How many parents make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of education? Is going over budget on school fees a downward spiral toward life-shortening poverty? Probably not. But what are parents really prepared to sacrifice for school fees? I remember school fee-paying family friends in the 1970s living as non-consumers. The Warren Buffett mantra – give your offspring enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing – prioritises education over, say, giving one’s children a large deposit on a first home. School fee expenditure is meant to equip for life rather than shield from the trials of 21st-century employability. Nevertheless, it is quite beyond the reach of higher-earning, asset-limited parents of, say, three boys, to handle a sudden VAT-induced 20% spike in Eton’s fees (another £250k over five years). Many parents now have to give up high-paying jobs earlier; lower retirement ages abound.
And yet, for families that stick together, school fees are a cash flow problem more than a long-term affordability issue. Too little financial creativity has been applied – both by families and schools. An open-ended corporate bond, secured by the collateral of long-dated, 35-year mortgages on family properties (including grandparental and second homes), would spread the cost of an Eton education to under £20 per day during a child’s earning life. Many Asian families can afford to educate their children in Britain only because the wider family acts collectively, often sharing the fee burden. My wife comes from Almaty, where old people’s homes are almost unheard of because families live together and pool wealth. The youngest son and his family are obligated to live with the grandparents. But I digress…
Any retreat from independent education will be gradual. Long before VAT was applied to school fees, the perception of boarding as a cultural imperative was diminishing among British school fee payers, accelerated by decades of fee rises – and now by tax, inflation, and stagnant asset prices. A partial solution to affordability lies in the superb independent day schools, which cost a fraction of Eton’s fees while delivering nearly the same curriculum and increasingly impressive co-curricular activities. Freeing up time for reading (the only way to Oxbridge success) and specialisation, rather than merely dipping a toe into what might become a couple of lifelong, high-level interests, is a positive shift. Again, look to the example of pupils from Asia, particularly in music: having time to practice for hours a day is, of course, utterly essential to achieving the excellence that so many attain. Boarding should continue to evolve and survive – much reduced but still as a positive differentiator of independent schooling. Flexible boarding concepts and other innovations – such as boarding just for critical exam-taking years (11 and 13) – are becoming popular. Residential facilities may convert to new types of boarding: summer ‘camps,’ boarding weekends (perhaps to prepare for a performance), or dormitories repurposed for visiting writers and artists.
Meanwhile, the rise of the independent day sector will continue. Boarding and state schools are too far apart conceptually to be compared with much fluidity. However, comparing a state-funded independent day academy with an independent urban day school is more straightforward. The key separator is money: one system charges fees that are sufficient; the other is granted fees that are insufficient. Parents now understand what their assistance can add – from donating to educational software to tutoring (as they did during the pandemic) or sponsoring tutoring initiatives (such as Tutor the Nation). The transition from an independent day school to an academy school may become a less fraught cultural progression than a move from an independent boarding school, thanks to improved levels of social cohesion. More community-conscious parents might get involved, motivated by a desire to entrust their children to the state sector. This should not be commandeered as an argument for VAT on school fees, but it is a positive development nonetheless. The independent sector must take the lead in bringing the sectors together and developing fusions between state and independent schooling. It’s time to leave negative feelings about VAT behind.
Charles Bonas, March 2025