Credit Crunch Parents go Online for Help With Independent School Fees

LONDON - Parents looking to send their children to private schools should not
simply assume that the costs will be unaffordable but they should rather
thoroughly research the costs and implications of independent education,
according to Jane White, the co-founder of a new website (
www.allaboutschoolfees.com) which helps parents do just that.

www.allaboutschoolfees.com is a one-stop source of information for
anyone who has committed to, or is considering, private education for their
children or grandchildren.

“With the worst credit crunch for the past few decades under way in the
UK, private school fees are bound to be one of the heaviest victims,
especially as parents are continually hit with inflation-busting rises in
fees,” says Mrs White. “The launch of www.allaboutschoolfees.com
should, however, go a long way to assisting in the planning process for
credit crunch-hit parents.”

More than 630,000 children are educated privately in the UK each year at
an average cost of GBP3,700 per term - that’s a total of GBP6.9 billion in
fees a year. Independent schools are reporting growing numbers of parents who
are struggling to meet the cost of this private education, with some even
having to withdraw their children from school.

“An average private education for children, starting at five years old
and finishing at 18, will cost around GBP145,000; boarding could cost
considerably more,” explains Mrs White.

“The purpose of www.allaboutschoolfees.com is to help people
forecast what private education would realistically cost, rather than simply
relying on average data to work it out, especially if you are thinking about
private education in a few years’ time. The site will help you estimate what
you will need to pay and when, and help you create a savings plan that
matches your savings with your expenses.”

The primary feature of the site is the Allabout Modeller (TM), a unique
piece of software that the developers believe is the first of its kind in the
world. It allows users to look up the current school fees of any private
education establishment in the UK, estimate how those fees will increase over
the course of a child’s education, and how much parents need to save to meet
those fees at any time in the future.

The calculations enable people to forecast for lump sums such as bonuses,
savings holidays, changing between schools and for more than one child. Users
can play with inflation and interest rates, and even input current savings
and see what shortfall or surplus they will be left with over any period of
time.

Says Mrs White: “Remortgaging or drawing against the equity in a family
home used to be one of the most popular ways to pay school fees. However,
with the housing market in free fall, this may not be the best option -
parents could be tens of thousands of pounds better off if they plan ahead
and save instead.

“Whilst it might seem strange to be launching a new company in the face
of a steep recession, we believe www.allaboutschoolfees.com is the
perfect credit crunch company.”

NOTE TO EDITORS

We would be happy to provide you with a free subscription account to
enable you to use the site to its full potential. If you would like a free
subscription account, please contact us via the information below.

About us

www.allaboutschoolfees.com is a new website that is dedicated to
helping plan for the cost of private education in the UK. It contains a
comprehensive library of articles as well as an innovative tool that allows
parents or advisors to plan, using an extremely comprehensive, yet user
friendly, database of information on private schools. The tool allows
subscribers to produce bespoke inflation and returns adjusted fee payment
schedules.

For more information, please contact:
Jane White or Ronnie Wagstaff
www.allaboutschoolfees.com
Email:janeandronnie@allaboutschoolfees.com
Tel:+44(0)1923-610-766

Source: allaboutschoolfees.com

PR contact: Val Proctor, Email: valproctor at btinternet.com, Tel: +44(0)7788-596885; For more information, please contact: Jane White or Ronnie Wagstaff, mail:janeandronnie at allaboutschoolfees.com, Tel:+44(0)1923-610-766