Kent


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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-much-do-private-schools-cost">How much do private schools cost?</h2>



<p>The cost per term varies from £3,500-£8,000 for day pupils up to as much as £15,000 per term for boarders. So that’s at least around £150,000 to take them from Reception to Sixth Form for the school fees alone (never mind the minibus, school trips or that fabulously smart blazer).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-dictates-the-difference-in-cost">What dictates the difference in cost?</h2>



<p>Reputation, location, facilities/size of campus and the age of the child, with the cost rising as you go up through the school.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-so-how-do-we-afford-it">So how do we afford it?</h2>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-buy-one-get-one-slightly-cheaper">1/ Buy one, get one slightly cheaper</h3>



<p>Many schools offer a sibling discount but it’s rarely advertised. It can be as much as 10% or be a flat-rate reduction and sometimes it only applies to the third sibling. At&nbsp;<a href="https://kent.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/dover-college-senior-school/">Dover College</a>&nbsp;in Kent, it’s a 5% discount for the second child and a 10% discount for the third and subsequent children. Meanwhile&nbsp;<a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/oxford-high-school/">Oxford High</a>&nbsp;offers 20% off the third sibling (and any subsequent siblings if you’ve got enough daughters to take advantage of it!). It always pays to ask and to go armed with what rival schools offer when negotiating with the school bursar or registrar. Time to unleash that inner ballbreaker.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-change-jobs">2/ Change jobs</h3>



<p>If you’ve ever considered a life devoted to church or country, now is the time. Being a member of the clergy or armed forces affords a discount at many private schools. At&nbsp;<a href="https://glosworcs.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/review-cheltenham-college-cheltenham/">Cheltenham College</a>, there’s a discount on day or boarding fees of up to 25% for military families, meanwhile families of clergy can get 10% off at&nbsp;<a href="https://dorsetsomerset.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/wells-cathedral-school-wells/">Wells Cathedral School</a>&nbsp;in Somerset or Rishworth School in West Yorkshire, though the military award is more common.</p>



<p>Equally, take a job in your preferred school and you could be eligible for a discount of 30-50%. The Stowe group of schools, which includes&nbsp;<a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/stowe-school-buckinghamshire-review/">Stowe</a>, Winchester House and Swanbourne House offers discounts of up to 50% for staff. Some schools will also offer a discount at nearby partner schools, if say, you work at a boys’ school and want to privately educate a daughter.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-start-swotting">3/ Start swotting</h3>



<p>Scholarships aren’t what they once were in terms of discount, but they usually come with some financial advantage. At&nbsp;<a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/radley-college-abingdon-review/">Radley College</a>, for example, a scholarship in academia, sports, music, art or drama might come with a 5% discount in fees, while a funded place comes with 100% fee assistance but it’s means-tested and still only applies to boys performing at scholarship level. Meanwhile at&nbsp;<a href="https://surrey.muddystilettos.co.uk/school-reviews/caterham-school/">Caterham School</a>&nbsp;in Surrey, scholarships are worth 10% of day fees, but up to 50% at the discretion of the head.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-think-big">4/ Think big</h3>



<p>While means-tested assistance can be linked to scholarships, it can also apply to more moderate ability students who pass the normal entry requirements. It’s estimated that up to a third of pupils at independent schools are receiving some sort of reduction in fees. At&nbsp;<a href="https://sussex.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/lancing-college/">Lancing College</a>&nbsp;in Sussex, bursaries are only given to scholars, but at&nbsp;<a href="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/pangbourne-college-west-berks/">Pangbourne College</a>&nbsp;in Berkshire, they’re awarded purely by need but only to day pupils.&nbsp;<a href="https://nottsderbyshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/repton-school-repton/">Repton</a>&nbsp;in Derbyshire is among many schools that offer bursaries above 100% of fees to cover extras like uniforms, laptops, travel costs, school trips and so on. Eton put aside over £9m for fees assistance last academic year and had 261 boys receiving fee reductions, 90 of whom paid no fees at all.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It’s not just means testing that comes into play – postcodes can also matter. At&nbsp;<a href="https://warks.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/warwick-senior-school-warwickshire/">Warwick School</a>, there are bursaries ringfenced for students who live close by, known as CV34 awards after the local postcode. They usually apply to both new pupils and those whose circumstances have changed while attending the school. It’s a fairly rigorous process, for obvious reasons, and includes a home visit, plus the bursary is reassessed every year.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-plunder-that-piggy-bank-early">5/ Plunder that piggy bank early</h3>



<p>At many independent schools there’s an option to begin paying fees years in advance and get a discount in return. The&nbsp;<a href="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/lvs-ascot/">LVS schools</a>&nbsp;in Ascot offer a 3% discount for fees two years in advance (5% for 3 years ahead) for the first year and then the fees are frozen throughout the duration of the advance payment. At&nbsp;<a href="https://sussex.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/brighton-college/">Brighton College</a>, you can save on subsequent terms by paying upfront. The discount is small for the first year – 1.25%, but is double that for subsequent years, when two or more years are paid at any one time. Other schools like&nbsp;<a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/st-davids-school-llandudno/">St David’s College</a>, Llandudno or&nbsp;<a href="https://dorsetsomerset.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/sherborne-school/">Sherborne</a>&nbsp;in Dorset also offer early payment discounts but keep the discounts under wraps, so again, it’s worth asking.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">6/ Get the grandparents to pay</h3>



<p>Forget inheritance and invest in the blighters now! Grandparents can gift up to £3,000 a year to kids’ education without paying tax, and anything above that (if it is considered ‘excess capital’ and not income) isn’t taxed as long as they live on for another seven years. Alternatively, a larger lump sum can be paid into a trust earlier on, with payments out as required, to get the 7 year clock ticking. But it’s a merry dance with the taxman and records must be kept and lines towed, so best done with the advice of a finance pro.</p>



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How to cut the cost of a private school education

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