If you paid school fees, how do uni costs compare?

[Heatherbell1978]

Currently planning/budgeting for school fees for 2 DC. Both in state primary just now so this would be for secondary. Where I am fees currently around £14k a year. Yes, I've planned in annual fee rises which would look more like £26k a year by the time DD6 is in her final school year.
Assuming both go to Uni, we'll have paid off our mortgage before DD goes (she's only 6 atm) so that will make life easier but DS would be at Uni while still paying school fees for DD. So just wondering whether the amount you provided for Uni maintenance was less/same/more than school? Not talking Uni fees here, just rent etc

The amount for university will be substantially less. I will encourage DC to take any loans that are available to them because I think it will give them a stake in their outcomes.

Definitely. I'm not planning on spoiling them. Rough idea is they'd take maintenance loan and we'd pay rent. In Scotland so Uni fees are paid.

For first child about the same once university rent included (as fees were £1k, then £3k). For the last two children I paid £9250 a year fees, about £8k a year rent and 150 a week x 52 allowance which is 17,454 each and that is... about their school fees - ah so actually was the same for each of the 5 children just about. (and I have my uncle's bill for Durham university fees (his local university in those days) from 1936 where he got in to read medicine a year young at age 17 and after incluation those fees were also about 9k a year which luckily his father could afford to pay.

Wish I could correct posts - I KNEW the younger 2 cost more - I did my sumswrong above - they were about £25k a year each which is more than school fees of about £18k a year but obviously their allowance is more generous than I suppose it couldl have been.

I won't be paying fees. Even if they decide to go to an English Uni they can take the loan for them! Planning to help with living costs only. I have savings accounts for them which I squirrel a bit into each month and have done since they were babies so that should give them about £15k each when they're 18 which I hope they'd use for driving lessons/car but could also help towards Uni but that'll be their choice.

On the current levels, my two had minimum loans, topped up £3k per year for accommodation and £500 per month for living. So £8k per year. They also worked in holidays for extra. Considerably less than private school fees.

Of course the landscape might be very different in a few years' time, but for what it's worth, I have a DD currently at uni. We top-up her maintenance loan from minimum to maximum, and this comes out as around £6k per year.

Our two boarded. So uni much cheaper. Their boarding would be £40,000 plus pa now. They took loans. DD1 has paid it off at 30. DD2 doesn’t pay back much! They have substantial sums from us for house deposits. We had paid enough for fees so university loan was better value. DD2 probably won’t pay it off. Obviously the loan rules change. I don’t know a secondary as cheap as £14,000. DDs old prep is more than that now from y3.

I'm in Scotland where that's the norm for fees.

Fettes £30,000 for day pupils.

I am in the south west and fees for dd in sixth form are £15k. She has an academic scholarship so we have a 10% discount. She will receive the minimum maintenance amount and we will top up by £10k per year which will be lower than her school fees.

I'm not looking at Fettes!! There are many private schools in Edinburgh and you've chosen the most expensive. Probably the most expensive in Scotland. Try George Watson's, Heriots, ESMS....I'm not making this up😂

Probably the most expensive school in Scotland, so hardly typical.

This is what I'm thinking - encourage the maintenance loan and top up to ensure living costs are adequate.

I think private schools in Scotland ate v v different to in England. Or maybe I am just skewed by mn! Our school is similarly priced and non profit making. I think,from what I see here, it sounds like English ones are run for profit and are not educational trusts? I think that explains some of the vitriol directed at fee paying schools? Or maybe people are just pure nasty about private schools, I don't know.

DS went to an independent school aged 8 in 2003. His fees were £7,500. In 2013 those fees had increased to about £18,000. I think your estimate re increases is a little optimistic.

Uni was £9k, rent about £5k (I think - DH paid it), and we gave him about £1250 a term which was the min maintenance grant. Figures approximate. Probably about £18k so a bit less than school once the school extras (about another £3k) were taken into account.

No student loan. We paid it.

snugglemonkey I know what you mean. I'm often gobsmacked at what English fees are on MN. There's a definite perception on MN that everyone pays that as well, like we all live in the centre of London! As shown here the most expensive and prestigious private school in Scotland (except perhaps Gordonstoun) costs the same as 'normal' fee paying school in England. Like you say I think they're genuine NFP in Scotland though.

I've assumed 5% rise every year. The school we're interested in upped its fees by 15% this year as a bit of a 'one-off' we understand following years of low rises and frozen during Covid. Believe it or not it was £10k pa for upper primary last year. We have a bit of contingency in our budgets though.

ON school fees the Yorkshire day one I know is about £16k. My old private schol in NE is about 15k and Scotland might be less. My twins' day school outer London is about £18k or was when they were there. So £25k a year per twin at university was not that much more than school fees so I was happy to carry on paying. I have h elped them buy a first property as well as have no student debt however I do know the pros and cons of taking and not having the loan and lots of parents who have the choice take different decisions.

OP you do know the Edinburgh day schools are £16k next year at secondary?

In Scotland.
The one at uni is definitely cheaper.
The minimum student loan covers their rent (but that does depend on the city, in some places you'll have to top up the rent)
Then we pay all food, travel and bills, currently about £110 a week term time. DC1 comes home and works in holidays to earn spending money for the year.

That's helpful thank you. And yes I do know that - I didn't put this level of detail in my OP as it didn't seem relevant but we're likely moving DS for P6 or P7 where fees are more like £14k (a little less actually) but yes I've crunched my numbers...eek!

We are SE England but not London and fees for secondary are £6k a term. DD2 is hopefully starting Uni in Sept and accom is 6500-8500 for 40 weeks in halls, so more than minimum loan. I’m thinking £75-£100 a week for living costs. If we go for the upper limit, that’s £4k for the 40 weeks. Totalling 10-12k. So approx two terms school fees before maintenance loan. I’m assuming she’ll come home for the other 12 weeks in the year. 2nd and 3rd year will be dearer as rental agreements are for 52 weeks rather than the 40. But it’ll still be less than school fees.

It’s way less for Uni which is why we paid our kids’ fees and maintenance so they graduated debt free - we just saw it as a few years extra of what we were already used to paying

Absolutely not telling you what to do here. But my parents did this for us. And we were a bit rubbish with it at eighteen
learned to drive, nice cars yada yada.
first two of us got it at eighteen.
next got 5k at 17 to drive and 10k at 21
last two one got 3k at 17 to drive and 12k after they had been in a full time graduate or management jobs for six months.

of the 5 of us. The two eldest have not bought homes.
middle bought with a husband at 26
2 youngest bought alone, one in london at 22 & 24 respectively

those of us who bought were given a little extra parental help either, removal costs for one, solicitors fees or for my little sister they paid off her DFS finance agreement for her sofa, so her affordability was better

but honestly those who got the money later were more responsible and able to make better use of the money.

@Whattheflipflap On the other hand, DD received the cash we'd saved for her (£25k) at 18, took £1k for 'spends' and is moving the rest of it at £4k per year into a LISA, so starting at 18 has given her a few extra years of the government bonuses.