Private as temp measure?

[Eesha]

Hi,

Just wondering whether anyone has experiences of putting their child into private if they didn't get their chosen school, whilst on waiting lists for state. Our school decisions are a long way off but just thinking through options just in case we didn't get where we wanted. We have twins.

Not really a temp measure is it? You'll be spending a few hundred quid on uniform!

You don't just pop into school and pop out again!

We did it for DD during Y9. We moved house and there was no space in either of the nearby schools. She tried the far away school but for many reasons it nearly broke her. She attended the private school for only half a term (though we had to pay two terms) and have absolutely no regrets.

Primary may be different though.

I did - prep school for 2 terms whilst on the waiting list at state school. I had to pay for the full year due to notice which was fine. He's still there in the 6th form now and it's worked out very well

Was the best option for us

We were considering this option but fortunately got the state school we wanted straight away. Probably would have done otherwise as we really didn't like the feel of the one alternative there is nearby. It would have ended up longer term than I'd have expected though - there's been no movement at all during reception or Y1 in a two form entry school, so that's a risk to be aware of

Thanks all, good to hear people's experiences. I didn't want to do it long term but guess it's a big risk however we are slightly out of catchment for the relatively decent schools in the area. Sounds like everyone is happy they did it though

We moved ds1 to a prep school when he didn't settle in reception after 2 terms. The school he was in was not one of our 3 choices. The only state place we were offered when we approached them was the other side of the city and a similar school to what wasn't working. We moved private, unsure if it was just to finish the year if a place came up at (any of 4) other local schools. Problem was ds settled quickly and loved the school so we have kept him there....
Think that is a high risk even if you feel it is temporary, so you need to be able to pay for it, at least in the medium term if you do it!

Remember you will need to either give a full terms notice that you intend to leave the school or you will be charged a terms fees in lieu of notice. Don't underestimate the cost of uniform and sports kit could well be £400 ish.

inch presumably you paid around £10k in fees and £4-500 on uniform for that half term? Very expensive stop-gap.

For me the issue is twins, so expensive. I know someone who used private as a stop gap but her child was very sensitive and she just couldn't pull her back out again. But then looks like we really can't guarantee the state place either