[shock], how do you afford Eton's fees?!?!

[Pawslikepaddington]

I was struggling working out how one would manage £4k a term for a great public school, but £30k a year , I have been living in a cheapo fee bubble!

You afford Eton fees by earning enough - not rocket science.

We have 3 children in day schools and we are paying equivalent of a place at Eton. We have another two joining the independent system this year.

It can be done, but it is the single biggest expense you have.

Eton is fantastic, btw.

Well, for some families it won't be the biggest expense!
That would be maintaining the family seat, or the stables....

LazyMumOfTeenageSon--That was ment to be per month not year.

Eton have a fantastic bursary for children that will benefit from being educated there but are from less well off backgrounds.

Do kids that recieve bursaries/scholarships etc get bullied or treated differently cos they are not as well off?

They don't in ds's school as no one knows. At Eton they are called 'scholars' and have a separate house to all the others though. Harrow also has good bursaries but there's less segregation.

Christ's hospital school automatically put all children in for a bursary when they join. If parents can pay then this is OK, if they can't then they don't give a hoot. It's worth thinking about as all the children start off the same.

ds used to get 8 weeks for the summer, 4 weeks at christmas and easter PLUS half terms. Childcare was a nightmare because there were no holiday clubs open until all the other schools broke up. His new school has shorter holidays (except easter!!!) so my life should be easier.

"If you earn £100k/year that will give you ~5k/month or say £20k/term twice what you need for one child at Eton. "

Honestly don't think that £100k a year is enough to afford the fees at Eton. There are lots of other expenses as well, housing, pensions, food, car yadda yadda.

I stand a farkin good chance then!!!

There's a boarding school near us, they allocate lessons every week for...............................................................chess!

I think that's a really good idea, despite your sceptical face, Phantom. Chess is a mind sport, it gets children thinking ahead, and planning. Teaches strategy. All sorts. Yay for chess lessons.

ds has a chess club at school he attends. I think there are better things to be on the curriculum though (and it gives them an advantage ).

nell12 i'm wondering if they'd notice if I sent our washing up with him every week! £100k after tax might be ok to finance a place at Eton, but don't forget you've also got those long holidays to fill with trips to the Carribean etc,etc.

My son finished at Eton last yr - it was fantastic. I am NOT rich - in fact the fees are more than my total annual income, and I am a single mum (though recently remarried). Eton and other rich public schools have amazing scholarships and bursaries, and are incredibly generous. You don't have be rich to go there - they paid 90 per cent of the fees for my son.
elvisgirl - they are not bullied or single out whatsoever if they are on bursaries. In fact, I found these boys tended to be respected because it was known they were there because of their abilities.

Grownupbabes,

I am curious:

(and please don't take it personally but I am asking for a reason, I am far off from deciding and don't know if I could afford it at the time, but I i have heard mixed reporst about Eton - on the one hand, academically fanstastic on the other, extremely narrow socially - and in some ways that could be a limiting experience educationally).

1. so did you feel "different" (on social occasions; having DC's friends round etc) because you were not monied like the other parents or because you were (presumably at the time) as single parent?

2. did your son's school help him prepare for entrance?

There is still an image of Eton that it is for the privileged few - fair or not fair - I think that may put some folk off notwithstanding the fees, i.e. that they or their DCs just won't fit in, so I am curious if your experience contradicts that.

OK Amber - here we go:

1. No, I did not feel socially excluded whatsoever. My son was on a music scholarship, so I can only comment on that particular clique, but because all the boys in the music milieu were very dedicated and able, they had much more in common musically than they did socially - and in fact so did the parents. I found the social range very mixed, in fact - and if you look around the school carparks on pick up days, you will see many many more old bangers than fancy cars, even more so than at your local state schools(which, ironically, is where I teach).

Yes, my sons classmates included Prince So-and-So of Where-ever and Lord This of That, but it never made any difference - he was friends, or not, with them, according to the usual criteria of friendship... compatability and shared interests.

