School Fees Plan

Welcome to Schoolfeesguide.com. This page and other pages throughout this site offer guidelines to school fee plans, including some background information about the differences between private and independent schools in the UK, such as the types of education available and differences in the corresponding education fees. This page also looks at how these fees for UK schools are rising year-on-year, and why it may be sensible for you to start considering taking up a school fee plan – whether you are a parent or other family guardian looking towards the future of your children.

Rising school fees

According to multiple sources crunching the numbers, school fees are on the rise, meaning it’s more important than ever to start considering a school fees plan of your own.

At the moment, it is estimated that a year of some of the most prestigious private boarding school (which includes all tuition and accommodation) can cost upwards of £30,000, while prestigious no-board private school can be around half of that figure (approximately £15,000 per year per student). On average, day private school fees are in the region of £6,000 – £8,000 per year.

Fees have risen steadily over the last few decades, but the most alarming fact facing parents today is that private school fees are rising faster than average income rates. For example, one statistic shows that school fees over the past quarter-century have risen 550%, while average consumer prices are only up by 200%. As a result, the time for certain parents to start thinking about school fees planning is now.

For more information about School fee planning, including where to find advice, investment plans, school fees insurance and making payments via businesses, make sure to browse through the rest of Schoolfeesguide.com.

Background information about private/independent schools in the UK

When considering tuition fees and educational costs, it’s important to first have a basic understanding of the main types of school a child can attend in the UK, as well as the costs and fundamental differences. After all, with so many terms like public, private, state, comprehensive, independent and grammar being used to talk about schools in the UK, the situation for new parents or parents who have previously lived overseas can be quite confusing.

Here, we offer a brief rundown of the types of schools available to students living in the UK.

State schools:

A state school in the UK is one that relies on funding from the government (among other sources) and follows the national curriculum. All children in the UK between the ages of 5 and 16 are entitled to a place at a state school for free. However, a place at the child/parent’s first-choice of school is not always guaranteed, as some in-demand schools are selective in terms of a student’s profile.

It is worth noting the ‘state schools’ are normally referred to as ‘public schools’ outside of England and the rest of the UK.

In England, there are several types of state school. For example ‘community schools’ are the most common type and controlled by the local council without any religious influence. Similarly, grammar schools are also run by the local council (and rely on their funding); however, this type of school is often more selective in terms of its students, and often set exams, minimum qualifications or only allow students who live in the nearby ‘catchment’ area.

Independent / private schools

In contrast to the above, independent schools (also referred to as ‘private schools’) are those which are not free and do not rely on government funding. Instead, these schools charge parents fees for the children to be enrolled.

In the UK, these are sometimes (confusingly) referred to as ‘public schools’, as when they were first established, they offered the chance of education for any student, regardless of where he/she lived or their religion etc.

Just like state schools, there are a number of different types of private school, including boarding schools and regular day schools.

In the UK, there are over 2,000 of these private/independent schools in operation with approximately 6-8% of all children in education attending these schools.