Do You Pay for Grammar School in the UK?

Do you pay for Grammar school is a question that is regularly asked and therefore we wanted to explain the different types of schools available to students in the UK and how to access them.

Firstly it is important to understand that education is a legal requirement but going to school is not. Parents can choose to home-educate their children and currently, about 40,000 children and their parents have chosen to do this. If parents decide to use the school system then children are legally required to be in school from the term after their 5th birthday. Children then stay in primary school until year 6 when they then transition to secondary school.

Secondary schools offer more choices to parents and this is when you start hearing about different types of schools. Parental choice allows the parents and carers of children to make preferences – although they are preferences, not rights!

When choosing a secondary school parents can typically put between 3-5 choices on their CAF (common application form) and then the local authority places the child according to their preferences and the different school’s admissions policies.

Parents can choose to send their children to private schools or an independent school. These are paid schools that have tuition fees and the parents are responsible for paying these fees. Private schools will have some fully funded or partially funded places (known as a bursary place) that are given to children based on the school’s discretion. Private schools do offer some financial assistance but these schools are still known as fee-paying schools. Parents will choose this type of education as they often have smaller class sizes, more extra-curricular activities and there is a strong emphasis on academic status. The fee-paying school also does not have to follow the national curriculum.

State Schools Explained

If we turn our attention to the types of secondary schools, there are also different types of free state schools including grammar schools and comprehensive schools. A comprehensive school is a senior school that takes all children from a catchment area regardless of academic ability- although catchment areas are officially not a thing anymore, location instead becomes a vital factor. Popular good comprehensive will be oversubscribed and only take children who live near the school. These schools offer a well-rounded education and this can include vocational courses which benefit students who are not so academically able. Many comprehensives have a sixth form or the students move on to colleges and further education to complete their compulsory education.

Secondly, many areas have selective grammar schools. Children will need to take an entrance exam to be offered a place in these highly competitive secondary schools. The test includes non-verbal reasoning, Maths and English and the children are expected to be working at greater depth in junior school and are seen to have high academic ability. Parents choose a grammar school place as they are searching for high academic achievement and believe that this type of school offers better chances for the future.

A grammar school system is free and does not depend on family income. The entrance test is available to all students to sit in the last year of primary school and typically parents get the result in the October of year six and can then add the grammar school that they are targeting onto the CAF. You can read more about what is a grammar school in this post.

Do You Pay for Grammar School in the UK

Therefore the simple answer is that state grammar schools are free and parents and carers do not need to pay to attend. The child just needs to be able to pass the 11 plus and have the right characteristics to succeed in academic subjects. This makes grammar schools highly competitive and many children will have tutoring to pass and familiarise themselves with the 11 plus test.

A grammar school is sought after as there is a belief that they get better results – which they do but because they start with the cream of the crop! They select pupils based on ability so you would expect them to perform well in the national league tables.

However, there may be hidden costs to grammar schools as you may need to travel some distance to attend a grammar school, for us a bus costs £1000 per year for example. There may also be a greater expectation of parental involvement and paying for extracurricular activities and school trips.

Conclusion

My final point is that many children can do extremely well in a comprehensive school. All schools aim to do the best by their pupils and good results can be achieved in all schools. Choosing a secondary school is an important decision and visiting before making the decision is important so attend the open day and get a feel of the school and observe the current students at work.