How do people afford private school?

[PopGoesTheWeaselYetAgain]

Following on from discussion House of Commons today, how do people afford private school fees? Is it by sacrificing holidays and other luxuries? That wouldn't by you a year, but did she perhaps mean a term? How do you pay for the other two terms?

I'd appreciate it if posters refrained from speculation. I'm interested in people's actual financial circumstances and decisions.

#buy!

This is a strange question…there will be all sorts of ways people have the resources be it salary/inheritance/grandparents paying/savings - involving huge sacrifices in other areas of life or not. It’s buying something very expensive in the same way as anything else 🤷‍♀️

Worked overseas for 25 years and paid from savings not income.

I know plenty of high earners who can afford £25k a year.
Or parents of only kids who were used to nursery fees and just carried on

I know a couple with two kids at private school. They both earn six figures.

We can afford it by both parents working. I wouldn't sacrifice holidays or anything for it though.

I've wondered this, I know a few parents who have kids in private school... Either paid for by inheritance, grandparents or inheriting a large business making money.

But also the downside is some of these kids never see their parents, they are in accommodation overnight or carted off to camps during the holidays.

It won’t necessarily happen but my parents Have offered to pay for mine. I’m an only child and they see it as an advance on the
kids’ eventual inheritance. We’re not sure it’s worth the money but if we did send our kids to private school I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be the only ones who were doing it thanks to parents or an inheritance.

as it stands we could just about afford it but only with making sacrifices and with the fragility of the uk economy (and potentially our jobs) right now it’s too risky- having to pull them out would be awful- we’ve both been made redundant before so don’t take anything for granted.
But we are very risk averse people.

A friend of mine sees it exactly like that.
sent his kid to the nursery of a large local private school and he’s still there aged 15 (only child).

I know several who had it subsidised because they won scholarships / had military parents etc.

They earned enough, they inherited, grandparents paid ... one family did sacrifice things including sticking to one child, but plenty of people can easily afford fees

I have friends with only children who paid £1k a month in nursery fees from age 6 months. So carried on into private school. I know several.
Whereas others were joyous once those days were over.
A couple I know have grandparent help. Rest are just wealthy

My husband and I both earn good salaries in the City (law and IT in a bank). We only have one child and it doesn’t really stretch us financially. We are in our mid and late forties so have been earning well for a long time (some overseas with very low tax) and have a manageable mortgage. Most of the parents -of both sexes- at DS’ school are professionals- loads of lawyers, medical consultants, bankers, traders, property developers. Most of the mothers work 3 or 4 days a week.

This is my experience. I just carried on paying what I’d been paying for nursery.

In the first few years it was cheaper than full time nursery. I’m in the north where fees are about 15k. The early years cost about 10-12k.

We remortgaged when rates were <1% for the full amount. So far we've not had to dip
In to pay the £35k per year and we have circa 5 years left. COL is making things harder, so no new cars, posh holidays but overall we feel it's worth it.

A member of DP’s family is a senior teacher at a top-end, highly selective private school in the south of England. They teach the offspring of many senior bankers, CEOs, super-rich foreigners etc etc. The 1% of the 1%.

£45-£50k per child per year really isn’t a lot of money to these people. It’s less than they spend on their chauffeurs, their security guys, their PAs, chartering a yacht for their holidays etc etc. Financially, it’s just a completely different universe.

By earning enough to pay for it. 7% of the U.K.'s children are in private school. About 80% of them are on MN*

(first stat is real. Second is made up but it certainly feels like that sometimes).

State school serves a lot of children very well and engaged and interested parents make a huge difference. Private school is not nirvana and your children will not be hobbled for life if they have a state education

By earning enough to pay for it. 7% of the U.K.'s children are in private school. About 80% of them are on MN*

I suppose it's really easy when you not only earn 'high six figures' but only buy one massive salad and a small chicken to feed the family each week!

As PP, surely it's like anything else that's far too expensive for most people to countenance - some of the other people will have the option to buy it if they cut back elsewhere whilst others are so rich that £25,000 is like a quid to the rest of us.

We had our first child in my mid 30s. I had had a successful career and owned a house, with high equity, in London when I got married. DH became very successful within five years of having our first child.

DC were privately educated from 8 and 11 so not the full whack. When we transferred ds we had five years' fees in the bank, dh's earnings were on an upward trajectory and there were other investments.

We were in about the middle at the DC's London day schools.

We pay for it from earned income. No inheritance or payments from family. DH is a high earner and I am a low p/t earner. It doesn't affect our ability to pay for holidays or other extras. There is enough income to cover any lifestyle costs we want. We also have substantial assets (paid for from earnings) which we keep invested, but it gives us the confidence to commit to private school as it could cover any fees needed until the end of schooling, so we could still keep the dcs in school even if something happened to our jobs. We have 2 dc in private from age 4 (plan for them to stay until 18).

Yes - lots of cases of this. My friend’s children receive a 70% fee reduction (father in the military) but only on the condition that they are full boarders.

I'm a single mum, medium income.

I saved up, so I already had four years fees in the bank before ds moved to independent school at 11. He got a maths scholarship, which helps, and we don't go on expensive foreign holidays.

I've managed to pay most of it from earnings so he's about to start year 11 and I still have 3 years' fees saved. Nearly there 🙂

The way you’ve worded this is odd.

People earn different salaries. Many people earn enough to send their kids to private school.

Other people will use savings, inheritance, have help from grandparents, scholarships, reduced fees if they teach there themselves, etc, etc, etc….

We plan to send both of ours to private secondary.

I'm willing to forego holidays/luxuries to send them there tbh, I feel like I greatly missed out by not going to private school.