Is private school worth it?

[sunisbetterthanrain]

Interested to hear thoughts on whether private school is worth it for primary school years? Neither me nor my partner went but are considering it for our daughter. Local schools round here are pretty good, is it just a waste of money that could be better spent on experiences or saving for her future?

If local primary is decent - you can generally save the cash.

You’ll get the usual “it’s amazing and sooo worth it” responses on here. But remember, it is a self selecting group; for many private school parents, the fees eat up most of their disposable income. So they have to think it’s worth it, or they simply wouldn’t or couldn’t do it.

My kids are at a private school (of the selective academic variety). It’s okay, but they waste a lot of opportunities by wasting a lot of money on window dressing (aka glossy facilities). Is it better than the state alternatives? Probably. Is it so much better that it’d be worth constraining their lifestyle if it had a big financial impact on our finances? Honestly, probably not. You get smaller classes and a more homogeneous peer group (in an academic school, an above average academic peer group). There are some disadvantages to the latter, although it does mean that problems with behaviour etc are generally minimised.

My dd used to go to a 'popular, decent and outstanding primary school' which didn't turn out to be great for us. We moved her to prep before Y3 and have been quite happy. It's no easy money for us and it's not that AMAZINGLY good, but good enough to say I'm happy to continue sending my child there and continue in secondary. There are very good provisions with both academic and specialist subjects that is absent in her previous school. Also at least in a decent indie, your voices as parents are heard (or at least they pretend so).

Thanks for the comments. Smaller classes and more focus on each individual child's needs are the main appeal I think, hard to know how academic she'll be at this point as she's at the very young end of the year too.

It depends what you're looking for in an education and what local options are.

If I had a choice between a state school with a narrow curriculum and poor enrichment opportunities or a private school with a broad curriculum and enrichment, I'd choose the private school for a more rounded education.

If the choice was between a state school with a reasonably broad curriculum but lacking enrichment or private then I'd choose the state school and use the extra cash to offer enrichment opportunities at home.

If the choice was large class sizes and a school that spends a lot of time and resources being extended social services Vs a private school with smaller classes and time to dedicate to each child, I'd pick private.

It's not as simple as private Vs state. There's good and bad in both. Some aren't worth the money, others are. Some state schools aren't worth the inflated house prices, others are. Depends on a lot more than simply the schools financial status.

I’ve taught in both state and private schools. If the private school is good, pushes the kids, has a broad curriculum, etc, and going private means having no life and stressing over everything, I genuinely think it’s not worth it. If money is no object, why not. Although I think a lot of what private schools is just marketing and to attract customers. My kids go to state schools even if we can afford private. Lots of clubs and enrichment activities at school and outside of school, I don’t feel they are missing out. Yes their school can look a bit shabby but the teachers are fab and they are making amazing progress. Same curriculum as in my school. It is also worth mentioning that private school teachers are not better than state school ones. I have seen some very poor teaching in prep schools.

• a lot of what private schools do is just marketing

It entirely depends on what you value most in education, and which school/s (to which you secure entry) offer them in the ways you like most

Also how comfortably you can afford it - some people might prefer to spend now (whilst you've got it, who knows what the future will bring) plus take a Jesuitical view that the early years are disproportionately important ("give me a boy until he is seven and I will show you the man")

Others think it makes more of a difference at secondary level.

There's no one right answer or best way. It's what suits you and your DC best

We have 3 in private school and for us we really see the value of it. My DH and I both have very full on jobs and really appreciate the extra attention we feel our children get and the additional wraparound care really helps.

Having had my kids in a great state primary up until year 2 for one and year 5 for the other, the difference is night and day. Honestly I can’t describe the difference in both my kids since we’ve sent them to the prep school. I don’t believe with all the will in the world we could have done the enrichment to the extent of the prep school. Simply because it all comes together under one roof. The top class education (and our State was by no means rubbish although our now Year 3 child was now we can see significantly behind her peers at the Prep school).

The culture, the sports, the enrichment, the values, the teaching, the facilities, the overall wide offering. Small classes are one thing but it’s the way the school literally doesn’t leave a single thing out.

our state school is excellent, lovely and brilliant hardworking teachers but with all
of that they can’t offer what the prep does. We have two other prep schools near us and ours is waaaaaay better, it’s over subscribed, it’s just outstanding.

