The jobs that will pay your children’s private school fees

Jobs Private Schools

For many parents, school fees are a huge source of worry.

After years of hefty increases, Labour’s plans to scrap the VAT exemption for independent schools could see parents face a 20pc fee rise.

It’s a plan that, if Keir Starmer’s party wins the general election next month, could displace 75,000 students by September 2025, according to Baines Cutler data.

The outcry from parents has been clear: many have shared how it would force them to rejig finances, take on debt or remove their children from such schools altogether, bemoaning the alternative state offering.

But could employers soon be playing a role in this debate?

Those who run their own businesses or are self-employed might already be using tax-efficient arrangements to help with school fee payments.

Larger-scale organisations already offer extra benefits to staff. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), 4.4 million employees are given private health insurance through their work, while figures from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development show that over half of employers provide childcare vouchers.

Could many now step in to help with school fees too?

Public sector perks

Perhaps unsurprisingly, school fee support as an offered benefit isn’t advertised that openly. Instead, it’s usually retained as part of an offer to those who are very senior in their career, willing to relocate and be flexible, or work in specific industries and have specialist knowledge.

Forums where employment and schooling issues are discussed, such as Mumsnet, suggest that it’s a benefit very much in decline. Circa 15 years ago, discussion on such sites shared the names of big multinationals who offered it as a standard relocation package.

Nowadays, as a senior HR professional in financial services tells The Telegraph, “It’s increasingly rare,” but it does exist.

Firstly, for those in certain circumstances who work for the Army, Navy or RAF, the Ministry of Defence may issue extra money for school fees via the Continuity of Education Allowance. The payments are paid directly to parents, and cover up to 92pc of boarding school fees for their children from age eight and above.

It’s only paid in instances where the service personnel is moving for an assignment with their family, and as long as that school is on a pre-approved list. Critically, it can be accessed for those moving within the UK and is not just available for those moving abroad.

For those who don’t mind moving abroad, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) still offers ways to help with school fees for those moving abroad.

For those under historic contracts from the Department for International Development (DFID), there is an allowance in place for both British schools and schools abroad, depending on job role.

Similarly, those undertaking historic Foreign Office roles can access a benefit in place to help parents with school fees if they take up a foreign posting and local schools are considered unsuitable.

With both offerings there are stipulations and limitations. For example, the FCDO’s policy states that if the parent moves to Australia, New Zealand or America, this benefit is not on offer. But for those thinking long-term, it is possible to move abroad for FCDO work and move back and get school fees paid in the UK.

In a similar vein, intergovernmental and supranational organisations also offer to pay an education grant for staff engaging in similar relocations, including The United Nations (UN) and its subsidiary agencies such as Unicef.

‘It helps secure top talent’

It’s in the corporate private sector that help with school fees is less formulaic and, often, on a need-to-know or specific project basis.

While it’s a commonplace offer to get senior staff to take up a position across Asia, often in countries with an ambitious corporate growth strategy such as the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia, large corporates are less willing to go on the record about their school fee offers for moves across Europe.

A sense from those working in HR and recruitment in these areas is that these offers are both rarer, and part of a relocation package for a specific recruitment need, such as getting an executive to move countries because of their specific market or industry knowledge.

But there are examples of it happening. Headhunters and recruiters say help with fees is still on offer for those on foreign assignments at multinational corporations.

Logistics giant DHL will pay school fees up to university level when its employees are sent out on assignment abroad. And while KPMG says it is unusual as part of the package, it doesn’t outright deny its existence.

Indeed, in industries that regularly require senior staff to take up intra-country or international moves, such as energy, school fees are still regularly part of remuneration packages.

“Support for school fees is a standard part of the remuneration package for senior [energy] executives relocating,” says Amanda McCulloch CEO at TMM Recruitment.

Even in industries (such as financial services, logistics and energy) where school fees are on offer as part of an employment package, it might require the parent at least to move abroad. Ergo: staying put in the UK is not likely to get school fees help. Flexibility, explains Emma Dunning, director at Pace HR, is part of the deal.

“When a benefit such as this becomes part of the package, employers have more freedom to move their employees to different regions and countries,” she adds.

Tax benefits for employers

For those willing to be more flexible, benefits such as school fees being paid might be accessible even if they’re not that senior. It just requires making a move.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia often needs a sweetener to attract talent from overseas and this extends down to director level and just below,” says Helen Coult, APAC president at global recruitment services provider Armstrong Craven.

This doesn’t mean that mid-level managers and executives need to be looking at just Asian positions to keep their offspring in private education. Rachel Davis, Armstrong Craven’s chief executive, describes how the largest corporate companies in America and Europe, often private equity-backed, still offer school fees as part of a package to take a senior role.

At the same time, post-Covid talent shortages in the US sparked a slew of big companies – from Boeing to Disney, and even smaller ones like Chipotle and Home Depot – offering to pay for education up to university level.

“This is very much part of attraction and retention schemes and has increased in use since the post-Covid talent shortages,” she explains.

And while it appears that Britain’s private sector employment landscape isn’t abound with remuneration packages that include school fees, Ms Dunning suggests employees seeking this benefit should try to both stand out (by having sought-after skills), and make the argument to employers that this is worth their while.

“This offering helps secure top talent,” she adds, “and it can offer significant tax and National Insurance benefits to both the hiring business and the individual.”

Very much food for thought for those thinking of petitioning their employer, or trying to get a new job that will pay their children’s school fees.

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