... I would rather have 2 DCs and send them to a good state school if private is too expensive..

Looking at the fees per term, we may be able to afford to send 2 DCs to a private school. However, I am wondering what the other additional costs are and how much 'additional' should I be preparing to spend?... on things like sports kits, tutors, extra curricular activities...

any advice would be much appreciated :)
Thaknks !

Thanks everyone... Those are some great points to think about :)

I definitely need to put a spreadsheet together to ensure we can afford it.

dietcoke thanks for the details... That was very helpful...

LadySybil 'the school weeded out families that didn't suit' that sounds awful!

We are seeing some private schools over the next couple of months and now I have a good list of things to look out for :)

Depends on the school. Neither of my kids' charge anything for on site clubs, including after school, and their uniforms are far cheaper than the local comp which goes in for fancy embroidered blazers and skirts with piping which can only be bought from one place. DS's entire uniform bar the tie came from ebay. No summer and winter uniform.

The PE kit is specific, but I don't think it's more expensive than anyone else's specific kit.

DS's music lessons are funded by an "award" - he has to take part in school groups and concerts to qualify, but he'd want to do that anyway. They bought the instrument he needed (several thousand pounds) and rent it to him at the same price as all the other school rental instruments - we just have to insure it.

Trips? There are some expensive ones, but again I've seen equally (and more) expensive ones at the local comp.

These are extremely desirable schools with top results.

I think you have to decide what you want from a private school. If it's snob value and a fancy uniform, yes you will have to pay. They're not all like that.

Yup. There's far worse, sadly.

"Extras" vary significantly between schools. This is what year 3 is looking like:
We add in:
Fee Insurance £50
Uniform - I don't think I got much change from £500 (including buying secondhand), but it should be good for a couple of years. Pre-prep would be cheaper because they don't need all the games kit.
Pens/pencils etc - £10 exercise books etc are free
Lunches £200/term
Clubs - if run by external coaches (gymnastics/fencing/Mandarin) £50-£75/term (or free if it is chess/LEGO/Drama if run by teachers)
Music lessons - £100 - £220+ depending on how many in lesson, add some more for instrument hire
Swimming and sports/fixture transport - free
Outings - £15 (a few £100s for summer residential)
Charity stuff/cake baking etc £50
After school care. Mornings- 8am onwards is free, Afternoons-1st 1/2 hour is free, then £2 per 1/2 hour (runs til 6pm)
Optional ad hoc boarding for day pupils (a few emergency included for free by some of our local schools)

I have a few friends who popped their children in the Pre-prep nurseries locally when they could use their nursery grants...before moving to state infants for Reception. Equally, there were quite a few of us that moved from state at yr3/aged 7 (arguably saving £10k/year for 3 years). Similar numbers, possibly more, join the school in year 5 to prep for 11+.

Do you have any savings set aside? As well as being able to afford the termly outlays, you should probably have a safety net in case employment prospects change.

My DCS are at different schools and the cost varies hugely for two children of similar ages. At one school the only bit of uniform I cannot get from the official school uniform supplier is socks (!) but on the other hand there is a massive school uniform sale and we managed to get almost everything there. At the other school we can get shirts, trousers, shorts at supermarkets. One school includes lunch and trips in the fees, the other does not. Wrap around care is better at the private schools IME.

Do you need childcare? The holidays are longer at private schools.

We have found that private is not as expensive as we first thought.

Yes we do have the fees that go up 5 % a year. The yearly end of year overseas trip which is optional costing not more than 600GBP. Although cheaper alternative are given for other trips. Weekend trips are usually about 200 GBP per term. Spending money runs into about 100 to 200 GBP a term also. We also pay for piano lessons which is also approximately 200 GBP a term too. So we are talking about an extra 2400 GBP per year on top. If you add on thw airfares at about 1000 GBP X 3 then you are talking not much change from 6000 GBP.

The uniform is a one off and replacements are pretty cheap. Make sure you label each item. The lost rate is lower. Anyway the other mums say the second hand uniforms are still very good too and helps the school coffers too