Expenditure wise, it’s ok. I mean well we have a low mortgage and outgoings. DH gross salary is about £150k and my net income as I’m self employed is £50k. I put the remainder of my profits into my pension but could draw down further dividends if necessary. I’d say it costs us £30k net a year to send the kids to their prep school.

it totally depends on the schools. not all state schools are bad, not all private schools are good. "worth it" depends on what you are sacrificing to afford it - scrimping every penny, missing out on holidays and ordinary little luxuries to make ends meet requires a much higher standard of value for money than if you have everything you want and the excess would otherwise just be going into pensions/savings.

we used local state primary up to y6 then went private from y7 and that was totally fine. with hindsight a move in y5 would have been a little better (into an all-through school) as y5 and y6 in state primary were boring and repetitive but survivably so.

if your local state primary isn't terrible, it's fine to use it for the first few years at least. in early years the primary factor in how much progress a child makes is how many books there are at home and how much time parents spend reading with the child outside school. without these factors a child in a brilliant school is less likely to thrive than a child who has these factors in a terrible school.

obviously class size can be a factor but too small can be just as bad as too big. in a class of 30 it's more likely that a child will find a "best friend" than in a class of 8 where it's possible they might not really click with any of their classmates.

I think we probably sit somewhere in the middle, we wouldn't have to scrimp and save to go private however we would obviously be making some sacrifices elsewhere. DH earns well, I am not working so I would have time to read and assist with learning outside of school hours albeit we do have 3 children, younger twins aged 1 which is obviously another factor as that's 3 x fees eventually.

AnyoneElse1982

Were your children happy to be moved? I had considered that switching around year 5 would be one route to go down but worry by then they would be settled with friends.

I think in your circumstances I would either

(a) if it's feasible to do both school-runs, have each child going to state primary fir yR-3 then move to private from y4

or (b) if the two school runs aren't compatible, keep them all in state until oldest is due to start y5 and move them all across then. the oldest child of 3 has invariably had some educational advantages due to more 1:1 attention when little anyway, so this would help even out the imbalance a little

whichever of these is appropriate I would start putting half your eventual fee-burden into a specific school-fee-earmarked savings account every month now, so that when the triple-whammy time comes around you have a decent savings pot to draw down from to take the edge off that sharp change.

My 7 year old (in year 2) started reception at our local, well rated state school. We moved him to a private school part way through year 1. He was completely unstimulated at his first school, he was left to do things on an iPad whilst other children were taught, they seemed unable to differentiate work in a meaningful way. They did very little sport, and didn't spend much time being active outside. The behavioural issues in the class were not dealt with and parental non engagement was used as an excuse.

He's now in a class of 12 (2 classes in the year), where he is above average but not exceptional. His behaviour has improved hugely, he is interested in learning, extremely active, and has opportunities to try all sorts of different clubs and activities. Wraparound is far better too.

His younger brother will be starting reception at the private school in September.

We had always planned to stick with state until secondary, but I guess things change. I do feel we were let down by the school, and in a different school things may have been different. Private school is a lot of money and I think a good state primary plus plenty of opportunity for extra curricular stuff outside of school, offers most children a good education.

Not happy to be moved but we talked through how we absolutely would only seek to do the best for them. They went a long with it and now are absolutely loving their life at school. They talk about being stretched, how varied the curriculum is, the enrichment on the drama, sport and music side is amazing! We’re lucky with our eldest that they always loved going to school and it’s not changed now. In fact they’re throwing themselves in wholeheartedly, really relishing every opportunity. Definitely glad we did it at Year 5 and didn’t leave til Year 7. It’s a two campus school and has a Senior School. They still have to do the 11+.

If you have a good primary school then I wouldn’t bother.
Mine are both at private now and we believe it to be worth the sacrifices. They are very happy and thriving. They are definitely getting more opportunities than their peers from their previous school. The circumstances of the school they would have gone to have deteriorated significantly and we know we’ve made the right choice for us.

Is private school worth it?

NO!

Signed: A parent whose teen has been in private education since Reception

It’s a tricky one. I think it comes down to finances and parental priorities. I would not push myself uncomfortably to do it BUT is it better than spending 15k on a luxury holiday or 100k on a Range Rover definitely. We drive cheapish cars, holiday in UK and eat out at harvester so we have actively prioritised
private education. I would say it makes a difference but again the bigger difference at that age is attitude and engagement of parents - books every night, writing practise etc hope this helps

i Think go state and spend money on tuition / classes/ activities and holidays. Life experience is so vital and teaches them about the world, school isn’t that important at that age.

A good state primary often works fine - with active parental input, and then a bit of tutoring for entrance to indie senior school at 11.

give It a go - you can always switch

At secondary level I would argue that the curriculum is potentially much broader. As an English teacher I have freedom to teach a wide range of texts and as we do IGCSE we are not stuck with the narrow Inspector Calls/Christmas Carol/Macbeth year after year. We don’t have booklets which presuppose set answers and can encourage independence. The government and exam boards are killing English with their obsessive focus on knowledge and context.