A new term begins and for those of us committed to sending our darlings to independent schools, it’s back to scrimping, saving and making do.
No, our backs aren’t against the wall, and I’m expecting nothing more than the tiniest of violins, but the 20 per cent VAT addition to fees, plus the cost-of-living squeeze, means we’re feeling the pain acutely.
Even the Royals might be wincing as they wire over £63,000 for Prince George’s first year at Eton.
I reckon I could have bought a house with what I have spent. The problem is, it’s like eating Pringles: once you pop, you just can’t stop.
But there are ways to drive down the list price, as I’ve learnt over my many years of white-knuckle cheque-writing. School fees are like a new car – nobody pays for the add-ons except those for whom money doesn’t matter.
Here’s how the rest of us scrape by…
A new term begins and for those of us committed to sending our darlings to independent schools, it’s back to scrimping, saving and making do, writes Annie Hayes
No parent should pay for Lego Club
Or any club, especially when they’re little. My friend Sarah was hung out to dry by her husband when he discovered she’d been paying extra for little Louis to attend Lego club at their already eye-watering prep.
He could just as easily have clicked a Lego Quidditch broom into a minifigure’s hand at home, of course. Ditto art club, Minecraft club and dance club. If you can do it at home, never, ever pay.
Remember: they can’t do any nice clubs if they’re no longer attending the school because you’ve overspent on after-hours luxuries.
Gourmet lunch? Ham sandwiches will do
Lunch doesn’t need to be five-star. Add-on catering at day schools can run to hundreds of pounds a term, but many allow you to opt out.
A friend who shall remain nameless sent her son off to prep school with a ham sandwich and a flapjack in his sister’s pink lunch box. He survived.
Go ‘vintage’ with uniform and kit
Every school has a second-hand shop or a nearly new sale. Go early, be ruthless, and buy a size up.
Nobody ever needs to pay full-price for an expensive new uniform, plus it’s naff to wear it. My 81-year-old father, who went to the same school as my 17-year-old, offered him his old cricket blazer. It was moth-eaten and nothing like the new version. My son got a high-five for wearing a ‘vintage’ number.
Sneaky sibling discount trick
Most schools apply them to the youngest child, so the saving only kicks in years later. If you’re committed to the school long-term, ask for if it can be applied to the eldest instead, so you save from day one and on the higher senior school fees.
Blag free holidays or stay with relatives
Yes, their classmates will be going to Provence or the Galapagos, but if you can provide access to a hellishly noisy beachside arcade, you’ll have satisfied the under-tens.
Great Aunt Mary, whose house on the Suffolk coast you’ve installed your brood in, will of course cook cottage pie on repeat. But you don’t care because every night there is another night you’re not paying for Center Parcs.
When you’re already paying thousands for their education, a family camping trip instead of three weeks in the Galapagos will do wonders for your bank account
Say no to FOMO, hide school trip letters
School trips are verboten. Hockey in Peru, £3,000. Trekking in Costa Rica, £4,000. Even Gold DofE in the Cairngorms at £400 gets an immediate je ne pense pas. Hide the letters and hold firm when they protest. They’ll understand the term properly when the bailiffs come knocking.
With four months off, let them go feral
Independent school holidays run to four months of the year-plus, which is a lot of weeks to fill even if you are at the relatives for half of it. And filling weeks costs money.
Remind yourself that letting them ‘go feral’ and entertain themselves is character- building. Who wants a helicopter mum anyway?
Dog walks are free. A football is a fine birthday present and a muddy garden is a small price to pay. I know one mum who sends her 12-year-old off with a friend on long ‘explore the Tube map’ trips.
Avoid cinemas, theatres and theme parks at all costs.
Slip on shades and off to Aldi you go
Downgrade your supermarket. M&S and Waitrose is for those who wisely chose to go down the grammar route.
Put on dark glasses and hop into Aldi or Lidl. I have bumped into many a grand family in the middle aisle, eyes agog over Tupperware, wiring tens of thousands to a boarding school with one hand and shovelling own-brand beans into the trolley with the other.
Haggle if they’re boarding… or cry
Never pay the list price. Full boarding at £21,690 a term for the big guns is a starting position. Explore every scholarship going, especially the more obscure ones.
Who knew there were awards for chess, dance and product design, but there are. Some Scottish schools even offer them for bagpipes.
If all that fails, slide up to the Head and ask about a discretionary award. Cry – do whatever it takes! I have it on good authority… it works.
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