School fees going up loads! Anyone else?!

[Abuildingwith4wallsandtmrinsid]

Regular poster who has name changed for this post.

My DC’s school is putting up school fees by over 7 per cent from September 2022 for existing parents, more for incomers.
Is this the norm now?!! I realise prices are going up but shouldn’t they try and contain costs/be as lean as possible? Apparently they need to build their bursary funds and go green. We have tons of parents who already struggle with the fees.
Other DC thankfully in state school. I don’t think it is good value this whole private school thing. But once your kid is there you are trapped.

www.theguardian.com/education/2021/oct/08/english-private-school-fees-90-higher-than-state-school-spending-per-pupil

“The gap between private school fees and state school spending per pupil has more than doubled in England over the past decade, with private fees now more than 90% higher than spending on state schools, a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed.

A decade ago, after adjusting for inflation, the gap was just over £3,000 per pupil. But it has since doubled as private school fees have risen sharply while government spending on the state sector in England has fallen in real terms.

The IFS study included running costs and capital spending for state schools, and subtracted scholarships and bursaries given to pupils in private schools to fairly compare the two. The average private school fee (not including boarding schools) was found to be £13,700 a year, compared with £7,100 in spending on each state school pupil.“

School fees usually increase annually. Yes, it is a bit more this year but the reasons are clear.

I think when you are considering private schooling, you should consider fee increases before joining up

OP your last post is ridiculous. The difference in cost per child should be obvious. Better facilities, smaller class sizes, more on offer. The list goes on and on.

“Banks are a business. This school is meant to be a charity that puts the school community first“

🤣🤣🤣

@Ifailed

Banks are a business. This school is meant to be a charity that puts the school community first.

Ha! It's a profit-making business hiding behind the facade of a charity.

Just about to post the very same! A charity! Private schools shouldn’t be allowed to claim charity status. They are businesses and giving out a bursary or two every year doesn’t (or rather, shouldn’t) change that.

It is usually about 5%. By the way some private schools are good value, depends what you are looking for. You are not trapped because you can choose to go back into the state system.

’English private school fees 90% higher than state school spending per pupil’

No shit Sherlock!
Funnily enough, a Bentley costs more to buy and run than a Fiat too.
Different products.
State education is underfunded and has been for decades. It’s scandalous. This is why people pay to go private - better facilities, resources, opportunities… whatever.

@Abuildingwith4wallsandtmrinsid

Banks are a business. This school is meant to be a charity that puts the school community first. Our mortgage isn’t going up by 7 per cent but school fees are and they are more than the mortgage now. Teachers salaries are not going up by 7 per cent, in fact their pension is somehow negatively affected. In line with inflation what does that even mean? On a whole year basis, at a given date. Is everything going to go up by 7 per cent or more this year? No it isn’t, energy, certain food costs etc and some salaries but not as high as that.

Probably because schools have heating costs, electricity and also food costs and those are the bare minimum.

When DS did a levels there might only be three in the class. At entry aged 9 8 to 10 to a class.

Add in the draughty stately home which costs more to upkeep well yeah it's more expensive

The top private schools do a lot more in the community than handing out a couple of bursaries

Our nursery fees went up 8% this year. Not quite the same as school fees I know but it’s similar. Much bigger increase than usual anyway. It’s very difficult.

I do not think we should just accept that they think they can keep putting fees up whilst states schools have done the opposite, funding decreased compared to inflation

You don't have to accept it. You can move your child into the state sector. Unless they are about to take exams, you are not trapped.

Most parents who use private education do so precisely because there is more money (=more facilities/opportunities) spent on their children. If you don't care about this, then why did you choose private in the first place?

’English private school fees 90% higher than state school spending per pupil”

Well it wasn’t 10-15 years ago, was it? When I was educated, plenty of doctors and teachers could afford private school fees. What prompted me to post is that my next door neighbour, both consultants on the NHS, might have to take their 3 boys out of our independent school or go and do more private work. How is that OK? How will that not effect waiting lists. It is all connected.

And why do you all just accept the status quo? That is the problem in our school. Weak governors, over ambitious head and silent weak parents who just keep paying up. Dedicated teaching staff who have been there 20 years leaving because the CEO headmaster wants to shake them up and nobody challenges the CEO headmaster.

