How to finance a great education

If you drop down to the First Division of really good private boarding schools, you could easily save at least £3K a year Flic Jones, architect, Bristol

Down-feeing – the latest trend

Cost-conscious parents are planning ahead by ‘down-feeing’ – shopping around to find cheaper private schools so that they can keep their children in the independent sector while shaving thousands of pounds off the yearly fees.

The kudos of having your child at a top boarding school may soon wear off if you’re faced with a bill of £28,000 a year for fees and that’s before you’ve even paid for the uniform, music lessons and annual skiing trip to Chamonix.

“My daughter is at a good mid-range boarding school in Devon, and there’s a waiting list of 70 kids – most of whom currently attend other more expensive boarding schools,” says Flic Jones, an architect from Bristol. “We’re talking ‘premiership players’, such as Eton, Harrow or Millfield, where the fees are between £26-28K a year.

"If you drop down to the First Division of really good private boarding schools, you could easily save at least £3K a year. This might not sound much, but if you have a whole family to educate, the savings could mount to nearly £10K a year. Do the maths over seven years and the potential savings are huge.”

This is a significant trend, as Flic Jones points out. “Changing schools - starting afresh in a new environment and leaving friends behind - can be such a difficult time for a child and a family. It’s a true sign of the times that a swathe of the some of the most affluent people in the UK are contemplating disrupting their children’s education in order to save money.”

Relocation relocation

At Wycliffe College, an independent school in the Cotswolds, staff have noticed a spike in the numbers of families relocating in order to save money. “We are seeing more families than ever moving out of London,” says spokesperson Melanie Gray.

“They’re taking their children out of very expensive fee-paying schools and putting them into schools that are much better value for money. They still want to send their child to high quality independents, but at a fraction of the cost of schools in London.

No-frills schools

‘No-frills’ independent schools are also reporting a rise in interest and in the numbers of young children being registered early. The waiting list for Maple Walk, a £5000 a year primary in North Kensington, is so long that the founder, The New Model School Company, is opening two new schools in September.

Spokesman Rick Williams says, “We offer 20 places each year at the school and have more than 140 applications. We fill those 20 places by the time we reach number 40 on the waiting list.”

Fees are kept low at Maple Walk through use of community facilities. Children are taught in a local church and in a council-owned mobile, which houses two of the classrooms.

Breaktime is spent in a local playground and a community centre hall is available for indoor games. The children are taken swimming and climbing, and specialist teachers come in to give lessons in French, music, drama and yoga.

Parents seem happy to sacrifice the state-of-the-art facilities associated with some independent schools for lower termly fees. “They like the friendly atmosphere and ‘back to basics’ approach,” says Mr Williams. “The class sizes are small, it’s close-knit and the parents feel involved. It’s a village school in a big town.”

The two new schools will be in the Docklands, at Trinity Buoy Wharf, and North Kensington, with the original school moving to Roundwood Park.

No-frills doesn’t mean Aldi…

Charles Robinson, a spokesperson for Cognita Schools, a group that provides ‘cost-effective education’, also says business is brisk: “We’re seeing record numbers of people coming to open days.”

Mr Robinson is keen to emphasize, however, “The general impression in the press is that we’re a cut-price option, or the Aldi of the independent sector. We don’t set out to do that deliberately. We’re very conscious that we’re using parents’ money and we’re careful with it. If we don’t need a new 500-place inter-galactic cinema, then we won’t build a 500-place inter-galactic cinema.”

Consumer clout

One positive in the gloomy economic outlook is that parents carry more consumer clout than ever, as Dr John Newton, headmaster of Taunton School, highlights: “Now is the time for parents to ask ‘what bang do I get for my buck?’ The schools that are riding on their reputation will be found out if they’re offering a mediocre education for a large amount of money.

“Parents should look for those schools that have proven not just to take in good kids and churn out great results but also to have made an impact via their philosophy on a child’s life. Those are the sort of schools where you are still spending a very good education pound.”

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