Would you say private school feasible on this salary?

[PfizerFan]

DH and I earn around £7000 a month combined
Soon to be mortgage free
One child

Is anybody in a similar financial situation and able to send their child to a private secondary school costing around £26,000 a year?

How tight is it?

NP - also there is NO way I'd waste my money on private prep it would be 11+ only.

If looking at prep id save the cash now so you have some buffering.

I know 3 or 4 people ar work who are doing prep and planning to send their child to a "good state grammar" for secondary and I made this face internally 😵‍💫🫤 when id hear them congratulating themselves on their great life choices.
Imo Prep is generally for people with wealthy grandparents / ppl who wont miss the money.

I keep saying we won't do private for secondary for our 2 as the cost is so outrageous but I am saving aggressively so we have the option as when it comes to the crunch I am on the fence.

Yep, that's where we are at the minute I think!

Sounds like it should be ok but depends on your lifestyle and other outgoings. As others have said, there are extras on top of the basic fees. Also, school fees have gone up quite significantly in recent years, especially with VAT, and will no doubt go up more. Maybe think about whether you can manage if they go up by another say, 20-25% over the years.

I paid 7 years of £12k a year fees (50% scholarship) on £55k salary while also paying a mortgage, by myself.

It was tight but doable given that I don't have any expensive hobbies.

My safety net was that I was 56 when ds started at 11, so I knew I could draw some money from my pension if I was stuck. Thankfully that wasn't needed.

I wouldn't spend the money on prep if you aren't flush with funds. When ds started at independent senior, he said it took him about 18 months to catch up with privately educated class mates, but he did catch up, and the teachers were brilliant. Very supportive.

I've been managing on less, you'll be fine.
Housing is the biggest worry but yours is almost sorted. Everything else is manageable.

Surely it depends entirely on outgoings??

If your mortgage is £5k...then, not a chance
If it's £500, then yes probably.

When it comes to the crunch, your savings will be wiped out instantly.
Sorry.

As I said in my first post, no mortgage.

Mortgage free, one child, take home just over £4500 pcm, child in Independent. We still manage one holiday abroad every year. For us, its tight but doable. Some savings / investments that will cover fees as they ramp up for GCSE / A levels. So on your net salaries I'd say no problem.

Is your pension on track to be enough?
Jobs secure? Could you manage if one of you was out of work for any reason? (Get critical illness insurance / life insurance)
Have you got enough savings to cover Uni costs?

Do your budget allowing for all this, plus extras (expensive uniform and kit, expensive school trips etc)

We had a similar monthly take home and had no monthly mortgage payments. DD's school fees were 14k a year and we found it quite tight if we also wanted a family holiday. Luckily we only did it for three years as she started off in a state secondary for two years before we had to move her to private for the sake of her mental health.

Their crunch may be not getting a grammar place and deciding that their other state alternatives are too undesirable.

It may be, but I just find people talking about savings, pensions and long term plans in general a bit... naive in the current climate :)

What you don't have today, you may never have at all. If you spend on education as early as possible, the very minimum you'll have is something inside you - knowledge, skills, character - that no government can rob you of via taxes, laws and inflation.

It depends on so much. Outgoings? Savings and Pensions? The quality of state or grammar provision locally?
If you have a great state or grammar school, save the money. We have plenty of friends who Dc go to private school and whilst it sounds great on paper, small classes, wrap around care, the reality is the private school gets worse results academically.

What are you currently spending 7k a month on? Either you aren't spending it all so you know how much 'spare' money you have to use for fees or you're burning through 7k a month and would need to decide what of that spending you could cut out. None of us can know that for you.

Depends on what your objective is here and why? Do you believe private schools are inherently better as that's not always the case. Are your local school choices very poor? Did you both or one of you go to private school and feel you should make this choice for your child if you can afford it.
Is the aim
Private all the way through. Count the financial cost and try to measure its worth if you have expectations on outcomes which are not met.
Private prep with the aim of getting them into a great state option for secondary. Do you have competitive entry state schools nearby?
Private secondary level.

School fees go up on average 6-8% every year. It's possible it will get worse as pupil numbers continue to drop for all but the most over subscribed schools in your area.
If that's affordable and you can point to a tangible benefit to private school then by all means do it.
Starting out in private puts you on something of a cost treadmill. No-one wants to pull their child out of school so if there are employment or health issues, it can leave you in a difficult position. You are likely to prioritise school over holidays and other experiences/lifestyles which again is a choice you may be willing to make but can get a bit wearing because I guarantee you no child is thankful for a private education unless they have been bullied or similar elsewhere.
You may have high expectations on outcomes. Amazing grades or university/careers which is unfair. How will you feel if your child wants to be a teacher or join the police if you've spent £250k plus on their education. To be clear there is nothing wrong with these jobs, it's something I see time and time again with parents expecting bang for their buck and wanting to see six figure salaries as an outcome.

We're planning secondary on around this level of income, currently have 2k spare income a month on top of holiday, car, mortgage overpayment etc saving. We plan to pay off the mortgage too before committing and have 3-4 years fees saved so can utilise advance payment discounts while reducing risk.

I can’t answer your question specifically but just wanted to share our experience - when DC started 3 years ago - the yearly fees were about £18,000 - next year they will be about £27,000 . Obviously there has been the VAT added but even then the increase has been significant . DC is going into sixth form , many of their friends are returning to the state