Those of you hokding onto your State options but deciding to go Indie .... how long?

[BruteEtTu]

Until you release the State option you have no plan of using?

And. WHY hold onto it ffs???? If you aint going to be taking up the space?

[Balletgirlmum]

How do you know people are doing that?

But generally if you don't inform an independent school by the first day of the summer term you are liable for a full terms fees.

[LiamLikesLimes]

I know at least 3 people doing this mainly to keep their options open i think.
I did think about following suit but decided not to.

[Balletgirlmum]

Ds was allocated a state school we never applied for & it took awhile for it to filter through that we were rejecting the place to the extent they contacted his independent junior school linked to the senior to tell them he was leaving.

[FishWithABicycle]

This may be us when the time comes. It will be a huge dilemma as it will be very borderline whether we can afford the fees and will have a huge impact on our standard of living for the subsequent 7 years. We will probably therefore hold on to our state offer until the deadline by which the independent offer must be committed to (presumably 1st day of summer term) while we agonise.

[SAHDthatsall]

Hold onto it until September just to annoy people that write 'ain't' [sic]. 😀

[whatsagoodusername]

We held onto DS's place until June, I think. We weren't really sure we couldn't afford two sets of fees (DS2 starting year after), we wanted to be sure we were making the right choice, and when everyone was talking about how their schools were meeting with incoming parents and children, we hadn't heard anything further from the indie school.

So I cancelled the state place when we were sure indie option was the best and we had had more contact with the indie option.

The state didn't actually cancel the space when I told them though. I got a letter inviting DS to the state school's teddy bear picnic in July, with only a few days notice. I did call the council and email them again, and told the school directly, and I do hope the child who was getting the place managed to get to the teddy bear picnic. I did feel bad about that, but I had cancelled the place a few weeks earlier.

DS2 starts next year at the indie, and I have applied for a state place for him as the deadline was before he was officially accepted. I will decline the state school offered promptly this time.

[TeddTess]

ha ha us too whatsagoodusername

i turned down DDs state place straight away
we then got invited to an informal interview
i told them again
we then got invited to an induction day
i told them again

the first time was the borough admissions form online - the next two times was direct to the school to say WE ARE NOT COMING. They didn't seem to want to take no for an answer

but to answer the OP, a few people were aghast when i said i turned down the state place straight away, "what happens if something happens between now and september?"

[hiearchical]

OP, I expect some people hold onto a second or lower preference state offer until September, in the hope that they might be offered a higher preference. (Once you've given up your state place the LA has no obligation to offer you another one - maybe some people don't realise you can still stay on the waiting lists for higher preference schools when you're not holding a place).

I've heard of people paying thousands in deposits on their indie place, but giving them up when they eventually get their first preference state offer, so it's not just state places that are held for insurance purposes.

[motherwithheadache]

Because dd did not make up her mind till the last week before the summer holidays...

and despite emailing/ sending "real" letters to school and LEA, we still got a free bus pass to the state school for 2=two years. and a letter saying we hadn't paid for the HE/DT expenses...

[catslife]

Many parents have their independent school as a reserve option as they weren't allocated their first state preference. Some of these families will be appealing and this process is usually completed in June.
Others may be putting financial plans in place to enable them to afford private schooling e.g. remortgaging etc.

[Lurkedforever1]

Dds state excuse for a school offering we gave up straight away, cos it always has places. If it had been a half decent one, would have been mid summer. Because although she had the funding based on my estimated income, I would have wanted it absolutely confirming before giving up a decent state place.