“No shit Sherlock!
Funnily enough, a Bentley costs more to buy and run than a Fiat too.
Different products. “ Why compare a luxury product to a school? A school is an educational establishment meant to be run in the best interests of the children on roll. Even the ISI guidelines state this.

@BeingOscar

Also name changed for this We have a DC in boarding school , it's been a very tough few years due to loss of income because of Covid. If we get notice of a 7 percent rise in fees we will have to give notice. I am expecting that to happen now. They will easily fill the place as it's one of the most elite schools in the country.

Just to say we were in a similar situation with Covid and loss of income, and the school was absolutely brilliant when we couldn't pay at all. They could easily have filled the place, but stuck by us. So it's always worth an ask...

Move DC to a state school = problem solved.

Previous post was for @BeingOscar

Private school becomes affordable for fewer people year on year because as PP have said, fee increases often outstrip salary increases. Sounds like you are now falling into this category.

When I was educated, plenty of doctors and teachers could afford private school fees.

Right … and when I was growing up, plenty of ordinary people could afford homes. Obviously things are very different now in countless ways. There are a lot of working people struggling to pay for a basic standard of living, let alone elite private schooling — so I’m not sure there’s much spare sympathy to go round for your position OP

@LesLavandes other than handing out burseries to those families who in the know on how to get them. Often very educated parents who have inheritance and large pensions waiting but have chosen to work in fields that don't a pay the salary needed to send DC"s to the type of school they attended themselves . What do they do in the community ?

Most top private schools in this country also have huge ground and ancient listed building (which are not energy efficient) to maintain. I suspect their energy cost must have at least tripled recently

For those of us who grew abroad with good funded state schools and good legal protection for kids and staff, the whole situation is ludicrous.
Choose between:

1. underfunded, overstretched state school with miserable, overworked staff put through the mill during Covid especially, and ever greater pressure from self-serving government on results to look like they are doing something/anything in addition to constant curriculum changes to keep up with - vs
2. go for expensive private school with no real legal protection for you or your kids and keep paying through your nose so that some, usually man, can show he is a great leader and can make a mark and bully lots of people, including asking certain children who don’t make the grades to leave, at the same time. Neither sits comfortably with me and is a far cry from the education I experienced abroad. My parents are British, but worked abroad.

I think you are massively generalising about state schools. It varies a lot by area, but some are very good, without the fees burden.

1. underfunded, overstretched state school with miserable, overworked staff put through the mill during Covid especially, and ever greater pressure from self-serving government on results to look like they are doing something/anything in addition to constant curriculum changes to keep up with.

As yes, because we state teachers give our students an appalling education and cause countless cases of mental health crisis due to our ‘miserable’ selves.

Right … and when I was growing up, plenty of ordinary people could afford homes. Obviously things are very different now in countless ways. There are a lot of working people struggling to pay for a basic standard of living, let alone elite private schooling — so I’m not sure there’s much spare sympathy to go round for your position OP

Obviously I have more sympathy for people struggling to feed and home themselves than those struggling to send their kids to private school. That said the op has a point, it used to be that a section of middle class people could afford private school, now less and less of them can. Given that a significant proportion of mps were educated at private school, at some point this is going to make it harder and harder for anyone middle class to break into politics, never mind working class, which gives us governments that are completely out of touch with the majority of the people they are governing.

Now I would prefer easier routes into politics for all people, less entry based on networking and who you know. Nevertheless this could actually impact us all indirectly and if MPs continue to be mostly drawn from private schools I would prefer a healthy mix of doctors children and teachers children etc and some decent bursaries for children from families that cannot afford it.

How do you think they can recruit and pay good teachers, keep the heat on, maintain their buildings, etc. How do you think they pay for these things? Surely you're intelligence enough to realise these costs, as well as the costs their teachers etc have to pay to survive, go up each year, just like yours? Surely you realise that private school is a privilege, and the teachers and staff in schools deserve fair pay? And that the school's bills must also get paid? You aren't so unintelligent that you don't understand all that? Also, surely, you must understand private schools work on fine margins and don't generate profits so the money is and will be used to fund the school your child attends? And you can actually view how the money is spent by viewing the schools yearly accounting on the charitable commission website?