Alternative Option to State & Private School

[thinkingdeeplyaboutedcuation]

I'm a school leader & parent who thinks a lot about primary education.

At the moment, we can either choose to send our children to state or private schools (or home educate of course!) but more and more parents are citing the following issues -

State:
Widespread poor behaviour and unmet needs
Large classes
Able children not receiving attention/challenge
Restrictive out-of-date curriculum

Private:
Completely unaffordable for most parents, especially with changes to VAT

I've been thinking a lot about whether there would be interest in a 'middle-ground' fee paying school.

What this would include:

• Small classes
• Family feel, close relationship with parents
• High expectations and 11+ exam prep
• Children & parents who generally value education (in my experience, therefore less behaviour issues)
• A more free curriculum, but still academically rigorous

What it wouldn't include to keep the costs down:

• Huge grounds/ extensive facilities
• Specialist teaching in art, music, drama, sport etc

My question is - would there be enough of a draw for parents to still pay for a school like this? For context, I'm based in the South East where fees are around £8,000 a term. I recon this would be around £3,500 a term.

I apologise in advance for the very sweeping generalisations about schools - I accept it is far more nuanced than this and there are some FANTASTIC state options and not so great privates, but am trying to keep it simple and gauge interest/ thoughts. Especially interested in hearing from any parents who have had to move their children due to fees.

Thanks in advance to anyone who comments!

These already existed and are closing (and were long before vat was brought in) because parents are sucked into the swanky facilities, the idea that size means better education, that they want wrap around care, school buses etc. if you can afford £12k a year you can probably afford £20k which is the cost of my local larger private school with state of the art facilities. Most people can’t afford the £12k.

when mine were kids I would have been in the middle ground I suppose but we used tutoring/extra curricula with state and would not have trusted a small school to meet dc’s needs as both are accomplished musicians and neurodiverse

It is basically state primary what you are proposing but excluding difficult poor families or those with SEND.
To be honest, whilst it was annoying at the time that my DC did not get much attention, I am really happy they had to be around less privileged kids or severely autistic kids. It gave them empathy and patience.
Parents with some means can tutor on the side anyway and do a lot of clubs.
The real issue is kids with more minor SEND who really would benefit from smaller class sizes and attention. Again some of my friends are discovering specialist tutors outside school who make a real difference. What we need is that integrated into state schools somehow.

@hahagogomomo thanks so much for your reply. Naively, I had no idea this already existed and haven't come across this in the local area. Do you have an example of one of these schools? Thank you.

@Araminta1003 Thanks for your reply and completely agree with a lot of what you're saying! We have a bright son and it just frustrates me that I know he is going to be 'left to get on' and have to put up with poor behaviour (based on my 15+ years experience of teaching!) But really value your point about it teaching empathy and patience.

Agree. Smaller school/low fee models are rarely viable and have largely closed or been taken over by larger private schools. Even small additional running costs like increasing staff ni or pension contributions can send them over the edge. The idea might be fine for a starting point but less attractive once parents expect team sports, drama, extra curricular activities and wider social circles which even many state schools can offer.

What about Grammar Schools?

https://www.notredameprepschool.co.uk/fees

AN example from my local area, small site with very little in the way of fancy facilities.

I would be interested in something like this. It doesn't exist where I live (London) I am in that middle ground where I earn too much to get any bursaries but not enough to afford private school fees.
State secondary has been a disaster for my younger two DC. Oldest was lucky enough to get into a grammar and did very well there, but it was much more competitive by the time the younger two were applying.

@Ivesaidenough Oh great! I did think there would be some demand out there - it's just really difficult to 'get to' the right segment of parents for market research!

@Busygoingblah Did it close? Can't seem to get on their website!

I think there may be more demand for no frills independent 11-16 in non grammar areas?

