The private school search engine Snobe calculates the average private school fee in York at £2,530 per term for a day school compared to the English average of £3,355.
St Peter’s, founded in AD 627, is the third oldest school in the world; it now educates boys and girls privately from the age of 3 to 18 and a day place at the senior school will set you back just under £22,000 a year (up to sixth form).
Or you could opt for the mixed-sex Bootham, where fees are just over £19,000 a year. The vast majority of state schools are rated “good” by Ofsted and there are a couple of Outstanding options, but unlike London, it’s not a crazy bun fight, and children seem to move fairly seamlessly from state to private, and do well at either option.
In short, you can have a pretty nice life here on not too bonkers a salary – and if you are missing a bit more pizzazz, Leeds is 20 minutes by train, Manchester an hour and a half and London less than two hours on a fast train (although it’s not cheap, and if you want to avoid paying hundreds it’s wise to book in advance).
For us, though, it’s not forever – we’ll likely be here three years at the most.
Long enough to feel bedded in, make new friends and spend plenty of time with my parents. Not long enough, sadly, to make it worth investing in that Georgian townhouse.
Nevertheless, my Rightmove habit remains. Perhaps I’ll realise my dream one day.
