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.

@DenbyChina - so you are happy with your salary and the state of your school during Covid and the outcome for your pupils on the whole? You are happy with the funding your school received under the Conservative government in the last years?

I have 5 DC. Some are in the state sectors, with dedicated teachers and having a good experience. But the buildings are crumbling, many kids need more mental health and learning support etc.- nothing to do with the teachers, more the parental situation. The schools could certainly do with more funding.

This school is meant to be a charity that puts the school community first

Private schools are not charities, they are businesses.

Why are you ‘trapped’? If you don’t like it, you can do something. You can move to a state school like the other 95% of people.

I do agree though, the cost of private school is somewhat out of proportion in this country. In my home country, private education for 1 child will be about 10% of my salary, here it would be at least 40% of my post tax income

@EstoPerpetua we would be wasting our time.
I don't want to go into my experience during covid but it was the complete opposite to yours. They have a vast network of very wealthy parents who not only pay the fees but donate huge sums of money. Our DC will be replaced immediately.

It will be a relief to be honest. This stress is no longer worth it.

Surely we should be trying to get more funding for state schools not trying to get private schools funding per pupil closer to state school funding. That is going the wrong way

@169cliftonroad - it is not only out of proportion, it has been heading in a weird way for 10 years plus now. And people who can are just paying and accepting it, so the schools keep putting up fees. And the governors and bursars in some schools will openly admit that they are and were surprised that people just keep paying.
And they keep paying because once your child, being a child, is happy and settled, you will do anything not to move them unless you really have not other choice.
And if you complain about it, then you get told to check your privilege.

For the avoidance of doubt, I can easily afford the school fees. It does not stop me being incensed by the collusion and the whole poncy scheme.
If independent schools are indeed “businesses” they should learn to tighten their belts when things get tough, not the opposite.

For the avoidance of doubt, I can easily afford the school fees. It does not stop me being incensed by the collusion and the whole poncy scheme.

It’s always the most well off who are the least willing to reach into their pockets. So glad I took my DC out of private school, the parents there were out of touch with reality.

[quote Abuildingwith4wallsandtmrinsid]@DenbyChina - so you are happy with your salary and the state of your school during Covid and the outcome for your pupils on the whole? You are happy with the funding your school received under the Conservative government in the last years?

I have 5 DC. Some are in the state sectors, with dedicated teachers and having a good experience. But the buildings are crumbling, many kids need more mental health and learning support etc.- nothing to do with the teachers, more the parental situation. The schools could certainly do with more funding.[/quote]
Salary - not bad.
State of school - we’ve got just under three million pounds worth of work and repairs being done. So again, not bad.
And whilst conservatives have stripped back funding for education, what I actually really resent is being told that I, as a state school teacher, am miserable and that that affects the teaching I give. However, let’s hope your children in state education don’t feel resentful at being taught in ‘crumbling buildings’ by ‘miserable’ staff while their siblings get money thrown at their education.

I thought it was common knowledge that fees go up, often every year but at least every couple. You work it into your calculations when you are deciding if private works for your family.

Even when I was at school 20ish years ago this was the case.

Really struggling to give a toss that you are having to pay more to outsource your child's education.

Maybe your time would be better spent trying to fight for better resources and outcomes in state schools.

Hm seems to me you have no idea

Staff costs are going up, extra NI payments etc now
Heat, electricity going up, it’s more than doubled for some, read the posts? It’s the same for businesses and that includes schools
Anything else they purchase, stationary books etc etc are going up
The food they provide is going up

If you don’t like it remove your child, but quit moaning.

We’ve had an email saying that fees will go up but they can’t say by how much yet. Normally at this stage of the year we get advised.

It’s not worth posting on here as you’ll get loads of chippy / envious responses.

Independent schools in this country are extortionate. They need to cut their cloth. So much spending on swimming pools and so on that are barely used. Bursaries and scholarship awards in numbers they can’t afford.

I may have misunderstood OP, but are you suggesting that the private school raising it's price is unnecessary because state schools have had cuts to their budget but they manage just fine on less than inflation income year on year?

If this is what you mean, then I suggest you take a look around state schools in the UK. Many (I would suggest the majority) are struggling - with buildings that are falling apart, with heating systems that don't work properly, with leaking roofs and with inadequate security. Students are using PCs and tech that is beyond outdated - it is an insulte and a joke. They often get ICT equipment from industry who are getting rid of them to update their systems. They are run on a skeleton of support staff - not enough cleaners, often no school librarian, no where near enough TAs. The class sizes get bigger and bigger so that they can employ fewer teachers to cut down on staffing bills. A Level classes below (in my former school) will not run with fewer than 15 students. GCSE classes of up to 35 students. Also, in order to save on staffing costs more and more schools are using HTLAs instead of fully qualified teachers to teach classes.

