How much does a good independent school education REALLY cost?

[Rainydaze]

DP and I are planning on moving to Bristol where sadly the state schools are not doing as well as the independent.

I know roughly primary and secondary school fees where we currently live, but what realistically does it cost to educate a child privately in primary and secondary schools?

Of course fees differ greatly from school to school, but what, roughly, would you expect to pay, with all the 'extras', such as trips and other extra-curricular activities.

Thank you! :)

This is what I work to and expect a 5% increase year on year (some schools are less and some schools are more)

Per Term
£9,000 school fees
£7.50 pupil insurance
£155 music lessons
£100 after school activities
£5 parents association
£75 trips
£50 replacement equipment
£50 miscellaneous
£9,442.50 x 3
Per year = £28,372.50
Ski trip = £1,500
European Trip = £800
Complete School uniform every 2 years = £400
Total per year = £30,827.50
Year 8-13 = 5 (with no inflation) years = £154,137.50

Prep school pretty much the same sundry but just about 50% less school fees.

This is boarding school, but other than reduced price in fees, and additional cost in things such as bus to and from school, price for day for sundry was the same.

Rainy DH was at a school in Bristol today. You're not kidding!

that is loads more than we pay - ours are at day schools - fees vary from £9000-£1200 per year, not per term - the cheaper of the fees areat the top rated school in the area. Music lesson between £170-200/term, luch extra for 2 of the kids - works out around £2.50/day. all after school activities are included in fees, senior school trips mostly included in fees, junior school trips prob about £75/year, ski trips around £1000 - ours do a ski or a european trip, not both in a year. School uniform - standard black trousers, white shirts black shoes that every child needs, sports kit no more expensive than the comp i teach in, plus good secondhand system on the psorts kuit. Blazers £70 - last until outgrown then passed down.

oops lost a 0 off the £12 000 fees per year!!

My DD (age 9)is about to move to private in April and her school costs approx £9k per year (south London), there is a school trip we already know about which will be £300 odd for a week and her uniform we have just bought almost all of from their own secondhand "shop" (lovely lady took all of DDs measurements and sent me a bag full home with a friend for grand total of £24, which is great consdering the blazer alone usually costs around £60 new

Most schools have websites with fees info on them now so it should be easy to get some ino before commting to any specifi ones. Oh March is often "open morning" season so a good time for a noey around without obligation btw

I presume you're looking at day school fees, not boarding - so fees aren't quite as as wishingforcrystalball's post.

In Bristol, most of the independent schools have similar fees at the moment - around £10,000 a year for secondary, £7,000 a year for primary - except for Badminton and Clifton College, which are at least £15,000 a year for day pupils, obviously much more for boarding.

Lunches cost £2-£3 a day. Some schools include all text books, stationery, compulsory trips etc in the fees, some charge extra.

Uniforms are variable - cheaper for boys, as they can usually wear standard grey trousers and white shirts, plus school blazer, sweater, tie etc, but the logo-ed items can often be picked up very cheap from the school second-hand shop. Girls often have to wear school-specific skirts, but again second-hand is cheap - until the school decides it's time to redesign the uniform, of course.

Sports kit can be expensive, as things get worn pretty hard and can't always be found second-hand. The list of rugby/hockey boots, mouth guards, shin-pads etc is pretty long - I reckon I have spent at least £200 per child on sports kit, but I buy big, so most things apart from shoes/boots should last more than one year.

There are often lots of expensive school holidays on offer at the secondary stage (as there are at many state schools) but you don't have to do them, apart perhaps from an annual PGL type trip during term time, at about £300.

Optional activities at school sometimes cost extra eg DS has done a term's worth of skating lessons, which I think cost about £60, but there are usually free options for the same time-slot.

dd (y3) - fees £3,900 per term, afterschool clubs free, school journey £270, day trips included, lunches included, uniform about £300 if you got everything new (it's the sports kit which bumps it up) however the PTA holds extremely well-attended second-hand uniform sales

one of her friends goes to a school with lower termly fees but they charge for everything else

Here are the websites (fee pages) for the main Bristol day schools:

Bristol Grammar School (mixed)
Clifton High School (mixed)
Colston's School (mixed)
Redland High School (girls)
Redmaids (girls)
Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (boys)

I would say don't move to Bristol. State education is awful, independent education mediocre at best and healthcare truly dreadful.

Apart from the suspension bridge, there isn't much to recommend it...

Bristol indies seem to be a little cheaper than alot of others. No idea why - but I am a Bristolian who no longer and lives in Bristol when I compare my fees to what some of my Bristol friends pay - I am a tad envious.

