Below £20k PA. Best Value Fee Paying/Independent Schools In Hertfordshire and Bucks?

[Delectable]

The title says it all really. Which schools charge below £20k per annum in the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire areas and produce good results please?

I just learnt of Stowe School at £15k but not sure how well it performs.

I'm interested in those in the top 100 GCSE and A Level league tables please.

Thank you.

Whoever told you Stowe costs £15k per annum is well out of date.

A quick look at their website reveals this table for 2021-22:

Fees per term

Boarding £12,951
Day in Boarding £9,311
Day £7,301

Do private schools have a league table? Because I don’t think they appear on the government league tables any more?

If you are looking for true value for money there are many excellent state schools in Hertfordshire but I appreciate there may be particular reasons why you want to go private.

St Margaret’s, Bushey comes out under £20k per year for a day pupil. We have a DS there and we are all very happy with it.

Day fees 2021-22 (per term):

Reception - Y2: £4,185
Year 3 - Year 6: £5,112
Year 7 - Year 13: £6,117

@JessyCarr you're right, It's about £21k per annum.
Wish I could change the title to £22k. That was what I wrote initially until I recalled £15k Stowe of some times ago.
@Decorhate it's Telegraph, Times, GoodSchoolsGuide etc.
@JessyCarr thank you.

Not all independents subscribe to league tables, including many IB schools. Some distort performance by having more than one centre number and last couple of years with CAGS are not typical.

There are veey few private secondary schools in Bucks. You have two public schools, Stowe and Wycombe Abbey, plus a handful of girls private schools like Pipers Corner, St Mary's and Thornton College. Top 100 is Wycombe Abbey and possibly Stowe.

@lizs what's IB and CAGS?
@MillicentMargaretAmanda I'm confused by the designations you've used. Private are not public is my understanding; no?

Ah, sorry. So, in the UK, schools funded by the government, which are free for pupils to attend, are called State schools. Then you have the ones you pay for as parents which are known as a whole as private or independent BUT there a sub category of those schools that are generally older, historically (and often still) predominantly boarding with few day pupils, that are called Public Schools. Ironically, these are mostly the most expensive ones. Many of them will be in your top 100.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)

IB international Baccalaureate - a curriculum usually just for years 12 and 13 in UK as an alternative to A levels but can be followed throughout
CAGS centre assessed grades - the grades schools submitted for gcse and A level during pandemic when formal exams were not held

www.best-schools.co.uk/uk-school-league-tables/list-of-league-tables/top-100-schools-by-gcse

I very much doubt Stowe is in the top 100.

Remember too OP that fees tend to increase by at least inflation each year. I'd go for a grammar if fees are a worry.

We're on the Bucks/Herts border and I'd say most private secondaries are around £20-22k. Stowe certainly doesn't have a reputation for being academic. Beautiful grounds though.

You don't say whether it's boys or girls schools you're interested in?

Sherrardswood in Welwyn is fantastic. Fees there range from £3700 pt in Reception to £5750 per term in VI Form. We would have sent our daughter there if we hadn't moved to be closer to my family. It is non-selective though, if that's a concern for you. That said, once you get to secondary you can always have a punt at getting into Dame Alice Owens in Potters Bar.

Thanks all.
@Phos DAO was my first choice as it's in an area I'm familiar with, quick connection into London and . I checked their admission criteria and the 64 exam places is the only criteria we could possibly get in through. The catchment area seem really large as it covers most of Hertfordshire, Enfield, Barnet, Islington etc so I'm now considering the Amersham and Watford areas as they have at least two grammar schools .

There are some decent private schools on the borders of MK that could fit your criteria but don’t go there with the expectation of academic excellence. The top students in the area tend to either test into the grammars (MK is out of catchment but due to population size and lack of applications in-catchment a lot of students still get in) or go to better privates further afield.

If you want any tips on getting in to the Watford and Amersham grammars, let me know (I went to Challoners).

Not sure whether you're looking for boys or girls schools, but the catchment area to get in Watford Grammar boys' school on distance criteria alone is very small (a few hundred metres from school).

Under what measure is Sherradswood fantastic? Last time I looked it had a VERY small sixth form and results were well under what many of the Herts state schools achieve.

Why are you looking at private OP? The state schools in the area are mainly very good, and most private schools that get good results are very competitive, so being able to pay the fees is not the main concern, compared to your child getting a place in the first place.

Thanks all.
@blue86 I'm looking at both boys and girls. Would be glad for pointers re fulfilling admission criteria on exam and location as those are the only ones we could be successful in really. I'll PM you re specifics.
@Iknowitisheresomewhere grammars are our first choice but I also need info re fee paying and other alternatives so this is my thread for info re fee paying in the area just incase we fall in love with house where we're out of catchment of grammars.

@Iknowitisheresomewhere

Under what measure is Sherradswood fantastic? Last time I looked it had a VERY small sixth form and results were well under what many of the Herts state schools achieve.

The school has a good sized 6th form, my daughter goes to SW and the 6th form block has had to be extended and I think due a further extension this year. Also look at their progress 8, they are non selective and still get good results. It's small but not too small, welcoming and everyone is encouraged to be themselves.

Thanks Lisad. Dept for Education performance tables show 16 pupils entered for at least one A level (I think that is 2019 data). That seems pretty small to me. Their progress score was good in 2019, average in 2018 and below average in 2017, so it is clearly improving. However, the ‘average points’ for A levels were 30 - five points below the average for state schools in the local authority.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/117622/sherrardswood-school/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications-results-over-time?accordionstate=0

[quote Iknowitisheresomewhere]Thanks Lisad. Dept for Education performance tables show 16 pupils entered for at least one A level (I think that is 2019 data). That seems pretty small to me. Their progress score was good in 2019, average in 2018 and below average in 2017, so it is clearly improving. However, the ‘average points’ for A levels were 30 - five points below the average for state schools in the local authority.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/117622/sherrardswood-school/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications-results-over-time?accordionstate=0[/quote]
I think that was the last small 6th form group, this year is more than double that. Still small I know by state school standards. Anyways we are happy with it and have found the nurturing for DD very good.

No, no and thrice no for Sherrardswood - toxic in my opinion! I don’t know your child but I am confident they deserve better!

I think you need to really ask yourself why you want a private school (I do understand that a grammar is your first choice). Is it a knee-jerk 'avoid a state comprehensive at all costs'? If so, then that's unfair on a lot of state schools. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of things you get at a good private school that you might not get in a state school (my kids are at a private school, so no bias here). But those are not necessarily things you'll get at an average or worse, cheap as possible private school. There are some really crap private schools out there. Look at it on a school by school by basis. If you can find a private school that you really like, that you can also afford, then great. But I'd be cautious of going in with an 'anywhere other than a state comp as long as it's private' point of view. You might find you'd be better off going for a decent state option and then paying for extras on top. Of course, if your state options are really dire then you might still prefer a not great private. But if you're moving house, then hopefully you can avoid that?

You need to bear in mind that whatever the fees start out at they will go up year on year beyond however much your salary increases.