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international day schools here (in Shanghai) are around £40k a year
I had friends who taught in the international schools around the world... their overall opinion was that paying for the school was not going to guarantee any success for the kid no matter where the school was. It could probably guarantee better connections when they were older and a better standard of English (assuming non-native English speaking parents) and probably smooth out the experience for those families that move country every couple of years.
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Definitely - though in china the choices are a) expensive international school, b) "bilingual" private school, c) international division of a public (ie state) school or d) public (ie state) school. Options b, c and d require fluent Mandarin and the government decides on the curriculum, meaning there's political education and Xi Jinping Thought from third grade.
hats
Totally anecdotally, I went to state school and my little brother went to private. He did much more/better sports than me, wasn't bullied, is happy and well adjusted, lives a great life, earns lots of money etc. Whereas I do not. Maybe school choice is nothing to do with it but I think being really unhappy for 7 years wasn't amazingly good for me.
School fees in the UK are ridiculous, but international day schools here (in Shanghai) are around £40k a year... All the parents are teachers, on massive expat packages or are filthy rich shanghainese that bought passports for the whole family and don't notice small change like that.