1. Preparation - there is no doubt that to enter Eton your son needs to have had at least 2 yrs at an independent prep school. Apart from anything else, he will not be prepared for the French and Latin papers without it. BUT Eton run a primary school entry scheme which takes talented boys from the state sector at yr 5 and pays for them to spend 2 yrs at an independent prep school to get ready for the entry exam. In my son's case, he went to Choir School and was prepared via that route for a music award.

1. Mixed reports? - Eton is absolutely incredible. I am not just talking about facilities, opportunities, quality of teaching. If I can give you a real example now: my son is on his gap year, and is doing his Oxford entry interviews in 2 weeks time. Although he has left the school, he has been welcomed repeatedly over the last few weeks, for practice interviews, dinner with his tutor, rehearsals etc etc etc. So far beyond the call of duty or any requirement. I cannot think of any state school that would do this.

And, in summary - I am a teacher in the state sector. I work really hard and try to do the best by my students, absolutely. But there is NOTHING like what my son has received at Eton. There is just no comparison. And that is why I have done everything in my financial and educational power to get my son through Eton (and my other son currently through Rugby - same comments apply to all of the above).

Grown up babes - totally agree. I have no direct experience of Eton, but friend's son at another leading independent having applied to UK univiersities in the normal way suddenly decided he wanted to try a US university, a week before the deadline. It happened to be the Xmas hols, with vast amounts of paperwork etc required but his form tutor willingly came in to the school and gave him considerable assistance over that period, and he succeesed in his application. Way beyond the call of duty.(And on another thread today a state school teacher is whinging about losing a session of prep time which she is'legally entitled' to - to go on a course paid for by her employers - we taxpayers! - says it all about the difference in teacher attitudes.)

I have no direct experience of Eton but DS1 is at another leading public school. In answer to Elvisgirl - I know that there are boys on bursaries in almost every year in his school and all the boys are totally unaware who these are.

The type of families his fellow pupils come from varies from aristocracy to people doing without in order to pay the fees. They make friends according to common interests. These social/money factors don't seem to come into it.

I honestly think you get more hassle being the 'posh rich' kid in the state sector than the kid on the bursary in independent school.

Thanks for the insight...a very positive thread about Eton then..I ask because I am a single Mom too with DS at an independent school which occasionally sends boys to Eton so its a feasible option assuming DS works hard enough and is clever enough to get in but I am in the dubious position that my middle class salary is just too "decent" to get a bursary anywhere but unfortunately not decent enough that I would not have to make signtificant sacrifices, resulting in years to pay off large mortgage / and likelihood to have to live in penury in old age on a miniscule pension :-) - it's a tough choice when you have to pay 30k pa hard earned cash and you feel the dent in your finances ....(much less of a tough choice when it's heavily subsidised) and then you don't want to baulk at the worry that DS (by association) will be a fish out of water or a social pariah (sp?) because of my being a single mom and (even worse) my having to work for a living and DS not being on a trust fund..on the other hand, it does sound like a world class educational experience and if I had to choose between that and being able to leave him a big house mortgage free or pots of money, I would choose the former. (I know a few folk with plenty of bling but little education or empathy with others..). I would feel I would need to compensate for relative lack of social diversity of Eton at home by instilling as far as I could the empathy part because I don't want to raise a snob - I want him to be able to mix easily in different social circles (Etonian or working class backgrounds) and understand that while he may be smart and have had a privileged education, he will come across smarter or more cultured folk out there in the world who happen not to have been privately educated or well off.

not eton, but ds1 going to what we jokingly refer to as 'poncy private school' whilst younger kids still in state primary.
'poncey private school' has normal, beatup old cars around at pick up time. state private has huge selection of flash cars, with some parents turning up in different cars on different days.
social mix very narrow in state school. wide ranging in pps, though this may be a primary/secondary thing.