Would most people choose private education if they could afford it

[mids2019]

My children go to reasonable state schools but especially from my older daughter I keep hearing about a succession of cover teachers and general malaise in the school system (governments fault not the schools)

That for me asking the question would most people choose private education if affordable in their heart of hearts or are there egalitarian parents who would still choose state on ideological grounds?

I am in two minds about this but certainly the private sector locally is attracting quite a few.

We can afford it but won't be.

My partner went to a private school and his peers were no more successful than those I went to a public school with.

I was privately educated which wasn't a big plus until I was 15 but then i went to a boys public school where they'd just started taking girls for A levels. I was very happy there - took off like a rocket. Theatre, debating society. I had always been a square peg in my girls school but to teachers who'd handled boys for 20 years I was no trouble at all. I was a rebel and very arty. It turns out I have ASD.

It was a totally successful step for me and if I'd been able to afford it for my DC I'd have done it like a shot. One of my DS is a gifted child but has very severe dyslexia. The other didn't have such acute needs but the comprehensive he attended was useless in dealing with his dire attendance due to very unstable diabetes. He couldn't have coped with boarding school but a day school might have worked.

If I could have afforded it I would definitely have sent them to public school. Sod my principles. My own education was a massive help to me. I became a journalist, an author and later a web designer.

What, all of them?

So many ridiculous sweeping statements in this thread.

No. My DC walk to a decent big very mixed state school & all their mates are local. They are massively idependant & have been since Yr6. Education includes life skills not just academic grades.
We pay for plenty extra curricular.

Yes I would in a heartbeat, at least for secondary.

I went to state primary and private secondary. The boys on my primary had behavioural issues and were violent towards me and the school couldn’t control them.

I wouldn’t give a shit about inequality if it stopped my kids from being beaten up.

We chose state for DD.

But we had the option of an outstanding state primary and then she won an aptitude place to a highly sought after outstanding comprehensive.

We looked at private schools, but the comp was a much better fit for DD. (Lots of extra-curricular, music, drama and huge numbers of options - 5 different Art options for GCSE, 4 language options including Latin. Most private schools wouldn't offer as big a range.)

Instead I spend the equivalent of average private day-school fees on extra-curricular - which works out better as I can handpick the teachers rather than being allocated a school's choice.

If the only state option had been our local comp then I'd have opted for private.

100%. We live in a lovely area but there are only two secondary schools in the town; the one with decent results and the better reputation is over-subscribed and is out of our catchment. DH went to private school for his last four years and it did wonders for him.

We didn't consider going private for primary school. We could stretch our finances to send our eldest to private secondary school but probably not our youngest as well, which doesn't feel fair. Plus we're hoping we'll get one of our preferences when secondary school places are announced in March so we hopefully won't have to think about private school as an option.

I wouldnt say this out loud but imo parents who can easily afford private school but don't are selfish (overcrowding schools), bad parents (not prioritising their DC), foolish (naive) and immoral (taking taxpayer funded freebies they don't need).

We could afford private school but DC's will be going to state school. We fully believe in the state system and want to give it our support.

@heartofglass23 that's a very strong view! We certainly did prioritise our ds and I really don't think he could have done any better at any school than the one he went to. It's about choosing the right 'fit' for the child. And given we pay quite a lot of tax as parents, why should we not use state schools? Many of which actually provide an excellent education.

If education was suddenly "free" for my kids and I could choose any school, I'd go private. They would like the pool and the sports facilities and I would like the smaller classes. I would also like a school with specialist teachers and no recruitment crisis.
I believe that anyone who would not choose private either

1. has a great state school nearby
2. has children who have completed their education
3. does not have children
4. has very young children
5. can afford tutors and enrichment
6. can send to grammar.

I don't agree with private schools but having seen the disadvantages that mine have had in their state secondary, I would not actively choose that again.

That’s admirable. I hope experience doesn’t make you have to reconsider.

More than one state school exists locally so I'm sure we'll find the right fit.

I'm ideologically opposed to private schools but I'd be a hypocrite and pay for them if the alternative was bad enough.

Same as healthcare - it's one thing believing in the NHS, another thing to let your child suffer if the system is failing and it would cost a few hundred (that you could afford) to reduce the suffering.

There's a fair bit of hypocrisy with parents saying they'd only use state schools but they mean the kind of state schools with middle class catchment and house prices to match.

I'd rather give up work and homeschool than send DC to an absolute shite school.

It’s very fortunate to have a choice of excellent state schools.

Do you feel the same about other state funded things like healthcare, child benefit, free childcare hours etc @heartofglass23 ?

The comprehensive system is meant to be just that, a full range of children who come together and benefit from the diversity.

Schools are overcrowded due to bad planning not parenthood. Parents are taxpayers so they're not ripping anyone off.

You don’t always get the choice though. And when you do ‘choose’ one that is excellent by all accounts and your child is physically attacked and the classes locked down weekly due to behaviour of some children, you may find there are no other state schools locally that has the place for your child when you need to move them - it’s not as simple as your sweeping statements make out.

I could pay for it. But I prioritised my dds as the state school was a far superior.
I also employ a lot of people so I'm v happy with my tax/revenue relationship thanks.

Completely agree

Our local comp was classed as failing and had only 37% of pupils gaining 5 GCSEs, so rather than an hour's bus journey each way to a semi-decent one, we sent our only child to a prep school which fed a leading private school. She did extremely well and we got lots of financial help. We ended up paying around £10kpa instead of £26kpa in fees (average of seniors and sixth form) which was still a lot for us but we managed with help from grandparents and took out loans of around £2kpa which we have nearly paid off now. No regrets. DD now at RG uni heading for a first.

Does that include university too? 🤔

And private tutoring?

Ye are both wrong though.

That's fair.

I suppose it would be our very last resort rather than just something we do automatically because we can afford it.