How much does a private education actually cost?

[FamiliesShareGerms]

lots of thread on here at the moment about private vs state, and one of the things that comes up is the cost of private education. I see all sorts of figures being bandied around re the fees, the costs of uniform, the trips... but then lots of people say that there are bursaries and scholarships so it's not actually that much... And we are doing some sums to work out really whether it's an option for Dc in the future.

So... How much does it really cost? Our sums are something like:

£6000 per term fees
£300 per term lunch
£300 per year uniform
£200 per term music lessons
£1000 per year school trip(s)

So c£21-22k a year? Is this about right? Have I missed anything out?

DS is at a co-ed Sussex day/boarding school, We had a bursary & without this we would have paid £30k per year for everything. We've paid around £24k per year. Day prep school fees were £12k per year for year 7-8.
DD was a day pupil from year 9 at a predominately girls boarding school. She left 2 years ago & we were paying around £18k a year in her final year. Previous school fees were around £12k per year.

No holidays, humble 3 bed semi, inherited monies all gone but proud to have given DC options I never had.

• Fees, something around £4000 a term although DS1 has a scholarship.
• Uniform, i spent around £300 on specialised uniform plus shirts and trousers from M&S. The specialised stuff has lasted DS1 2 years.
• Trips. They seem to have a "field day" system once a term for trips which is included in the fees.
• lunch, I tend to send DS1 with a packed lunch.
• optional music lessons £165 a term I also choose to pay for the school bus to school although he could travel free on public transport.

After school clubs are free - DS has done swimming, water polo, sailing and is going to try tennis and squash.
There are extra trips such as skiing whic are actually priced comparably to the local state school.

fees per term £3000- £3800 depending on child and school
most expensive school includes lunch, others junior school - lunch is£150/term, other 2 on pay as you go, i have been giving them £2.50/day, recently increased to £3/day as am soft touch.
At all their schools all after schools clubs are no extra cost.
music lessons are £18/lesson so about £180- 220/term
very few compulsory trips, many of which are included in the fees.
ski trips are the same price as the state school i teach in, the only v. expensive ones are the long overseas sports tours, in both schools they are restircted to y11/12/12.

oh uniform, virtually never buy it, get given loads, buy lots from s/hand shop, trousers/shirts/shores/rugby boots etc are all from generic suppliers so same as any school.

Should have said that DSs uniform is no more expensive than the local state comprehensive. £25 for a blazer for example.

So, from above posts, if you feel you can afford the fees, 'other' costs are no more than state schools. If you know how to play it, can get a scholarship and/or bursary and opt out of the state system completely, and not put pressure on taxes (although in effect other parents would be paying for your dc)

Well, no. "Other" costs depend entirely on the school and can vary hugely from school to school.

Ds's fees should be about 3,800 a term.
I give him £12/15 a week for lunch, but he takes a packed lunch on Wednesdays.
All school trips (provided they are educational) are free. There's a fund for the trips abroad for parents who don't have the funds.
Transport is now £23 a week (we've just moved closer to school as I was paying £120 a week).
School uniform is flexible, so I can go anywhere. PE kit has to be bought from the school though. I've just had to buy some cricket trousers, these were £26! In addition, he has 2 rugby tops, a tracksuit, a games kit (vest and shorts), a cricket kit, swimming kit.
Music lessons are £150 a term (I think, he doesn't have these yet).
All extra curricular activities are free.

Tend to agree with angelcosts are generally similar. My DCs have just finished at 2 different private schools. Set up costs for uniform maybe higher but for my DD I didn't need to replace uniform until she got to the sixth form. If I had there was a good second hand shop. I have noticed though from Mumsnet that DCs at state schools seem to have much more uniform especially at primary school. They have a uniform for each day of the week. Mine never had that much uniform even when they were little. So if you replicated the same number of pairs of trousers/shirts and jumper then private school uniform would be very much more expensive. I think though that you will find most don't do this. Music lessons could be an extra cost but then not all children are musical. Clubs etc are often part of the fees.
Costs as soup says can vary hugely but many of these variable costs are not compulsory eg expensive trips abroad. Plus these costs are often the same at our local state school.
My comments refer to schools in general. I am sure we can all find a very expensive school with extortionate extras and another school with minimal extras. The important thing is to ask the specific school ( state or private)you are applying to.

Ds's next school is £18,000 pa but he will get a 50% scholarship. Is full boarding but he will do mostly weekly, all meals included obviously. Uniform from the school so I'm waiting to find out the cost.

Ds's current school is just over £9,000 (day school). One of those schools where uniform only available from Harrods officially but everyone uses a local unofficial supplier. The school used to complain but the quality is better than Harrods. Blazer is either £80 or £90 depending whether Harrods or not. Ds's current blazer is immaculate, from Harrods but purchased for £20 from the second hand sale. He is at the end of year 3 and still wearing the tracksuit I bought him in reception (even though he's grown hugely in height so it's quite short now). The only expensive things were the blazer and tracksuit (£60). Everything else that has the school logo on (jumper in prep, polo shirt in pre-prep) is cheaper than our local state primary. He is on his second size shorts since reception - they start of nearly trouser length and get shorter as he grows!

School trips are mostly included. Music lessons are the cheaper than tuition outside school. Most after school clubs are free. Lunch is £2.50 per day with the option to take packed lunch (not available at ds's new school afaik). However pupils can add extras so I've discovered ds's lunch is currently costing between £2.50 and £4.50 a day depending on choices (we've had words!). School keep a record and we pay in arrears. There is an extensive school bus service (linked to senior school and girls school in same ownership) but I drop ds on the way to work. New school has no bus service but overall is much smaller as no senior school link.

Move to Scotland! Private School fees much more affordable (most are around 10-12k per year senior school, about 6k per year junior school). Additional tuition also cheaper.

I've pulled up the recent fees from the school I went to - it was solidly academic, but not into flashy facilities like swimming pools and rowing lakes that are being used for the Olympic finals (cough Eton cough)

Fees: £3400 per term
School dinners: £2.50 per day (compulsory Y7-11 - presumably because they were grim in my day and so a captive audience is needed!)
Uniform: I wore the kilt for Y7-11, and only went through two blazers, so it probably can't have been too expensive. That said, the uniform was only available from John Lewis, although shirts / tights / undies could be bought elsewhere. With the current fashion for state schools to have blazers, I doubt that it worked out noticeably more expensive than a state school.
Trips: I only remember two trips that were compulsory - one a day trip, and one a short A Level residential, both in the UK. Whilst there were other trips available - skiing, Sri Lanka, etc., they weren't compulsory, and it wasn't as though everyone went by any means. And state schools have trips too.

If OP a school is significantly cheaper or more expensive than others then you have to ask yourself why? As someone who works in independent schools both boarding and day the likely reason is that more or less money is being spent on infrastructure that may not immediately obvious when your just looking round. When I say infrastructure I mean in particular the quantity and quality of non teaching staff. These may not on the surface of things seem not that important but I have found that they can make a significant difference to a school.

Forty five thousand a term??!

Fees: 4, 900 per term
Bus: 320 per term
Lunch: 240 per term
music: 275 per term
Clubs: 100 per term
Uniform: 80 per term av

So that's just under £18k pa for now.