Financing School Fees

Contents

All independent schools charge fees, but they vary widely depending on the type of school and boarding requirements. Here are some typical costs (per term) for Autumn 2004.

Type	Attendance	Cost range
Nursery/Prep	Day	£1000 - £1500
Junior/Prep	Day	£1730 - £3500
Junior/Prep	Boarding	£3400 - £5250
Senior	Day	£2400 - £4500
Senior	Boarding	£4700 - £7200

Extras can add considerably to the bill (perhaps another 10%), depending largely on which activities your child chooses to take part in, e.g. instrumental tuition or school trips. An allowance must be made for expenses relating to books, entries for public examinations, stationery and uniforms. (Many schools have second-hand shops selling uniforms and books)

Planning for School Fees

Disrupting a child's education midway through a vital stage would be very unfortunate, so it is important to prepare for the commitment of paying fees for several years.

The secret of paying school fees is to plan them. Having in place a robust strategy that will enable the school fees to be met in the event of death, an illness or loss of income, better still, having plans in place where fees are not dependant on earned income should ensure that a child will be able to complete their education – no matter what.

It is in most cases possible to significantly reduce the financial burden of school fees with professional advice on planning strategies. Financial advisers like SFIA would typically save parents tens of thousands on the cost of educating children.

Planning early is preferred but certainly not essential, a significant number of parents approach us with children starting (or attending) senior school.

The increasing number of children receiving help with their fees is a long term trend. In recent years, schools have been providing more financial help to compensate for the loss of government assisted places.

Many schools also have bursaries - grants from the school - to help pay the fees. These are often awarded after a 'means test' of family income. Some schools offer grants to children of clergy, teachers and armed forces personnel. Others give help to children of former pupils, single parent families and orphans or concessions for brothers and sisters. You should contact schools to find out the details and how much awards are worth.

In appropriate cases bursaries may be used to augment scholarships.

For three and four year old children, there is aid under the Government Nursery Funding Scheme.

Charitable grant-making trusts are able to help only in cases of genuine need. The trusts will reject applications unless their specific requirements are satisfied. Before any approach is made to a trust or charity, it is essential that parents should seek assistance from their Local Education Authority.

The Ministry of Defence, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and other government departments sometimes give grants to enable children whose parents are working abroad to attend boarding schools in the UK. Under the government's music and ballet schemes, pupils may qualify for grants at a specialist music or ballet school. Local authority grants are available occasionally for children for whom the local authority cannot provide an appropriate education. Multinational companies and some professional associations sometimes provide educational funding.

The Joint Educational Trust (JET) helps children who have suffered tragedy or trauma at home or are at risk in some way. JET enables these children to attend caring independent schools where they have a real chance of making a new start.

JET helps by working towards providing a free or reduced-fees place. JET may also provide grants if there is a shortfall in funding, and often works in conjunction with other charities.

The Directory of Grant Making Trusts lists the trusts that can assist with the cost of sending a child to an independent school. This list can be obtained from the Charities Aid Foundation at http://www.cafonline.org/ or by writing to them at Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4TA.

Many senior schools and a few junior schools offer scholarships to attract bright or talented pupils to the school. They are usually awarded after a competitive examination, for academic, musical or artistic merit. Scholarships vary in value but rarely cover the whole fee; they might be worth as little as 10%.

Most senior and some preparatory schools offer scholarships. Apart from general academic excellence there may be special awards for individual subjects: Art, Music, Drama, Design Technology, Maths, for example. Some schools offer Sports and all-rounder scholarships too. Nowadays scholarships of more than 30% are rarely awarded.