Mum72 - I think it's market economics. Bristol is relatively over-supplied with independent schools (hence the two that turned into academies because their numbers were falling too low to be sustainable) so they have to stay competitive on price.

The two that are more expensive (Badminton and Clifton College) are predominantly boarding, so draw from a wider area, and have lots of shiny, expensive facilities that the other day schools don't.

£9,000 per term! My daughter goes to a very good school and does not pay that much! Surely those are close to Eton levels? Also we live in the South East - Bristol must be a little less?

School fees at most schools around here are about £12000 pa, although some become closer to £30000 +, that is south east England. Then there are a lot of extras including very long uniform lists (3 pages of A4 compared to 1/1 to 1 page for state schools).

There are some fantastic primary schools in Bristol and the surrounding area. It is secondary level that is a real problem. The fees are competitive as there are quite a few good independent schools.

I disagree with freshmint. Bristol is a great city. Fantastic restaurants, museums, shopping, theatres and surrounded by lovely countryside. If you can go independent, Bristol is a great place to be!

The actual fees do vary and bear in mind they go up radically in senior school.

Then I should factor in the following.

-uniforms tend to be expensive with winter/summer options plus a lot of sports kit. However, there is usually a good second hand shopb and mums will often pass on. At DSs very well to do prep, the sports kits are very well laundered.

-music lessons (check the price with the school...they vary depending on instrument and the cut the school take)

-trips...these can be expensive. But are often optional.

In addition my bill usually includes some incidentals...french magazines,photos,specialst equipment for sport.

DH's rule of thumb is that we need at least £25k per child gross, per year.

name a good independent school. badminton is OK I'll grant you. all the others are pretty crap (and I certainly include clifton in that).

I would live somewhere else tbh. I'm married to a bristolian whose family is completely entwined in the city but even he has concluded that it isn't a place to live with kids unless you want to send them to boarding school elsewhere in the country (which we don't). And the hospitals are among the worst in the country....

Hi, My DD is at an independent school in Bristol and the figures of 10k a year quoted above are correct.
She is yr 6 so cheaper - 2.3k per term I think but will go to about 3.3 in yr 7. This is pretty standard for Red Maids, QEH, Colstons and Bristol Grammer and as others said wil be much more for Clifton College and Badminton.

After 2 years we haven't found there to many extras - certainly not much more then her previous state primary.

If you don't wan to do independant then move to South Gloucestershire or South of Bristol for some great state schools - primary and secondary.

HTH
K.

Bristol schools are improving at both primary and secondary level. The secondary league Tables are due out this week and Bristol schools have shown significant improvement. The state secondary school where I work part time has had its best results ever and this is also true for others in the city. Results should also improve further when Redland Green school has its first GCSE results next year.

For private schools you also need to take into account that school fees are rising faster than inflation. Also if you are planning on having other children that there is only a small discount (typically 5%) for more than one child.

You need to bear in mind when comparing state and private schools that the state schools have a fully inclusive intake, whereas private schools accept very few children with SEN or from deprived backgrounds and pre-select the most able children in the first place so they should be achieving good results.

You refer to "the place where you currently live" but have not given us information about where that is yet are very keen to criticise Bristol schools. I really would recommend that you look round some schools before giving any more criticism.

The son of a friend of mine went to a comprehensive school in Bristol and got brilliant GCSEs. He went on to state sixth form elsewhere and got fantastic A levels, picking up DoE Gold along the way via the Scouts. He is now at medical school. So don't write off the whole state school sector, please!

You will always get a handful of children who will buck the trend either come out of a sink school and make good, or come out of the top public school and do bad.

However, I think most people act on the premise that their child will be middle ground - and therefore what do the majority of children do in that situation, and want their children to achieve well.

Now how do I convice DH that we are moving to Bristol so I can take advantage of these fantastic reduced fees???

We pay a little less than £13k. This includes all after school activities (extensive range of clubs/ sporting activities) and school lunches.

We have to apply about £70 a year for Cadets which years 9-11 do but this includes the uniform.

By uniform I mean the Cadet uniform. The school uniform including PE kit cost around £300

For 2 dc we worked out it would cost £250000
from yr7 to Alevels (thats a lot of money) I'd seriously investigate the possibility of any scholarships/busaries a friend mine ds got a 75% music and academic scholarship cutting the fees from £15,000pa to £3750 but it did mean years of music practice, grade 5 at 10 yrs

Which area of Bristol will you be living?
North South or cetral?

Are you looking at primary or secondary schools?