I doubt private education is value for money. If you work out the sums involved over the course of a child’s schooling they add up to a considerable sum. When you start adding inflation and above inflation rises in fees you are probably adding another 50% (or more).

Think about other uses for that money. Better to spend on a better house in a better area with better schools – at the very least that is expenditure that maintains a value, it doesn’t just dissipate. If your children need extra help, then invest in tutors – you’ll probably find it difficult to annually spend on tutors what you’d spend on private schooling per term.

If you are stressed on the finances now, then you most likely be further stressed in the future.

Most of the draw of private schools is that the child ends up in a better university and a better job. This is driven by the disproportionate number of privately educated children who attend Oxford and Cambridge. Be wary of equating 35%+ of Oxbridge students are privately educated with 35%+ of the privately educated go to Oxbridge, it isn’t the same thing.

You’ll see some private secondary schools having fantastic A-level results, and consequently impressive destination universties. This is a result of them being selective in their intake, not that their educational system is particularly impressive.

Some state schools can also achieve very good results.

At the end of the day, if your child is not academic and is not willing/able to work hard, then they probably will not get a great deal of benefit from private education.

The reality is that everything is going to increase in price, the cost of living crisis affects everyone and every sector. Schools are having to pay more for their fuel costs, food and supplies so of course they are going to increase their fees to cover this, meanwhile your costs will increase. As someone who did privately educate their children I’m certainly not anti private education but I would ensure you have a healthy financial buffer as it always costs more than you think. Hindsight is a great thing, but in hindsight I wouldn’t have wasted money on a private prep, there are excellent primary schools locally, send them their and pay for extra sport etc if you have any financial concerns - good luck!

Hornsby is going up by 8% in September (with a c.4% pay rise for the teachers). Thats on top of a fee increase of 2.9% in January 2022 this year. It's really hard for many parents and many local private schools don't seem to care. I saw the recent c.8% Hornsby fee increase letter and it didn't even refer to % increase, just the new fees- they knew that would be the best way to hoodwink the parents! So wrong and they know it.

Finton have also got a big increase and many of us parents there are not happy.

Obviously, these increases will compound in years to come, unless schools substantially cut their costs. I am surprised people are still going private at around £6.5/7k+ a term, with 2 or 3 children.

The elephant in the room is the c.23% these schools pay for teachers pension scheme (TPS). Did you know ?

This needs to stop and new pension providers found. A 10% fee reduction could probably happen overnight but School Governors appear wary about upsetting the troops!

Some schools are brave enough though :-
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/23-private-schools-set-leave-teacher-pension-scheme

Teachers are really well paid in the private sector (but of course not like the parents who have to afford these massive fees and sacrifice a lot), have loads of holidays (with 2nd jobs available to them) and a good pension. Its a vocational job thats we all appreciate them doing. But something needs to change or they will kill the golden egg that keeps them employed.

It's time parents are stopped being taken for mugs and fees need to reduced. Headteachers need to be told that fees cant be allowed to increase again, especially at the current inflation rate and capital spending stopped - or do they want to kill their business, as that could happen fast soon ... 

Our son has been at a private school for 7 years. Fees go up every year at a rate above inflation, for us on average it has been inflation+around 2% (including pandemic period). In the next couple of years inflation is expected to be low double digits, so if I were you I would budget for a 12% annual increase. Like others said, it may be worth looking into other ways of supporting your child's education, like clubs, extracurricular, tutoring, sports etc. I don't think it is ever worth having a stressed out family for the sake of private schooling. 

Expect fee hikes averaging 4.5-6% for the next academic year (schools have got to replenish their coffers after low or no rises during the pandemic), but remember that it doesn’t end there, with additional costs for school trips, uniforms, extra-curricular clubs etc etc . :D :D

[quote=Scottov post_id=280534 time=1659944761 user_id=18727]
It’s often forgotten by the rabid, uninformed guardian readers who loathe the independent sector, just how little support the sector gets from the government and how little charitable status is worth in practice.

 [/quote]
Wow! I suppose you are refering to this kind of article https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jun/03/private-schools-abuse-charity-status-by-giving-discounts-to-richer-families

I'm not sure that the sector should be receiving help from the government should it? Not until they fund the state system adequately to support all children from all backgrounds at least anyway. 
 

Don’t forget that if Labour win the next election (not unlikely) they are talking about adding VAT to private school fees so they could be going up by 20% in a couple of years.

I agree. It was a rude and abrasive reply and not in the spirit of Nappy Valley.

[quote=gemima post_id=280549 time=1659952515 user_id=22571]
How rude and snotty you are Scottov
[/quote]

Lol. Sorry what?!?

How rude and snotty you are Scottov

[quote=Onetwothreego post_id=280504 time=1659805788]Ours went up by 8%[/quote]

In this environment that does not surprise me one bit.

Fees will go up every year, by a minimum of 3 to 4% and often a bit more.

There are reasons for this, which often includes increases in the teachers pension scheme which ups the contributions that independent schools need to pay; and then there is mirroring of any general pay rise for teachers in the maintained sector.

Add in major projects, energy costs and general CPI, and you can guarantee increases every year

It’s often forgotten by the rabid, uninformed guardian readers who loathe the independent sector, just how little support the sector gets from the government and how little charitable status is worth in practice.

Most schools do not make large surpluses and often don’t have big reserves so any change in the cost base has to be passed on

Our son went to a local private secondary school from the age of ten. At the time the fees were around £11,000 a year - by the time he left they were more than £18,000 and they’re now more than £22,000.

On top of fees you’ve also got uniform (yes you can get secondhand but there’s still a lot of it), trips, music lessons etc. And your child will be surrounded by others who will be going skiing, going on safari etc not just as a one-of but every single year. It’s hard to explain to your child that they can’t have the same when they’re in an environment where it seems completely normal!

We were lucky in that my husband’s company paid the majority of the fees but with hindsight I don’t think sending him private was the right decision. And I definitely wouldn’t want to feel financially stressed in order to go private - it really isn’t worth it.

Private school fees go up typically every year - c8% or more.
With trips, outings and also generous contributions for teachers gifts annually unless you can comfortably afford this it could get v pressured financially.
There are many good state schools worth considering.
If finances don’t allow for private school consider a good state and tutor support.

Good luck.

You should also factor in costs of lunches and trips.

This can be approx £100 or so per term. As your child gets older there may also be residential trip which are a few £200-300.

It’s worth having a chat with the bursar to make sure you understand how much the extras are likely to be.