I was working within that sorry of budget, I would buy a house in the catchment area of state schools that meet most of those criteria (my children's primary school was pretty much my ideal school with a strong community, close knit family feel, high aspirations and inspirational teachers, and their secondary schools have also been excellent) and then pay for art, music, sport etc as an out of school activity.

So many sweeping generalisations in your post. How about you send your child to the local school then get involved- be a governor, join the PTA, teach your DC some empathy for children with SEND or challenging circumstances at home by having some yourself.

@thinkingdeeplyaboutedcuation if you haven't already it's perhaps worth looking at 'human scale schools' they seem to fit with most of what you're suggesting. I've put three children through both primary and secondary and have a lot of appreciation for them. Still painfully expensive but much less than most 'private schools', around 10/12k a year (sliding scale fees)

It is like anything, if there is sufficient demand and it is an economically viable model it will already exist. I am aware of a private school where primary fees are aproximately 4.5k/term and secondary fees are about 6 5k/term. This includes VAT. They are in your ball park. Fees are still out of reach for most, but not as high as some schools. This is in the north though. Costs will be higher in the south east. Not highly selective, but some people feel it has value. I know of people who have moved their kids there. I dont think it is struggling for numbers. No state 11+ around here.
Wont link as dont want to reveal rough location.

There are quite a few online schools nowadays. Some offer pastoral support and other extras. I suppose a possible model would be children studying online in a rented hall with a couple of supervising adults and an IT bloke (they always seem to be blokes...) and sports and art and music teachers coming in a few afternoons a week?

Better for working parents than supervising all that themselves, and the practical teachers could stay on to do after school clubs which could be open to any paying child?

These already exist as well as private online schooling (no facilities). Prep schools with smaller facilities are closing hand over fist at the moment, what you’re suggesting sounds it would compete with these? Larger groups are buying up smaller schools, but they generally offer the opportunity of through options, which are valuable to parents panicking about common entrance and 11+ tests. Why not set up a company that just coaches kids for common entrance and 11+ (there are plenty of these, too), that at least addresses a market.

I am not sure why you describe your proposal as the 'middle ground'. It isnt. You would just like private school fees to be lower. You say you can do without extensive grounds & specialist tuition. However, facilities and teachers for small classes are costly. There is also the cost of suitable SEND provision. If you want good behaviour you need to ensure everyone can access the curriculum.

There are some countries where this is a big sector.

France has a lot of cheap ish catholic private schools

not really a thing in the uk.

How much a month?

Basically you want to compete with schools with higher prices and provide more or less the same? A lot of private school don't have fancy buildings or top class music tuituion.

Financially it will probably be very difficult.

I think you are completely underestimating the costs of running the school. Good quality teachers and support staff (admin, maintenance etc) the building itself, utilities, materials, q

I think that you’d struggle to teach a curriculum that wasn’t restrictive because an academic rigorous curriculum would be about preparing for exams whether it’s 11+ or GCSE and you’re bound by the same restrictions as state schools like all GCSEs having to be taken in one go to count for uni entrance purposes so can’t do stuff like take GCSEs early to stretch able kids.

As a fee paying school you’d be able to expel kids with problem behaviour but doing so could tank the business too.

I think that you’re also at the mercy of future rises in costs like NI, energy bills etc

Have you looked into the costs of online schooling?

I think that the sort of parents who’d be interested in your idea would be able to supplement school with sport, music etc outside of school hours. Would you run shorter days as the students are doing a no frills curriculum ?

You think you can leave the children who don't fit your narrow profile to the state system, so you can run a streamlined service on minimum staffing levels.

But sen is a huge issue these days and you would not be able to turn kids away for having sen. In fact, the sort of school you describe would be popular with parents of children with sen, with all sorts of additional needs.

You are therefore in a catch 22.

But anyway check this out https://www.educaresmallschool.org.uk/

@Platypus7 Yes, I acknowledged that - I had to generalise to try and get my idea across I guess. I am a governor of 2 schools :)

@Arran2024 Thanks so much for the link.