If you are happy for your private school to manage their budget in this way. And it isn't managing, it is limping along and surviving, then you are well within your rights to complain about the fee rise. If, however, you would like your child to attend a well maintained, properly heated, fully equipped, properly staffed school then pay the raised fee.

It isn't a race to the bottom. No decent private school would aspire to the funding levels of state schools.

@TenoringBehind- that is interesting. Price is a fundamental term of the contract so how will that work with notice periods usually at the start of next term? If price goes up significantly under common law you have the right to rescind the contract? I guess during Covid times independent schools didn’t know if parents on the whole would just keep paying either, so perhaps they have chosen this approach on that basis. That most parents will just pay anyway and that it is better to rely on good faith in these inflationary times and adopt a “wait and see” approach.

My one DC in the independent sector has type 1 diabetes and loves sport. DC went there because the medical team is always on site to remind DC/in emergency situations etc. So yes, we feel trapped. DC is used to that comfort and many with a child with diabetes have experienced near death situation.

Teachers in DCs state school currently very stressed about A level and GCSE students and staff absences due to Covid, lack of supply locally too. So many staff are miserable at the moment because they feel strongly about the kids. Many teachers are of this ilk.

For the avoidance of doubt, I can easily afford the school fees. This is why they can put the prices up!

It does not stop me being incensed by the collusion and the whole poncy scheme. Do you mean Ponzi scheme? You believe you are voluntarily and knowingly paying into a Ponzi scheme??

If independent schools are indeed “businesses” they should learn to tighten their belts when things get tough, not the opposite. I don't think you understand how businesses operate. They set a price their customers will pay. You have just said you can easily afford it and have no intention of taking your child out. What are you moaning about?

I am really enjoying this thread though, I love a bit of illogicality.

@itrytomakemyway - yes, I see some of that in the state schools my DC attend. But also, lots of staff, parents and pupils muddling through the best they can and some parents making sizeable donations, where they can, too. However, I fundamentally agree that state schools need their budgets upped.
Let’s insist the government does the same as the independent school average of upped fees? Any takers?

@carefullycourageous - so you agree the whole thing is absurd and illogical? State schools underfunded for 10 years on back bones cutting back more and more vs independent schools investing more and more (previously into buildings typically in competition with each other) now into face saving “bursary schemes” and endowments and highly paid CEO headmasters? Because essentially they are all in competition & collusion with each other, unregulated.

It is not I who is illogical but the contrast of the two. I am moaning because some of DC’s friends’ parents, typically in the doctor/teacher/IT sector, are now seriously struggling with the fees.
If it wasn’t a question of DC’s health, I would take my DC out on principle.

Pop down to SW London OP. Our state schools are not crumbling to bits and full of miserable teachers and kids with mental health issues. There really is more choice than just the worst of the state system or private school.

I thought that it was expected that private school fees would increase in about 8 out of 10 years.

Sadly not all of us live in SW London @BlackberrySky. I wish.

Lots of kids are at private schools because they’re neurodivergent. I had no choice but to move my youngest DS to an independent school because he wasn’t coping socially and they didn’t have the resources to offer enough support.

He did a taster day at a tiny private school and he was so happy - like a different child. It’s a child’s right to have a good experience at school and there’s no way I could have moved him back to a state school.

I'm still not following your argument OP. You think fee increases are unfair in private schools, but also think that state schools are underfunded? Wouldn't it be lovely if all children were given access to the staffing levels and facilities that many in the private sector enjoy.

I also note that one or two posters on here are not happy about private fee rises in order to fund bursaries and scholarships. I may be wrong, but isn't that how private schools manage to acquire charitable status in the first place? So, you don't want fees to rise, and you don't want fee rises to fund places for the less well off.

Off topic but if you can easily afford the fees why are you only paying for one child. The families I know where children have been so differently educated haven’t generated good sibling relationships. So unfair.

What tosh about how bad state schools are! Honestly

Enjoy watching your hard earned ££ go up in smoke while the rest of us who are more open- minded about state schools but probably no less snobby send our bright children to state schools in good areas while being able to afford the gardener, cleaner, horse riding lessons, skiing holidays and personal tutors

Yes they have gone up with inflation.
I have a child at a private primary as I need wrap around care.
The moaning from some of the parents is excessive. They won’t cut back on their silly cars nor trips to Dubai though.
The school needs to make ends meet and you cannot pay the teachers enough to put up with some of the parents gripes.