Private school affordability - advice!

[jsemamma]

Hello,

Our DS has done fantastically and gotten an 11+ offer from one of the top London independent schools - we're so proud of him. However we seem to be in the difficult position of earning too much to be able to get a bursary, but in real terms having very limited disposable income, by the time we pay our mortgage and bills (we live in central London so mortgage payments are high).

We're now in the awful position of having to figure out what to do. DS absolutely adored the school, and would love to go to it - he is incredibly clever and very musical so would benefit hugely from everything it has to offer. He does understand though that financially it would be extremely difficult.

I wanted to ask those of you with children in top London independent schools (think fees around £31k per year) - how much disposable income per month do you realistically need to be able to cover the fees? Apart from music, are there extra charges for extracurricular activities like clubs and sports etc, or are these included in the fees?

Our household income is ~£130k gross and we have a fairly hefty mortgage. We also have another DC, and both DCs are currently in a state primary. We have one (old second-hand) car, don't take fancy holidays, and are not into luxuries. I realise every family is different, but just wondering whether we would be stretching ourselves far too much trying to give him this opportunity. Any advice welcome!

We can't sensibly comment without your net income and approx mortgage. You net could vary wildly depending on whether one income or two, pension contributions etc.

Hi everyone, thank you all very much for your responses, it's very helpful to have your perspectives on this. I'm beginning to feel it's not really manageable on our income, as a good 35% of it goes towards our mortgage 😓. Earnings can be such a black box, so it's very helpful to hear your experiences. Despite years of education I think I clearly picked the wrong career!

Depends on your mortgage and your net income.

If one working parent and one SAHM then 130k gross is 80.5k take home. If two parents on 65k each then your take home is 96.5k.

96.5-31 school fees = 65.5k net left, it's plenty for 2 adults 2 kids, even if your mortgage is 2-3k/month. I'd say that even 80k pa allows you to get one child in private.

It you're talking about Kings Wimbledon or SPS then all clubs are included, the only extra would be uniform and school trips, but they are optional.

Your main challenge will be private for younger child though.

Is that mortgage 35 percent of gross income or after tax? If gross and around £42k then its definitely not doable on £8k a year for food, petrol, train tickets, council tax, clothes etc. If it is after tax and around £28k its quite tight but more doable.
You could try and cut back to interest only if that would help.

I don’t see how you can do 2 dc on that income with a hefty mortgage?

Some schools give discounts for those earning less than 140k or higher but if you are close to the cut off it’s not a big discount.

The people I know who afford it on similar incomes have 1 dc, or got on the ladder ages ago so the mortgage is tiny or have gps help or a combo.

I would say a bright child with supportive parents will usually do well no matter what, save you're money for tutoring.

If you can afford private, then great but don't break yourselves. It goes on forever and never gets cheaper.

What private is great is for children with SEN, I've written about it before but it changed DD's life. Saying that she's not going to private for A Levels we simply can't afford it anymore and are scrapping by each month. Which means we actually don't get to have as much fun as a family because we are constantly worried.

Only two more months to go and we are free!

If the mortgage is large could you down size?

Agree.
Also it might be £31k this year, but next year it might be 10% more, and so on and so on. Extra curricular clubs are in excess of the fees as well, IME, but depends on the school. Uniform is quite a punchy outlay too.

And then you'll need to start thinking about university financial planning, too presumably?

I think you'd struggle and be very uncomfortably stretched.

Is downsizing or moving out of London/into suburbs an option? Any opportunity for increasing salaries?

Usual fee increases are 3-6%, obv VAT year was different.

Affordability depends on your net income and mortgage and then priorities. If lifestyle or PS is more important for you. One child is easily doable, two kids simultaneously unlikely.

I guess something to think about if you really want to do it is whether you can extend your mortgage term to bring your monthly payments down. Also the age gap between your kids is an important factor. If they're 5 years apart for example, that would make an overlap in fees less painful.

That’s not disposable for only £130k income plus a mortgage in central London

I'd focus more on net income. You'll bring home more after tax and deductions if that's split evenly between two incomes than you would if it was one income or mainly one income. Especially because of the £100k tax cliff edge.

But it honestly doesn't sound affordable. That's without taking into consideration it would leave absolutely zero resilience or tolerance for unexpected life events.

Similar gross income here. Very avg mortgage. Definitely out of any logical and sensible reach.

Several posters have said it depends on your net income and mortgage payments but you didn't answer either of those. It could be do-able, but it sounds like you don't want to make the lifestyle changes to make it so.

I'm in London, same income roughly as you. There is no way we could afford private school. But I think the bursary depends on the school. Out friends (both doctors, one a consultant) got 25% discount because their son is very smart and they wanted him. So you could look into other schools but be honest whether a bursary would actually make it affordable.

My plan is a decent state if we can make that happen and private 6th form.

Honestly I’m amazed you can even afford central London on that income never mind private school! Our gross income also is 130k, we live in the midlands with a mortgage of £1800 (no idea how that compares to yours but I consider ours quite hefty) and I couldn’t dream of affording £31k, then you have the issue of having another child to consider?

To be fair though state school standards aren’t even quality across the country - there may not be a good option near them. I’d have done the maths before letting a child sit the exam, rather than raising their hopes to no good end.

The most successful people I know have come out the state school system. I wouldn't do it.

If he's bright he will do well at state school.

We did it and it broke us. And honestly bright children do well in any setting save your money they will be fine

I think it’s mean to make your child be the poor child at private school. Not in the sense they will be shunned but hearing about holidays and trips etc that they will never go on. State with tutors and spare money would be my option.

We faced the same situation a few years back with slightly higher combined salaries and lower mortgage payments and ultimately decided we couldn't make it work - we didn't want our kid to be the one who couldn't go on expensive school trips, etc, and we didn't want to do something for one kid that we couldn't do for both.

If it's an consolation our sporty, musical son is absolutely thriving in a London comp and is getting some amazing opportunities - sure, without the facilities and smaller/better behaved/more academic classes across the board, but he's happy, he has a great group of local friends and is just growing into a lovely, ambitious, funny young man.

In my experience, if you want to maintain your lifestyle in London with holidays, activities, cars, dining out, etc, then you'd need 200k gross for 1 child.

Have you explained the situation to the bursar and ask them to reconsider? Surely you have already submitted all your finances etc to show your affordability?

Jesus. This message has put me off 🤣