How much do you think I can expect schools fees to increase by Post Reply

[Bluebunny]

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. 

[readysteadycook]

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/gener ... ion-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 ... 

[Lola123]

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!

[atbattersea]

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.