Independent school fees - Habs / MTS

[Rob Clark]

When I went to MTS (admittedly a while ago!), they were certainly very, very strict on the main suit that the boys wear – it had to be bought from the correct authorised stockist in London and no alternative was allowed. However, once at the school, there was a thriving second-hand shop for almost all items other than the suit itself, with ties used to denote the house system.

If you are near the tube in Rickmansworth then public transport is a no-brainer. Loads of boys catch the train to Moor Park then walk from the station, it's very easy and total journey time of about half an hour.

Just as an aside, MTS and Habs are quite different schools in some respects – certainly not interchangeable – have you visited both to get a feel for which might suit your son better?

[superdifey]

Speaking as a Habs mum I can tell you that the trousers and shirts can be sourced from anywhere (we have gone with BHS this year!) and the blazer is actually pretty reasonable at around £35 and I stick it in the washing machine. The most expensive part of the uniform is the sports kit, but we have bought everything big and I haven't needed to replace anything as of yet (son in yr . Rugby shoes I have bought cheap from Sports Direct. Swimming trunks don't need to be regulation, just navy blue. No regulation coat, again I bought cheap from TKMaxx and Sports Direct.

They have a school shop on site, so everything can be bought from there. The only other stipulation is a particular calculator they like all the boys to have, which was around £8-£10.

So far his additional expenses have been:
Music lessons - approx £200/term per instrument.
School day trips - around £20 a time, usually 1 a term.
School residential trip (optional) - depending where and when they can vary between £200-£1000. History trip in yr 7 was about £250 for 2 nights, French Exchange in yr 8 is between £300-£400 for around a week.
I have not need to buy any additional books/folders yet, everything has been provided. I have bought the usual stationery at the beginning of the year, but again there is no stipulation as to what they must have.
Charity Days - if they have a mufti day, they normally bring in £1/£2.
Lunches / tuck shop - my son is not a big eater, but he spends around £2.50/£3.00 a day on food. A lot of the boys bring in the new little Robinsons Squashed 66ml squashes with them, and then add it to tap water so they don't need to pay for drinks. You can bring in packed lunch if you prefer to reduce cost.
No idea about exams etc yet I'm afraid.

Insurances are all optional.

Hope that helps.

[coolmum123]

My DS has just done his GCSE this year and is now in L6 at MTS

Re Uniform, whilst initially it does seem expensive, we only had to replace if he grew out of it, the uniform seems to be very well made and lasts, unless they roll around in the fields in it!

Also we didn't do any tutoring at all, we found that the school more than prepared them for the external exams and also held revision classes in the lunch period for the boys if it became necessary which we weren't charged for. He went to some for Spanish.
We have found the communication to be very good regarding the boys progress and the teachers are helpful.

I would be extremely cheesed off if I was paying fees and then had to pay for tutoring on top of that! I have to say.

From this September there is no separate lunch charge it's all covered in the fees.

He never took the coach. We are on the Met line and so he has always gone to school by tube. At that time of day most of the train is packed full of school kids anyway and we've not had any issues with the public transport, train strike days I have just driven him to school and picked him up, really hasn't been a big deal.

With Habs, unless you are willing to do drop off and pick up then the journey has to be done by coach as there is no tube/train station nearby so that cost has to be factored in.


Way back when we did the coatings between these two schools it worked out to be more or less the same due to the fact that with MT we had travel flexibility.

Hope that helps.

[Irnmaiden]

When I went to MTS (admittedly a while ago!), they were certainly very, very strict on the main suit that the boys wear – it had to be bought from the correct authorised stockist in London and no alternative was allowed. However, once at the school, there was a thriving second-hand shop for almost all items other than the suit itself, with ties used to denote the house system.

If you are near the tube in Rickmansworth then public transport is a no-brainer. Loads of boys catch the train to Moor Park then walk from the station, it's very easy and total journey time of about half an hour.

Just as an aside, MTS and Habs are quite different schools in some respects – certainly not interchangeable – have you visited both to get a feel for which might suit your son better?

Dear Rob, Thanks - yes it does look quite easy from Rickmansworth tube although I will need to drop him off in the morning from near Chorleywood. Also agree with the differences between MTS and HABS. They seem on par cost-wise but different in approaches to pastoral care and perhaps what aspects of school life they focus on. We have visited both twice. We have to make the decision along with DS closer to the date.

[Irnmaiden]

superdifey & coolmum123

Thanks for the details - really useful and gives me a picture of what to expect.

[Rob Clark]

Just as an aside I was out with some old school friends from MTS last night (and their wives and children of
course ) for a bonfire and some early fireworks. I don't have any involvement with the school itself these days, but still see these guys on a regular basis some 30 years after we all left. Must be a point in its favour, I reckon.

[Amber]

Just as an aside I was out with some old school friends from MTS last night (and their wives and children of
course ) for a bonfire and some early fireworks. I don't have any involvement with the school itself these days, but still see these guys on a regular basis some 30 years after we all left. Must be a point in its favour, I reckon.

I went to an inner city comprehensive school in Coventry. I met the woman who is still my best friend there and am still in close touch with 3 other friends, more than 30 years after we all left. Happy to send the name of the school by PM if this is a factor...it costs much much less than MTS .

[Catseye]

I cannot for the life of me understand why fees in the South are so high

e.g at Whithington Girl's School in Manchester is a top tier indie fees are approx 10k per-annum.

I know living costs are higher in the South but still.

[doodles]

Catseye, you would be hard pushed to find a prep school around here for £10k per year. It is an interesting thought though, why is there such a difference?

[Catseye]

I suggest everyone moves to Manchester and when the HS2 comes to town one could be in the West End in 1 hr and after the thearte and good supper be home for bedtime:lol: