Private School Fees Sept 25

[Shambles123]

It seems that lots of private schools have done an increase for Spring and Summer 25 and then warned that from Sept 25 there is likely to be a further increase (Hello NI).
Has anyone been told when they can expect the confirmation of fees from Sept onwards. Trying to build a spreadsheet of fee costs over remaining years but ultimately Sept 25 cost is the starting point!

Did your school add all 20%?

One school we use plus another 2 local ones did a 10-15% increase for these two terms and have said Sept 25 will be reviewed.

GDST coy as well that current fees go to August 25.

Maybe I'm being pessimistic but I think they will be back for more.

Ours already announced a rise - they are spreading the VAT impact, so a smaller rise this term and an already announced rise for next year. Will be interested to see if they need to further revise upwards in light of NI and NMW increases. Typically we get new fees shortly before the Easter break, as start of the new term is deadline for giving notice.

Oh that's true, they will likely hold off until then to check and check... and see if someone else goes first!

Not sure why Ample Raven's posts were deleted...

We have accepted a place for September 25 and paid a deposit at a GDST school. I was quite surprised that they asked for the deposit before fees had been announced but maybe that is normal. What concerned me more was that the school has not been able to tell me when the fees will be announced.

Ours normally comes during the Easter break - 17 April last year looking at my emails.

Same - just before Easter break for us is the norm.

Thanks - are any of those GDST schools? As the school initially told me that they would be able to confirm the fees for September before the acceptance deadline (early March), but if it’s usually during the Easter break then it doesn’t make sense to me why they would say that.

I haven't heard from ds' school yet.

It will be his last year and I'm braced for a large rise, but it will be short term pain. We are lucky to get through.

I feel for those with a lot of years yet to pay.

Yes - this is the thing. We have the independent school offer - which is a very sizeable scholarship - but also got our first choice state school. Knowing the fees from September will help me decide whether the independent school offer is worth taking up as a big increase could erode quite a lot of the value of the scholarship.

Whatever they do next year doesn’t preclude further rises in future years, though - it’s a 5year commitment assuming you would want to minimise disruption for GCSEs.

how much of the 20% did they pass on from Jan? If I were modelling for affordability reasons I would assume 20% gets passed on if not all this year then next, and then I think 5% increase per year as well. I think schools will be feeling pressure to contain further rises over the next few years but with costs continuing to rise and a genuinely uncertain business outlook that might be challenging.

@Labraradabrador Agree. Am working on the basis of 5% increase year on year in fees but I was assuming most of the impact of the fiscal changes “lump” (VAT, NI, min wage etc) would have worked its way through into fees by the start of the 25/26 academic year. So 25/26 is the “new normal” and then assume 5% a year from that point onwards. Does that sound like a reasonable way to go about it?

They increased fees by 12% in January - just saw your question.

It's common practice that you accept an 11+ place by making a deposit before the fee increase is announced. You have not experienced anything abnormal.

If it were me, I would assume 10% next year and then 5% every year after. I think there have been two approaches to vat : rip off the bandage (full or close to 20% this year) or ease the transition (smaller initial increases), but ultimately I think most will need to pass on the full 20% .

@Labraradabrador Yes, it’s not sustainable in the long term to keep absorbing the VAT liability. So you think plan on the basis of a 10% increase this September and 5% every year after that? That sounds like a reasonable approach to me. Thanks.

Ive been working on adding the rest of 20% gap (12% so far GDST and 14% small local indy prep) in Sept and then 3% YOY. Really hoping it's not 5% every year!

Really hoping we get confirmation on fees asap too, very difficult for current year 6 waiting to understand offers vs fees this year, I feel for you all.

Not a GDST school but, last year, September 2024 fees weren't confirmed until sometime in June. That was abnormal and am hoping they'll be confirmed in April this year.

GDST have confirmed a further 3.5% so a total of 15.5% in 2025 vs 2024. Cheers Keir...