School fees ?

[nickname7890]

Anyone have 3 kids at private school?! How
Much do you need to earn these days??

Where it live it’s about £8000 per term for senior school so for 3 teens that’s a lot!

We saved the equivalent of seven years fees before the eldest started, so that we knew once we'd commited we could see it through. Obviously we planned ahead of actually TTC
And we stopped at two.

£8000 PER TERM for school fees.
that is INSANE! is that boarding school?

We have a combined income of £200k and I think we’d struggle to have 3 at private school. Certainly at secondary level when it gets more expensive. Boarding is another league entirely - I’m not in London and boarded is an extra £12k on top of day fees.

£8k per term is definitely not boarding. Boarding at DS’s school is £12k per term.

To sustain 3 sets you would need to have a large stable income or an inheritance.
We are only doing secondary school so have 1 ds there already and ds2 following in a few years.
Fees are £15,000 a year which is quite manageable but 2 sets will be a stretch.

Thank you
Our age gaps as well would be 2/2/3
So that's quite a lot of overlap I think 5 years. ...
200k salary ... hmmm that's probably what we could hope for
But probably would be such a worry that we would lose our income or something

@MatildaStoker south west. Sherborne Girls school is £7625 per term for non boarders but boarding it a lot more obviously.

We have 3dc and could afford 2 but 3 would be tight and impact on things like family holidays so we decided dc will go to state school, pay for additional tutoring if needed (currently dd1 is at state secondary and it’s exceptional throughout the pandemic so likely not to need to) and we’ll travel, which is dh and my passion.

That's amazing re the state school
Our primary are good and we would always do primary state
But the seniors are not great ... so that's the bit we would worry about
If from 11... or r maybe year before to help adjust
Then that's 8 years of senior school private fees for 3...

I don’t think you’d necessarily need an income of £250k. Don’t forget you can get bursaries and scholarships which could shave off 15-40% off fees. Just be very strategic about the schools you apply for.

There’s a local private school to us that’s about £16000 a year and I know a number of people with kids there and it’s crap. We’ve some awesome state schools locally so can’t quite figure why other than snobbery you’d send your child to that school.

There are some awesome private schools and some awful ones. Paying doesn’t equate to better education.

I went to private school alongside my siblings and i needed the discipline and sport. So I’m not against them but you do really need to look below the surface and not assume all are great.

And yes in the Uk you need a lot of money. Look at the Republic of Ireland they’ve some awesome schools for a lot less.

@lovelyupnorth I absolutely agree! I did go to private school and moved about quite a bit - one of the private schools i look at was on reflection really crap education (not just in the academic sense, but in terms of the cultural education / who we were all becoming etc).
there is so much more to just looking at private schools i agree.
however, our secondary options are REALLY not good.

depends on school. Near me you would need 25k ish (average) so for 3 dc you would need to earn 75k after tax & that doesn't include any other costs eg mortgage.

@user1494360838

We had 3/4 fantastic secondary schools and the possibility of a Grammer - out of area just and have daughters so never really looked at private schools. Only thing my DDs would change having both had to move for 6th form as they’re state secondary only has 270 pupils was missing out on some of the things bigger schools could offer after school.

Bloody autocorrect their

What’s your situation OP are your DC at school yet or pre school age or are you planning DC?

I would also say your gaps are quite small to manage this, unless income is really quite good. Most of the families of three or more we know that are using independent schools have gaps of 5, 6, or 7 years between children. There seemed to be a lot of families juggling 11+ entrance at the same time as A Levels or university finals. I can think of only one or two families that had 2 or 3 years gaps with more than two children, and they were all millionaires (either themselves, or grandparents that were paying the fees).

Yes, the gaps are important
We only have 1 year overlap

Do you have skills/experience to get a job abroad like the Middle or Far East? Many job packages come with international School fees included in the contract.

I'd love to move abroad but my OH would essentially have To start again with his job ebuilding clients etc
Mu dd1 starts school in September (state)
Her nursery recommended if we could she would really benefit private due to Learning concerns but we didn't want to get her in and have to pull her out due to lack of funds so we decided we would try save as much as possible then send her at eg 8/10/11 to private
Same for dd2
Now I'm pregnant surprise with dc3 (albeit 6 weeks)
We aren't sure what to do
As this is a massive spanner and not planned
Dd1 and dd2 are 2 school years apart
Dd3 would be 3 school years behind dd2

So potentially 7 years paying for 3 fees (one primary if it starts at 8 in a most extreme scenario) and then 2 years(I think?!) paying for all at senior

If it's due to learning concern for one child only, just send that one fee-paying?

If you're paying each year's school fees out of each year's salary alone, you either have a stonking income, or you've haven't really planned at all. Most people will plan ahead, save, borrow (usually remortgage), and try and spread the cost over many more years than the child is actually attending school. Many will actually factor this into multi-generational asset planning.

If you're considering the cost of sending 3 to private because of not being in a good state catchment, couldn't you use the money instead to move on the doorstep of a good state school? There are lots of excellent state schools in some areas of London, and also in counties which are commutable to London. If learning concerns are an issue then you probably want to look at good state comps (e.g. Alexandra Park is supposed to be good for SEN). A lot of the private schools in London have very competitive entry so you can't assume you'd get in even if finances allow it.

We are considering sending our 3 private all the way through, with very close age gaps (2 years between each).

We earn £300k between us across two salaries. Not in London.We have a couple of years of fees saved and the bigger salary is likely to increase significantly, though nothing guaranteed. One salary is part time and could double if required. I think that's enough but wouldn't do it on any less and still feel nervousness about the commitment.

Could you not move to an area with good senior schools and husband commute?