So I was thinking...
Me, my wife and most of our friends went to private schools growing up. We're not posh or wealthy, we just came from middle-class families that never went on holiday and lived thriftily in order to afford the school fees. The city we grew up (and still live in) also had notoriously bad school provisions. We benefited from it but we're certainly not public school kids, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, a thought struck me today - none of our wider group of friends are sending their kids to private school because they simply cannot afford it. There's also a minor concern about positive discrimination later in life but the main issue is cost.
The people we do know of that send their kids to independents are either very well paid solicitors/doctors/accountants/civil servants(!) or their grandparents are footing a sizable chunk of the bill. The fees (especially for multiple children) are now out of reach of middle class people, especially those with eye-watering mortgage bills and now energy bills etc etc.
Apparently there are ~1,300 independent schools left in the country and every month a handful close or merge while no new ones are opening.
This got me thinking, forgetting all the politics, I can see a time in the not too distant future when the last few middle-classes that send their kids stop, pricing out most of the remaining parents with necessary fees rises and, ultimately, there being very few independents left. Needless to say, a sudden VAT on school fees could rush this through very quickly.
Thoughts?
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Private School Concerns
RichSherl · 13/05/2022 09:14
Bickles · 13/05/2022 09:25
Whereabouts in the country are you? I know the independent that DS is at is very popular and doing fine in terms of intake, but we are in the North so fees are around £15k per year.
Bickles · 13/05/2022 09:25
Whereabouts in the country are you? I know the independent that DS is at is very popular and doing fine in terms of intake, but we are in the North so fees are around £15k per year.
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Trafficjamlog · 25/05/2022 10:11
@lop32 I don't think that's true. The demand for the top private schools in the area exceeds supply but 3 non top tier private schools have gone co-ed in the last year and it's generally pretty easy to get occasional places in anywhere that isn't a big name.
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