Should I spend money for my children’s private education or save money for them?

noradylan20

Could you pls advise which option may be better for your two children in this case?

A private education for a child from 11 to 18 may amount to at least £250,000. So approximately, you will need to spend at least £500,000 for your two children before they enter universities.

Would it be better if you save the same money so that your children can have and spend this money after they are graduated?

Or, the same money spent on their private education would prove to be better for your children?

Thank you for your advice.

onomatopoeia99

I was educated in a state school and I think I would have appreciated having the money to buy a house near wherever I went to university / first job more. It would take away one of, if not the biggest stress of starting adult life.

However you know your children, and will be able to judge if they would be able to excel at a state school or not. I certainly did, with zero parental assistance at secondary level as by then I exceeded them academically, but not all children will.

noradylan20

Thank you for your prompt reply. Advice may not fit everyone's circumstances, but I really do need to hear from various views, to learn and decide.

Comms69

noradylan20 wrote: »

Could you pls advise which option may be better for your two children in this case?

A private education for a child from 11 to 18 may amount to at least £250,000. So approximately, you will need to spend at least £500,000 for your two children before they enter universities.

Would it be better if you save the same money so that your children can have and spend this money after they are graduated?

Or, the same money spent on their private education would prove to be better for your children?

Thank you for your advice.

I can tell you from experience private schools are no better, and in many cases, worse than state schools.


They still get the same qualifications.

POPPYOSCAR

We thought about sending ours to private school(secondary) and it would have been a struggle.

However, they were against it and wanted to go the same school as all their friends.

Now they are working they tell us that we should not have taken any notice of them and sent them anyway.

They have said that they want to send their children if and when they have any to private school.

Doodles

My husband went to a private school and loathed the experience.

Comms69

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

We thought about sending ours to private school(secondary) and it would have been a struggle.

However, they were against it and wanted to go the same school as all their friends.

Now they are working they tell us that we should not have taken any notice of them and sent them anyway.

They have said that they want to send their children if and when they have any to private school.

How strange, why do they say that?


I've seen no evidence that going to private school increases your pay etc

oystercatcher

I think it depends on the area you live in and the standard of the local state schools. Money may be better spent moving areas to be nearer to good schools. Although bear in mind school can change drastically over a few years. The school near us has gone from 'Good' to 'Special measures' and back to 'Good again' in just a few years.

My children attended the local state schools and did well (One has a PhD from Cambridge Uni! ). A friend sent her children to private boarding school and they seem to have relatively ordinary jobs in NHS and the military. There is no way of knowing what would have happened had they attended different schools.

GreenQueen

Think there are too many variables for a simple answer:
- how good are your local state secondary schools?
- how good are the local private schools
- how bright/motivated are your kids?
- what subjects are they interested in?
- do they want good sport clubs?
- what are the transport options?
etc

You need to have a look at your own situation to see what benefit there would be in private education

JGB1955

I went to private (boarding) school because my parents moved around every 18 months with their jobs. It gave me stability in my teenage years but I don't think the level of education was any better than that provided by state education. Admittedly, small class sizes were probably a good thing but I have a continuing suspicion that teachers in the private sector are those who can't manage to get a job in the state sector..... or at least, that used to be my perception. It's certainly seen as a soft option by those who teach in state schools. Things have moved on since 1973 but I wouldn't be happy with sending my children to a single-sex private school, which was the only option back then!



My own two children attended their local Community School. I would never have spent money on private education for them. But that's just my thoughts on the subject. I'm sure there are plenty of others with opposing ideas.

hazyjo

Depends on the local schools and kids. Vast differences between one in say East Ham and another in Putney or a Cotswold village.


Don't have kids but, if I did, I would send them to private school if I could afford it. Tend to have much smaller classes and stricter policies. Agree that they may not necessarily achieve more qualifications/better grades at the end, but I do think they are taught differently and do much better with things like spelling/grammar.