Families weighing up education have traditionally had two options: the local state school or a fee-paying independent. Independent school fees, however, have risen well beyond inflation for many years and a full-time private education has crept out of reach of many families who would once have considered it.
Different arrangements are emerging.
Students can attend Newbury Study Hall any weekday after school from 4.30-6.00pm, on Saturday mornings or during school holidays.
What is a part-time independent education?
Pupils attend state school for the breadth, community and cost-efficiency of mainstream education. They attend Newbury Study Hall after school and/or on Saturday mornings to add the academic intensity, scholarly habits and exam preparation more usually associated with private schools. Holiday intensives, half-term, summer and Easter programmes complement regular weekly sessions for those who wish.
The combination is, for many families, a better arrangement than either a state vs private option taken on its own:
- Mainstream schooling provides the social breadth, range of subjects, sports, music, drama and friendships of a full school environment.
- Newbury Study Hall provides small groups, personalised tuition, exam focus and a quiet seriousness about academic work.
What is gained?
- Small classes. Usually three or four; no more than eight. Private-school GCSE classes typically range from twelve to twenty.
- Pre-teaching, not just catch-up. Pupils become familiar with topics about to be taught at school, transforming their normal lessons into revision rather than first exposure.
- Specialist tutors. Tutors are chosen for the impact they have on students’ learning and attitude, not because of mainstream qualifications or timetabling necessity.
- Real, immediate feedback. Homework tasks are read and discussed in person each week, not marked and returned a fortnight later. During lessons, pupils receiving constant, direct feedback.
- An academic environment. A small, quiet, purposeful study setting — closer to a sixth-form library or university tutorial than to a busy classroom.
What is retained?
The pupil remains within mainstream education for everything that it does well: a wide friendship group, the breadth of school life, sports teams, music ensembles, school trips, drama, the structures of the form group and the daily rhythm of a full school day. Independent schools often offer these things to a high standard, but so do many state schools.
Extra tuition at Newbury Study Hall is not a substitute; it is a complement and a catalyst to what large classes cannot always reliably provide in academic matters.
Cost
A serious weekly programme may involve, for example, three subjects studied once a week after school for ninety minutes each. That totals £1,800 per term, which is £10,800 across the full two years of GCSE.
Saturday mornings, with three hours of tuition per week, totals £3,600 per full academic year of three terms.
Intensive half-term and Easter weeks of fifteen hours over five days cost £600 per subject.
For comparison, full-time independent day school fees around Newbury currently range from approximately £20,000 to £30,000 per year before extras.
All fees at Newbury Study Hall are based on £40 per hour. See the Fees page for a full breakdown.
Who it suits
- Families who would have sent a child to independent school but now find the fees unworkable or the return on investment unsatisfactory.
- Pupils at good state schools whose parents want to add academic depth and exam preparation without removing their child from the school’s wider life.
- Pupils at independent schools whose parents want more individual attention in particular subjects than even a small class can provide.
- Year 9 pupils whose parents want to set strong study habits in place before GCSE coursework begins in earnest.
Getting started
Contact us to discuss your child’s school, subjects and timetable.