are private school fees higher than private schools elsewhere in the country?

[lovecamping]

dh & I have just depressed ourselves completely by looking at schools fees for independent/private schools in our area (london) and know we would never be able to send our dc to them

but i'm curious, are schools fees higher in london than elsewhere in the country. does anyone know???

I'm sure they are a lot higher in London than elsewhere.

We live in NW England - secondary fees for our independent school are currently £2215 per term, plus compulsory extras of £220 per term (lunches and swimming), plus optional extras (instrumental tuition and so on)

There's a relatively wide range even in London, at least at pre-prep level. The school we are planning to send DS to is quite a bit less than some others in our area.

It's a "bog standard" independent though, not a high-flying academic, highly-selective school.

Some 'top schools' I know of in the North of England charge around £8.5k annual fees for day scholars.

We are in Essex in middle of commuter belt and pay 9.5K a year

YOrkshire. About 9000-10000 per year for key stage 1. It goes up by 2000 for key stage 2.

I pay approx £14K per annum per son for secondary independent day school in home counties - very much commuting into London territory - includes lunch.

BTW I wouldn't pay for a "bog Standard" independant unless my local school was really bad. We are only paying that money because the school is really outstanding.

There are a lot of different sorts of independent schools aren't there?

(i) Very academic (ie selective) day-schools - there's at least one in every major city - fees go up through the years and do depend on the city

(ii) Day schools that are non-selective

(iii) Genuinely mixed day/boarding/weekly boarding

(iv) Mainly boarding - these come in all shapes and sizes - I saw one that had facilities for your offspring to stable their horse(s)

All that's without factoring in religion.

It depends whether you want a school that focusses on academic exclusivity, social exclusivity, religious exclusivity or some combination of all three.

MemysonandI - I understand where you're coming from.

Our local schools are truly appalling, except one which is exceptional, but obviously there is little chance of getting in.

In addition we are in an isolated area and there is only one 'bog standard' independent school within a reasonable daily commute.

Lovecamping--is your son musical? Nice voice? Friends of ours have a son who's a chorister and they pay very little. But there may not be these kind of schools in your area.

Ask about bursaries. That's what the money's for--helping children who couldn't otherwise get to the school.

Grandparents?

I am in Sheffield. Our primary (in preprep)fees are just over £7000 a year. It goes up again in a couple of years for Prep, and then again for secondary.

They are a lot higher in the South East. Where we are in Surrey, fees for senior school are over £4000 a term. If you go up to Newcastle, for example, a similar school is only about £2800 a term.

Quattro, I don't want any sort of exclusivity at my dcs independent school. Guess that just shows there's even more diversity in types of schools, but I'm sure I'm not alone - I'd have though a lot of people are just looking for a school with small class sizes and good teaching where all children are nurtured.

It's a common misconception, Snorkle, that we are doing it for snobbery. We only want the best for our children, like most parents.

We will be paying £2555 per term for my ds in year 4 at the local prep school after xmas and £1600 for my dd in reception in pre prep. The senior school I would like my ds to attend is £4000 per term as a day student. We are on the South Coast, in an area most would say is deprived.

Scholarships are often available at a lot of schools at 7+, 11+ and 13+ as well as bursaries. Contact the schools you are interested in for further info.

We have remortgaged our home for our fees, but imo having seen how dire our local state school has become in the past few years since it got a new head, we are sure private education will be worth every penny. Both Dh and I are happy with our choice to remove our son from the state system which really was failing him.

CGM Merry Christmas

We pay £2,000 per year for a fantastic non selective prep school. It used to be selective until it opened a pre-prep department. This is inclusive of lunches, swimming, before and after school care and most clubs and activities except private music lessons.

Tha attached Senior School is around £7.500 per year. It is selective and is highly regarded in the area. As a child I wanted to go to this school.

We are in Staffordshire.

I live in the South East, fees for pre-prep at the school that dd1 goes to are about £8000 a year. It goes up quite alot from year 4. In my part of London where I lived before I think they were about £12000 a year.

I don't know if your dcs are girls but if so check out the Girls' Day School Trust schools (putney high, wimbedon high etc) as they are cheaper

DD was maybe going to go to one and it was £2400 a term I think

GDST schools

Snorkle - you said "I'd have though a lot of people are just looking for a school with small class sizes and good teaching where all children are nurtured."

I don't think that's true, you know. This has involved a good hard look in the mirror for me, and I'm not sure I like what I see, but I think the things I am looking for in my dc's school boils down to academic exclusivity. I really want them to be able to learn, and yes this is partly about small class sizes which does facilitate teaching, but also it's about not having disruptive elements in the class, and similar abilities so that they can all progress nicely together ... Isn't that really academic exclusivity?

well quattro, my kids are at a selective school, albeit not highly selective, and not the most selective school they could have gone to, but selective non-the-less - so it would be hippocritical of me to disagree completely. But, I think you have fallen into the trap of thinking that a narrow academic range is necessary for kids to make good progress. I like to think that it's possible to provide a good education to a broader academic range given good teaching, facilities etc. I do think that children need some others of their ability around them though - ie it's not good if they are way brighter than all their peers, but as long as there's a little group of bright kids in their class and a good teacher then that should be ok. On disuptive kids, I think they can crop up at any ability level - some very annoying kids are also very bright. I think the key here is to have small classes with not too many pita's in each and they will behave better. If your child happened to be one of the pita's this is what you would want too and it makes sense to me. I'll admit that while I can tolerate some messing about in class if there was some real delinquent habitually totally disrupting teaching then I wouldn't be happy either.

Oh well... I was so worried about disruptive pupils and when DS started reception.... Shame on us! he went from "the most placid kid in nursery" to "one of the most dis... one in the classroom"

But we try hard, we ALL try hard, and the way the school has handled it has been absolutely fantastic [shameful grin] I love DS' school

Inner London is more expensive than outer. We have known boys from my ex husband's school rejected Westminster in favour of say Haberdashers boys simply because the fees are lower at Habs and exam results similar. Also girls can be cheaper than boys in some areas. There are league tables of fees and results rations showing best value I think around the place. About 10 miles out of london around here it's about £10k or that's what I pay for a son.

MemysonandI, your fees are quite pricey for yorks, mine are all at selective boys day school in w.yorks, and even for my senior boys the fees are under 10k/year. so obviously varies even within relatively small geographical areas

About £10k for prep schools here and £15k for senior schools.