Employer contributing to private school fees

[SchoolFees]

In a recent discussion with a few other mums regarding the affordability of private school fees, especially if you have more than one DC, I was surprised to find out that there were quite a number of parents whose employers were contributing to their DCs private school fees.
How common is this? If you are fortunate enough to work for such an employer how much is their contribution?

Was it forces? Forces families get a discount at our school along with the clergy.

I think you might find it is mainly expat families and those in the Services.

QUite a few companies pay for schooling as part of expat packages (pretty much all the big banks).

It will likley be expat families and forces or perhaps Govt employees I suspect. Very unlikely to be a standard UK employment contract on a UK based Brit. I have a Japansese friend who has school fees paid but he is an expat working in UK and Australia so is very much a recognition that he cannot trail his family round the globe every 6 months.

The value of the contribution to school fees will just be taxed like any other pay so I do not see an advantage for a normal UK resident.

Although, I believe academics in Oxford used to get subsidised school/nursery fees. Maybe some employers might negotiate special bulk discounts with a school near a specific site which they then pass on to employees. Could that be it?

I don't know who their employers are, but I know for sure it is not forces and I don't think they are expats.
Govt employees? Don't know about that.
But isn't the Govt supposed to encourage their employees to send their DCs to state school?

I would have loved to ask those parents more questions regarding their employer, but I didn't want to appear too nosy.

We get a contribution. DH (and indeed I, when working - am on family leave) works for international institution. Other than that the one's I know are MOD/FCO and expats. It is indeed a standard expat thing - my sister is considering a contract in Singapore which would include school fees for her DC.

bellissima, can I ask, what % contribution does your DH (or you) get?

Several employers will pay school fees as part of the package. Toyota, DHL, BT, some of the big accountants pick up the fees for the children my ds goes to school with in Brussels. Dh's employers also pay fees but with a parental contribution if you board your kids in UK; provide the schools in Germany for them, and pay the fees here.

The Government pays school fees for HM Forces, as it is not practical to move your kids every two years.

Hmm - well since you ask! - okay why not - it's up to 9k p.a. for primary and I believe around 12k for secondary (my children are at primary). There might be a small boarding allowance on top but it's very small. Payable direct to the school and with strict (and hassle causing!) requirements on proof of attendance etc. And these are the more generous limits for UK based officials who are not near a school of the institution. And as I understand it, they used to only be paid for children of non-UK officials ie on an expat basis (DH is in fact a 'furriner'!) but I think that was successfully challenged as discriminatory.

(NB should say, since we are in 'transparency' mode, that our salaries are rather less than most of the UK parents at my DCs school! I also know of an expat (multinational) family at the school who get everything paid including lost term's deposits when they are moved at short notice etc - but then it would have to be.)

NB we are not UK govt officials and many of us send DCs to schools providing the requisite foreign language tuition - so ordinary state or state boarding would often not be appropriate.

Thanks for the details bellissima. Much appreciated.
I understand why expats and forces would have such benefits.
I'm more interested in cases where UK-based parents working for UK or international companies in the UK with DCs going to UK private school (non-boarding) get this benefit.

Presumably because they could find they are suddenly non UK based at the convenience of the company, and therefore it is part of the renumeration package for their employees.

I honestly don't think there are many people in the category you mention SchoolFees. As I said, I think UK parents working for international institutions here might now get the fees, on a non-discriminatory basis - although it should be borne in mind that often UK nationals would choose to work in an overseas office as if they work in their 'home' country they don't get other expat (ie salary) allowances, so there wouldn't be that many for you to bump into. I am a bit of an anomaly in that I am a UK national but here I'm officially the 'spouse' on family leave - my working HQ is abroad. All the expats I know from parents at my DC's school who are having fees paid are 'foreigners'. The only case I can possibly think of is say someone who works for a company like Shell, who spends time abroad in various offices and then comes home. Now I know that when they are abroad boarding school fees are paid, but I think they have to shell out when they return - i think that's the difference between Shell and the Foreign Office! But don't take my word as absolute!

SchoolFees I have a close friend whose husband dips in and out of working in the UK for a major financial organisation. I don't what %age they pay, but it is done on the basis that it is hard for them to ensure consistency of education with his current work system.
Until very recently dipping in and out of countries every 4 to 7 months was the normal.
My friend mostly stays behind with the kids who go to day school.

Can I just clarify what Scaryteacher mentioned about the Government paying HM Forces boarding school fees. They 'do not pay' the fees they "contribute" to the boarding school fees. With few exceptions all families have to pay a minimum of 10% of the fees. The Government contribute a fixed sum up to a certain amount for each level (prep or senior school) and then individual families are responsible for the rest. So in reality many pay much more.

It depends where you are GGT - my db pays the 10% contribution as his two board in UK. Where we are posted the fees are picked up in full for non-boarding secondary.

