Private school on a modest income?

[Mummytolittlegirl]

Hi!

NC as posting some details about income. I was hoping to get some information from people who have done private school on a ‘lower’ income.

Our daughter is 1 year old and we have a lovely prep school near us, starting at age 3 that has really good facilities.

She is likely to be an only child (although I can never say never as we are still only mid- late 20’s). We are worried about the schools near us having classes of 30+ and want to look at our options.

The school is approximately 12k a year including uniforms, meals etc.

DH earns just below 50k and my current salary is 12k although I am only part time and doing some more training, DH is working his way up the ladder so we hope his income will continue to rise.

My concern would be justifying my entire income for schooling and DD potentially missing out on foreign holiday as well as moving to a bigger house.

I’m also not sure we could afford to pay for secondary school education?

Just wondering experiences and whether in your opinion it is worth the sacrifice?

Is £12k your gross or net income? If net then the fees would be more than your income? Have you worked out the impact on your monthly budget? Include any extras that are payable for the independent school and the higher fees at secondary.

The issues arise when secondary rolls around and all her friends are going up to private secondary. That's much more expensive. This was what happened to us basically.

We sent DD1 to a prep locally...as we didn't like the local primary.

It was fine at first but then, when DD2 came along unexpectedly I was worried. How could we send her too?

Then I realised all DD's friend's parents were planning on sending their children to the very expensive local secondary....of course they were. And that was a LOT more....plus ski trips and so on. All DDs mates seemed to live in massive houses and by age 6 she'd noticed.

We moved her to the local primary and it was such a relief! That extra money paid for her to have a tutor as well as riding lessons and we could have holidays.

It's miserable scrimping and saving OP. And you could pay for her to have a tutor if she needs it later on.

Another thing is if you and your DH split, who'd pay then? You couldn't...even with a pay rise it would cripple you.

Hollow because of the personal allowance I don’t may much tax, my take home income is about 1k a month.

Henny that’s exactly my concern, and if she did go to the local state primary we’d have plenty of money for any hobbies she wants to do as well as tutoring.

The school is 12K now ... but private school fees tend to raise above inflation. Even if DH's salary rises, will it rise faster than school fees?

You say you work part time now, would you be looking to go full time when your DC is in school? That seems to be a sacrifice that many families make - that both parents have to work more rather than have a part time/SAHP. Of course there are arguments that having a parent available out of school is more beneficial than paying for private school.

RedSky i’d really like to be there for drop offs/ pick ups. So can’t see myself working full time. I remember my Mum picking us up from school once in my life, and I don’t want the same for DD.

I think maybe I was getting my hopes up but the reality is we probably can’t afford it. Or maybe we could afford prep but would be stuck after that.

If it will be a struggle either save the cash towards private high school, or use the money for enrichment experiences and/or tutoring.

Have you visited the local state primary schools? While it’s true some children don’t cope well with larger classes, most do. In KS1 the classes can’t legally be larger than 30, apart from in very exceptional circumstances (for instance if the last space is given to a twin the other twin has to be accepted to), and many schools actually keep numbers below 30.

I would go and look at local state schools when your DS is a bit older. Class of 30 is really not that big a deal. My DC go to a big school but its friendly and they have lots of local mates to play with. I dont really understand the appeal of private prep schools though (I do a little more for secondary).

We paid for independent primary school on quite a modest income. We moved to independent after two awful terms in the local state primary. It was financially difficult at times but to me it was worth every penny. Luckily we are in a grammar school area so we haven’t had to pay any fees for secondary school.

Save your money for secondary school. If you put the annual fee away now you will have enough after state primary to pay for fees if you need it when it matters when GCSEs roll around

There was an article in the weekend papers about falling numbers at prep schools as state primary schools have overall considerably improved over recent years. I would save your money for secondary when you will know what you are looking for from a senior school.

Bursary?

I’ve just secured 100% for my daughter and she will be starting in September at an £16000 a year school.

I am a single parent on £24000 (pep rata £40k) a yr by way of comparison

Pro

They didn’t factor in the maintenance I receive or benefits

She’s a good all rounder but nothing sensational other than at one sport.

There's not much point paying for private prep and not secondary. Much better the other way around so perhaps save for that instead?

If this is your plan I would advise to start saving now the amount you'd be paying in fees. This will give you a buffer anyway and you'll get used to the income you'll be living on.

Where I live since prep school are substantially cheaper than secondary many who couldn't afford secondary still pay for prep. I suspect a lot of them will be hoping for scholarships for secondary or grammar places after that. Still I do think it can be worth it if it's the right choice for your child (definitely don't just assume private is automatically better than state as that just isn't always the case). My DC get lots of time outside, lots of individual attention in small classes, family ethos, lots of music, drama, PE, forest school etc. I just think they're happier than they would be at the particular state school we had available. For me it makes it worth it.

@Amibeingdaft81it it surely is very unusual though to get a bursary at reception age and be considered sensational in a particular sport at that age. Yours must be very unusual circumstances.

If you can live just on his income then it's quite reasonable to prioritise education over a house or holiday. You can increase your working as she gets older. But be aware circumstances do change and make sure he is as keen as you, you don't want to see what resentment because you put the kids first looks like (bitter here!)

I agree that most private schools won't give out bursaries or scholarships until Y3. Mainly because it's very difficult to tell at age 3 or 4 who is going to go on to be bright or who has been pushed and prepped at home or is just an early developer.

Some friends of mine did this with their ds. Thought he was going to be the only one, and he turned out to be the eldest of 4.

They were only able to afford to send him private and not the other three, and in the end they took him out and sent him to state school as it wasn't fair on the others.

I agree with @HomemadeFood

Save the fees for a few years and see what it’s like. It also gives you a buffer if fees go up or something happens

I agree about saving an amount every month equivalent to fees to see how it feels financially. Where I live prep is quite affordable and I know several families who have partial bursaries to make it more affordable. The right school can give your child a real passion for learning and if you move on to state school they can take this passion and focus and confidence with them to any school.