If your child goes to private school, what job do you do?

[scrambledeggy]

Just curious really- I don't know anyone who has kids at private school, but I always pass a massive one on my way to work and wonder what kind of jobs people do to afford it?

One of the sets of children I know that go to private have parents who are GP's, the other is a couple where one owns their own business and the other is an accountant.

My son does, I’m a PA for a high net worth individual and my husband works in oil. I wouldn’t be able to send him there on my wages alone though!

DH works in finance. I do a more normal job, it’s his salary that pays the fees.

My job is too outing and it’s my income that covers being able to afford private sixth form but DD’s friends parents - one is a surgeon, several solicitors, another works at a high level in the media, another in finance and with a lot of the boarders it’s generational wealth. But there are also teachers at the school who’s kids get to go there and kids on bursaries who’s parents do lower income jobs. When she was in a less expensive private school at primary level there were a lot more parents from working class backgrounds - a carpenter, a plumber, a paramedic, several farmers. But also solicitors, doctors, an illustrator, graphic designer, and various media people. It’s very dependent on school and area I think.

We are both lawyers.

My kids went to private. I couldn’t afford it but my ex was a senior management in a global company. My kids left school a few year’s ago (around Covid time), but out of curiosity I recently looked up the fees and they now cost for one child per year what two cost back then. If it was now they would not be able to go.

Head of Marketing for a small IT company. I'm a single mum & my income isn't anywhere near the six figures people on MN talk about but the local comprehensive was in special measures, Even Ofsted admitted it wasn't safe, and I decided ds' education & happiness was more important to me than anything else. Thankfully my mortgage is quite small.

The last 7 years have been "basic" to say the least but I paid the last installment yesterday 🎉It's been worth it. DS is happy, healthy, confident, great grades, working at the weekends, good uni offers.

Now just three years university to go 🙄

The people I know were either military or generational wealth. Though friends with Dentist practice sent kids to private for secondary. I also have friends who saved, got tutors, kids involved in sports and music and got decent scholarships.

DH is a retired accountant. I am a retired charity worker. I rent the flat out that I had before DH and that pays the fees for DS1. DS2 has a bursary.

At our school we have everything ranging from an events manager; couple of self-employed taxi drivers; lady who manages the local Costa (her kid is on a bursary), several accountants, pharmacists, Gps, dentists and self employed business owners. We have a small boarding school and we have a few Ukrainian refugees who have been given scholarships and alot of military kids. We also have a proportion of Looked After Children who fees are paid for by the Local Authority as we are in a deprived area and the local state schools are absolutely on their knees and in particular struggle to provide SEN provision.

Lawyer. Came up from free school meals to sending DD private. Quite pleased with my trajectory really! Burning out now though, so it’s a game of “how long can I keep this up before having to just rely on savings for the last bit”.

The only kids I know who go to private school their parents are teachers (state school)

I’m an Exec Assistant at a bank and my husband is a computer engineer.

At my daughters school it’s probably 1/3 professionals and 2/3 generational wealth or inherited family companies.

I know a few kids that went private and one parent always had a high-paying job such as in finance or law/accountancy for a big firm, even doctor (consultant level).
i do know some people who got help w fees from their own parents too.

I’m a lawyer and when I was a trainee (over a decade ago) all the senior associates had kids at private primary. Now I’m at counsel level and none of them do - all state primary and only the partners have kids at private. Partners tend to have stay at home wives and 3+ kids. Below that it’s 1-2. And this is people who are on a quarter of mil and can’t afford it btw. The increases are insane.

My BIL’s kids go and he works in a paid role in consulting, but in fact the fees are paid by his wife’s parents.

Teacher. We get a fee concession.

Our Prep school parent friends are mostly working in finance, law, medicine, dentistry, IT, media and education. Quite a few others are teachers or office workers at our school and elsewhere.

Our Senior sch (large expensive public school that has previously been able to offer big bursaries) parents are much more of a mixed bag of jobs and I know a few receptionists, TAs, church admin and postal workers. Guess this will change gradually though as VAT/birth rate(?) are already impacting bursaries to new starters.

Dh lawyer
me admin job

However we are the end of this every expensive journey, one more term of fees to pay. There’s no way we would have been able to afford it for 7 years x 2 children with VAT added.

I’m a commercial lawyer, was a Partner and now work in a strategic/management role, husband works in IT for an investment bank, senior management level.

Amongst school parents we have lots of lawyers (solicitors and barristers, most were already partners or KCs when the kids were in Reception) doctors (mostly consultants before kids started), accountants and tax advisers, various senior front and back office jobs in City banks and trading houses, management consultants, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs (mostly IT ones), property developers, a journalist, an Oxbridge academic, a few media personalities, a personal trainer with a celebrity client base, a professional poker player, a charity fundraiser, a few senior civil servants. The vast majority of couples both work, are both high earners and met at university or work.

I’m not aware of anyone who is from generational wealth, but we are quite urban, no boarding and in the wrong part of London for really posh types.

We work in private healthcare and do A LOT of overtime!!!

Me - university professional services manager. DH - Grants sector. But we have one child only and only pay for secondary school.

My DC are at a private school. We have normal jobs, but paid the mortgage off years ago.

Other parents I know at school are plumbers, warehouse workers, builders, HGV drivers, school admin, farmers, military.

Mostly people sacrifice something else in their lives to pay the fees and or are on bursary awards. No particularly flash cars, think 15 year old hatchbacks.

I think most people would be surprised how actually “normal” the parents are, Fees are a constant conversation point especially since the VAT increases.

99% of the students wear second hand uniform from the school shop and facebook selling pages.

We are both barristers.

I went to watch my friend’s dd in a play at her private school (her dad owns a petrol station business in a village that he inherited from his dad) plus runs the uk side of a data inputting business. My takeaway from seeing the other parents was that many of them were older parents. I have teenagers and I’m 44 but these parents were 55-60.

This is my experience too. I have never seen the 15 year old hatchback, shop worker / paramedic families noted in another post as a demographic in any of the schools we’ve been at. I would say we were at the lower middle end with DH working in banking IT (SVP level)and me PT civil service of the wealth was extraordinary

Run companies

Still wondering how people with 3 or more kids afford it.. that’s 120k a year post tax.. a fortune , on top of other living expenses