Ex-pats, embassy staff - from 50-100%. And rent. And living allowances. Sometimes flights home once or twice a year. I wish someone would pay me to live in Milan for a year or two...

So does the govt pay up to say £27k per child for a top boarding school costing £30k? Wow - that's a lot more than we would get for boarding school. Our allowances tend to be based on the fees charged by the French Lycee or the German School in Kingston, which tend to be less than most London private day schools. I believe that the (state) Anglo-European boarding school at Hockerill (sp?) is possibly an option. There is a European School at Culham but it's closing down.

These are the rules and allowances for HM Forces if boarding in the UK:

Boarding School Allowance
Purpose

BSA is provided to enable the children of Service Personnel to have continuity of education that would otherwise be denied in the State sector because of the need to accompany the Service parent on postings at home and abroad
Eligibility

Parents ? Basic eligibility is that Service personnel must be serving married accompanied, and not within 12 months of discharge or, in the case of separated, divorced or widowed personnel, have care and control of the children.
Children ? Basic eligibility is that the child must be between the ages of 8 and 18 and undergoing full time education at a Boarding School included on the MOD?s Accredited Schools Database.
Remarks

Taxable in UK, but tax paid by MOD.
Rate

Junior - £4,338 per term
Senior - £5,621 per term
Subject to a minimum parental contribution of 10% of the total fees.

So for secondary boarding you get £16,863 and have to top that up by 10% at least.

In some parts of Europ, in Germany for example, there are Forces schools, so that the kids who go with their parents can be educated there, and I presume it is the same if you take your kids to the US or Canada, if you are lucky enough to be posted there.

We don't get all our rent paid, we pay Married Quarters rent for the substitute service family accommodation we have, as there are no married quarters where we are. We get a cost of living allowance as it more expensive in Europe than in UK for car tax, insurance, food, clothing, books etc than it is in the UK.

If the children are boarding in the UK, then they get a journey home paid 3 times a year. parents pay for exeat and half term travel.

Ah I see! So you couldn't have four kids and send them all to Eton or Wycombe Abbey at a cost of only £12 a year.
We don't get anything like rent paid either - there used to be a rental allowance for overseas postings but that disappeared some years ago.

But what happens if the MOD employee is in say Afghanistan and the spouse is (we hope for his/her own safety!) back here?

The kids still board - my db has gone back to Afghanistan today for the remainder of his 6 months, and will be then appointed elsewhere for the next couple of years. It's the same when they go to sae. The whole point of BSA is that if you have to move say from Devon to Fas Lane (Scotland) then to Portsmouth, then to Bristol, or back to sea, or abroad, you cannot provide continuity of education for your kids.

The choices are then:

1: Weekend; mum and kids stay in one place, serving person commutes home each weekend

2: Wife (cos it is normally), moves with serving person where possible; in primary, you can move the kids, in secondary, it becomes difficult after year 8 really. Therefore, the kids board and the wife moves. If you are sent to work in an area where you happen to have a house, then you are still classed as married, accompanied, and your kids remain at school, with the MoD paying towards the fees.

If you are sent to sea, or to Afghnaistan, then you are counted as being in scenario 2, as the wife cannot go with you, and so you keep the BSA (or CEA as it is now called).

3: Abroad - if you are sent abroad and can be accompanied by your family, and there are suitable day schools, then the fees are paid.
Not every foreign posting will allow this, or have suitable schooling for your child.

Sorry, meant to say in the opening of that post, and my db's kids are still at boarding school.

Some I know send their kids to Canford, but have to find in excess of 10k pa for the fee top up and the extras.

We were in scenario 1 as above for along time, and we paid all the school fees and dh commuted. We did two years 6 weeking, as weekending from mainland Europe to Cornwall wasn't practical, and then we moved, but only because we could bring ds with us. If that hadn't been an option, I would have stayed in UK, as ds was adamant that he didn't want to board. I think it would have done him good though!

That's the difference between FCO/MOD and us/ the private sector - once you are posted to a 'home' office the allowances disappear. Alas no 'continuity' argument. Friend of mine was repatriated from the US because of the recession last year and all allowances, inc childrens' boarding fees, over. Several of my DH's colleagues commute back to their home countries each w/e because there simply isn't eg a decent Spanish school (allegedly) in London.

The difference being that you are unlikely to be sent to sea or into a war zone as part of being in a 'home' office.

Once we are back in UK if ds doesn't board, then we will have to pick up the fees again, and obviously the cost of living allowance disappears. However, the cost of renting would disappear as I would go back to my house, so just the mortgage, as opposed to mortgage and renting which we pay at the moment.

I think the continuity argument is because you serve 24/7, 365 days a year at Her Majesty's pleasure, and could find that when you thought you were in one place for 18 months/2 years, you are suddenly given a pierhead jump and sent to sea with 2 weeks warning and then are in and out of port for the next two years. You can be sent anywhere at any time without any option.