Private School Teacher's Discount on school fees

[PJUK]

There is an old thread on this but years old so starting anew.

My kids are in an independent school and just found out the discount on fees for teachers kids is around 75%.

I am sure there’s mixed feelings on this but I’m sick about it. Why should I be subsiding others when I pay in full just because they work there?

Bursaries are another matter and justified.

I can’t think of another industry or business where the ‘employee discount’ is so substantial.

Anticipate other’s views.

🙄🙄🙄

Classic MN whinge. Love it.

Does reveal a slight lack of knowledge about business and accounting though. It's down to the difference between marginal cost and average cost. The marginal cost of one extra child in a class is practically zero. Perhaps a couple of hundred quid a term for snack, books, stationary etc. tops. The fees charged to full-fee paying parents however needs to be slightly more than the average cost of running the entire school - staff wages, maintaining the estate, energy, utilities etc. etc.

It's been tested in the courts, too and it's settled in law too. Landmark case for lots of reasons - look up Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart [1992] UKHL 3. The value of the benefit to the teachers is not assessed on the same bases as the schedule of fees paid by the average parent. Hence no benefit in kind tax charge, either.

Move on, get over it.

Dammit - when will we get an edit feature? Stationery not stationary. And basis, not bases.

Grrrr.

This is the case at my dds school. Tbh they don't all make use of it, but I wouldn't give it a second thought. I've never met anyone irl who gives a shit. It's a great perk though.

but I’m sick about it
Get a grip and get your facts right…. Or take your kids out of school if it makes you so ‘sick’ 🙄

The thing with independent schools is that if you don’t like things you can move elsewhere. This discount for the offspring of staff is commonplace and intended to attract and retain good staff. Seriously like it or lump it.

It’s at the burser’s discretion in the prep school I work in. He literally decides who gets what discount, TAs like me get zero! So I moved my ds out to another private school which suits him better anyway.

Well don’t pay for your kids to go to private school then. It’s your choice.

Why not… I don’t see any problem with that.. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Strangely enough, the OP has crawled back under their rock.

I get 2/3 off the fees for my two DC. If I didn't get that, I'd leave and go and work in a school that would give me similar.

I could have carried on working in industry and been able to pay school fees. But I had a career change nearly 20yrs ago to a job that I am particularly good at and plenty of schools would happily take me on.

You aren’t. It’s part of their pay package. If they didn’t get a fee remission they would either be paid a lot more or they wouldn’t be there. If you don’t like it, there are plenty of good state schools.

I feel very differently. I always think that lots of teachers children attending the school is the absolute best way of maintaining quality. In my experience any recruits who don't measure up as good teachers are out of the door very quickly. Their colleagues are less sympathetic to serial low performers. I also always liked it as adding to the social mix - not all pupils from wealthy families. The independent schools I have most experience of also have a large contingent of pupils supported by an educational charity whose fees etc are paid in their entirety. I don't suppose you'd care for that either. As always 'comparison is the thief of joy'.

Re equivalent bonuses: If you work for a train operator you get free travel on your company’s trains and 75% discount for you and your immediate family for all other train operators.

You are being very unreasonable. It’s part of the benefits package and is designed to attract and retain the best teaching staff. If they didn’t offer this perk, they’d need to pay more or offer some other financial benefit to keep the same quality of teachers so your fees would still be the same. The benefit being liked to the school also ensures commitment and loyalty in a way adding the same financial sum to salary wouldn’t. It’s smart.

I work in a private school that gives staff 50% discount. I don’t see it as other parents subsidising my kids. The pay for staff in private schools is significantly less than government schools. Plus it is a way to keep staff there. To be honest I wouldn’t be able to afford to send my kids there. Part of the reason I work there is so I can send my kids there. Definitely a way to attract and keep staff I think.

YABVU.

Either they can offer teachers this discount, or pay them enough cash to afford the 75%. That would cost more, because it's cheaper to offer a discount on a school place than to give the fees for a school place.

But, sure, pay all the teachers more (the childless ones would especially appreciate this alternative remuneration) and your school fees can go up even further to pay for it.

Well - not your biz really, is it? It’s part of the perks and helps get good teachers and keep them there, presumably.

I am in a support role. We have four people in my team with seven children between us in the school. Due to the discount the school has recruited people who are far better than the roles would normally attract. I was a senior manager in a national company and my two assistants are both ex-lawyers.

I bet you tell your kids’ teachers “ I pay your wages”.
As others have said, the cost of the staff children to the school is marginal but the school manages to claw back some of the staff salary. Win win.

She does this every few months and it gets deleted when she doesn't get the responses she wants.

Do teachers pay tax on this benefit?

Well for a start it helps staff retention.
I’m all in favour!

Doubt it. The cost of a teacher's child attending would be valued on a marginal cost basis, so if the place was heavily discounted rather than free, I'd imagine the school would set that discount so the price paid was equal to the marginal cost.

There's some very famous case law on this.

Children of staff in state schools get priority over local children. It means that schools can hang onto good staff. Offering fee reductions to children of staff is there for the same reason.
If it bothers you train to be a teacher- we're struggling to recruit for some reason these days.

@therescoffeeinthatnebula so the opportunity cost of taking on a fee paying pupil is disregarded, interesting.