When you have children, you want the very best for them. For a lot of the families I work with, that includes private education.

For many parents, the decision itself was made long ago. What they're worrying about now is how to plan for private school fees for the whole of their children's education journey, and how to keep living well at the same time.

When you sit down with the actual figures – the number of children, the fees, the add-ons – the scale becomes real very quickly. Private school is one of the biggest and longest financial commitments a family in the UK takes on, often running for a decade or more alongside a mortgage, a pension and everything else your money is already doing.

This article walks through how to plan for private school fees across the whole of your children's education, so you can answer the question that counts: how do you fund the education you want for your children, and carry on living well the whole way through?

Why is affording private school fees so stressful?

Because the cost is rarely a single year's fees – it's a commitment that stretches across years, and often across more than one child. Most parents can find the first year. What keeps them up at night is all the terms after it, and whether the income funding it will still be there.

I speak to people in exactly this position. A couple who are comfortable on paper, but who lie awake wondering how they'd keep it going if something changed. A parent who feels tied to a job they'd otherwise leave, because stepping away would put the fees at risk. A self-employed client whose income is strong but no longer predictable, wondering how to commit to school fees every term when the work arrives in waves.

There's a particular pressure that comes with more than one child, too. Once you've started with one, it's hard not to want the same for the others, which can turn one commitment into two or three or more. And it compounds when one and then more of your children reach the later years, which typically come with higher fees.

It can all be planned for. And good planning can stop the decision from holding the rest of your life hostage.

How has the VAT change affected private school fees?

A word about VAT. Since January 2025, private school fees in the UK have been subject to 20% VAT, and many schools have passed most or all of that on. A bill that was already significant has, for a lot of families, stepped up sharply. If you last looked at these numbers before then, they've moved.

How do you plan for private school fees?

Start with the whole journey, not the next invoice. When I work through this with clients, we map every year of every child's education before we talk about affordability.

Fees rarely rise in a straight line – they tend to jump at certain stages, often as a child moves from junior to senior school – so last year's figure plus a little is usually optimistic. Mapping it properly is what makes the real number visible.

It's a simple exercise, and a revealing one. Down one side, the school years. Across the top, the calendar years. Then we plot each child's time in school and see where the pressure points fall.

→ We total the fees across the whole period, allowing for inflation and those step-changes between stages

→ We set that against what you can comfortably pay from income each year

→ We look at what you already have earmarked, and where the shortfall falls

→ Then we find the years where the pressure peaks – usually when two children are in school at once

That peak is the point of the whole exercise. Once you can see it coming, you can do something about it. Rather than trying to meet the highest cost out of income in the moment, you can put money to work ahead of time – as a lump sum, as regular savings, or both – with the aim of having money ready to draw on when the peak arrives.

It's worth being clear-eyed about that last part. Money invested for growth can do more over several years than money sitting in cash, but it isn't guaranteed – investments rise and fall in value, and you could get back less than you put in. The right approach depends on how many years you have before the fees fall due and how much certainty you need. The point of planning early is that it gives you those choices.

Can you afford private school for more than one child?

This is where the cost peaks, and it's the part most worth planning for. When two children are in private school at the same time, the annual bill can roughly double.

Imagine a couple with two children, three years apart, both due to start senior school at eleven. For the first stretch, one child is in school. Then, for around three years, both are – and the cost jumps accordingly. After that, the elder finishes school, though for many families university follows close behind, with a different set of costs again.

Seen as a single yearly figure, that peak looks alarming. Mapped out in advance, it becomes a target. If the family starts setting money aside while the children are young – even modest amounts – there's time for it to add up ahead of those overlapping years, so the most expensive period is part-funded before it arrives rather than met entirely from that year's income.

The numbers will be different for every family. The shape of the problem rarely is.

What are the hidden costs of private school?

Beyond the fees themselves, families are often caught out by the extras, and they add up. The main ones to budget for:

→ The kit – uniform, sports gear and specialist equipment, which varies a lot from school to school

→ Trips, music lessons and extracurricular activities

→ Flexi-boarding, where some schools let children board occasionally rather than full-time

→ The step up in fees at senior school, and again at sixth form

I mention these not to put you off, but because a plan based on the fees alone tends to spring leaks. Better to know the real number from the start.

Can you pay school fees and still live well?

Yes – and making sure of it is the whole point of planning. The financial side is only part of the story; the emotional weight of school fees is real, and worth naming.

Some parents feel guilty spending on anything else while the fees are being paid. Some feel trapped – unable to change career, take a risk or ease off, because the fees depend on them not doing so. Even families with plenty can find themselves anxious about every other outgoing.

This is where good planning earns its keep. When you can see that the fees are covered, and that they don't come at the expense of your own retirement or the occasional family holiday, the guilt has less to feed on. Good planning is what makes both possible: funding the education you want, and keeping the holidays, the pension and the freedom that make the rest of life worthwhile. What's the point otherwise?

When should you start planning for school fees?

As early as you can. If private school is the plan from the outset, the earlier you begin setting money aside, the more the years can do the heavy lifting for you.

In practice, plenty of families decide later – often around the move to senior school at eleven. Even then, starting to plan as soon as the intention is there makes a real difference to how comfortable those years feel. The families who find it hardest are usually the ones who leave the planning until the fees are already upon them. By then the options are fewer and the pressure is higher. A few years of foresight changes what's possible.

The bigger picture

Educating your children privately is a generous, deliberate choice, and for the families who make it, usually a deeply held one. I'm not here to talk anyone into it or out of it. What I can do is make sure that, if you choose it, you can sustain it – without giving up your own future to do so.

Map the whole journey, know the real number, and give yourself time. Do that, and a decision that feels overwhelming becomes a series of manageable ones.

If you're weighing this up for your own family, I'm always happy to map it out with you.

Laura Joyce is a financial planner specialising in comprehensive financial strategies for professionals and families in the Bristol area. With expertise in inheritance tax planning, intergenerational wealth, and strategic financial management, Laura helps clients create clarity, confidence, and balance in their financial lives.

FAQs

When is the best time to start planning for private school fees?

As early as you realistically can. If private school is the intention, beginning while the children are young gives your money the most time to work. Deciding later is common too – often around the move to senior school – and it's rarely too late to make a plan more comfortable, but earlier almost always means more options.

If we can afford the fees from income, do we still need a school-fees plan?

It's still worth doing. Affording this year's fees from income is one thing; sustaining them through the peak years, without squeezing your pension, your savings and your family life, is another. A plan is what keeps the fees from taking over everything else.

How much should we save for private school fees?

That depends on the schools, the number of children and how the years overlap, which is why we map it out rather than guess. Once the peak is clear, we can work back to what you'd need to put away, and when.

Should we save for school fees in cash or invest?

It depends how long you have. For fees due in the next year or two, certainty usually counts for more, so cash tends to fit. For costs several years away, investing for growth can do more – though returns aren't guaranteed, values rise and fall, and you could get back less than you put in. Often the answer is a mix, matched to when each bill falls due.

What does the VAT change mean for UK private school fees?

Since January 2025, private school fees in the UK have carried 20% VAT, and most schools have passed it on. If you set your plan up before then, it's worth revisiting – the numbers have moved.

How do we plan for school fees if our income isn't guaranteed?

This is one of the most common concerns, especially for self-employed parents. The answer is usually to hold a buffer, so a quieter year doesn't put the fees at risk, and to keep some flexibility in how the plan is funded. It's exactly the kind of thing worth stress-testing in advance.

Although the content of the article was correct at the time of writing, the accuracy of the information should not be relied upon, as it may have been subject to subsequent tax, legislative or event changes.