Exemplar Education leaflet

[Emmags0309]

Hello, I've just joined mumsnet because I really want to warn people about this company. My daughter's school gave out leaflets for exemplar education. They then sent a text and another leaflet telling us to return forms. Exemplar Education is a trading name of EBS Systems Ltd. Being an accountant I checked the public record for this company. This company's directors have not filed accounts with the Registrar of Companies. They are overdue as of 13/07/17. It is a legal requirement for directors to file accounts on time. I asked the headteacher why the school is promoting a company that is withholding its financial position from the public record. Anything could be going on with this company. I believe they ask customers to sign credit agreements. This company could be in trouble but how do we know without accounts? The head teacher agreed to stop the promotion on ethical grounds but i since found out that they are carrying on. I'm a joke to them. They won't reply to my questions in writing. I've written to the chair of governors. Does anyone know of anything else I can do? I thought teachers and schools were meant to be socially responsible and this is so sad.
Thanks for any replies , Emma

[user1497643032]

I have never heard about this company until I found a leaflet in my sons sch bag which says to fill if one wants more info which I did out of curiosity & because I felt tutoring would not hurt but help my son. I got a call to arrange a meeting which took place hours ago and was surprised that you have to go on finance (do credit checks etc). We immediately told the rep we won't pass credit checks but asked if their are other options to which she said yes but only if we go through finance option/credit checks first. We had to divulge too much info which I feel was not necessary for this service but I think we were too polite or maybe felt pressured. Well the credit check came back declined (which by the way does not mean we are low life 2nd class citizens but have bad credit due to some unfortunate events). To cut the long story short, I was completely embarrassed when the lady said she signed up many people/families & the pay monthly option is very rare ( bare in mind that she said you can only go for the pay monthly option if finance is declined) which is completely uncalled for I mean we haven't got good credit ratings not because we don't want to. I mean we own our house outright & very comfortable & buy things we need without finance. Her comments was uncalled for & impolite.

& why credit checks by the way? It is only tutoring not a mortgage & moreover why would they say we have to go through finance option first (credit check) before we can try other option of paying monthly? Is like saying one can't buy a house or a car cash if have the money you have to get a mortgage. IT DOES NOT MAKE SENCE. I am thinking the reps are paid on commission based on how many people they sign up & maybe the finance option is more profitable for them. I AM NO LONGER SIGNING UP WITH THEM, I hate the pressurised sale statics (I was told when booking the appointment that there would be an assessment for my son & then an explanation of how their tutoring works & then I can decide if to go ahead or not. They should NOT ask parents to decide there & then. Parents should be given a day or more to think about it & get back to them) I rather go to Kumon. I am shocked to read that they do pay the school to distribute the leaflets to parents. That is disgusting & I will definitely mention this at the Nxt meeting at the school. Also why is it that they insist on having both parents present for the assessment?

[Emmags0309]

Don't feel bad or embarrassed. If you google "student support centre" (the previous trading name of the company) you will find out a lot more information. I think the school will argue the legalities of the situation but as parents we need to question the headteacher's ethics and social responsibility. After all they are public servants in charge of our children and should be held accountable. Ask how they can justify spending public funds on promoting this company, and ask how the promotion complies with the school's values policy. If they say they had no idea about the company they should have checked first. Why didn't they check? Good luck for the meeting x

[admission]

For any school there is an ethical question about this. That is if we are suggesting this might be of interest to parents, are we as a school actually offering the level of teaching and learning that is acceptable to parents. I can see no answer to that question , if you are talking about general outside help, other than as a school we are not providing a good enough education.
If you then throw in that the school is getting some money for doing the required leaflet drop to parents it does become immoral in my opinion. As a Chair of Governors I would certainly not be allowing this to happen at my school.

[mrscropley]

We had' the man 'out to assess our dc - dd made us feel bad against the school if we didn't look into it as the leaflet was thrust on them with a suggested browse /inquiry at least. .
Dd is on the G&T and in fact working 2 years ahead. .
'The Man's' findings were that she needed extra help and adding dd and ds on also would take the bill to over 6 grand for a 3 year programme!! Dh all but hurled him out our upstairs living room window!!
No way, no how, never. .

[user1497643032]

There are a lot of other cheaper or even free tutoring option online for kids. I dont know how good they are but its worth checking them out. But i am not singing up with examplar. There are other threads on mumsnet about examplar- check the comments.

[user1489830224]

Hmm...There is one director of Exemplar Education. Here is a link worth reading:

beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/AxgYZnACohLQhmSf9l-5LHnt9eo/appointments

[user1489830224]

and this one:

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/9018047/The-2700-tuition-hard-sell.html

[user1497643032]

Wow wow I am shocked or am I getting something wrong here or what? How come the director is appointed as company director within a short period of time to different companies, new companies started & another desolated at the same address etc.

[user1489830224]

If the director is not disqualified from being a company director than they can start as many companies as they like. Even disqualification may only be for a set period.
Suggestion to parents looking for tutor help - don't sign up with the companies sending leaflets through/from schools. Use word of mouth from other parents re good tutors instead or even MN. Oh, and please complain to your schools about these leaflets - maybe give your headteacher a copy of the Telegraph newspaper link above!

[Edwin2006]

Just spend 90mins with the salesman but once he said it is interest free it had to be miss-selling and I said so. He only had that option and no documents to show me, just sign up online.
The salesman quickly went.
If the service was above board I would reasonable expect to be able to pay monthly, just like broadband. Not on a credit sale agreement.

[ela78]

I signed up for the finance package stupidly. I have been trying to terminate the agreement as my circumstances have changed. My daughter has huge commitments outside of school thus making it very difficult to fit in anymore. We are not seeing the benefits and I'm locked into this contract with them. It is hugely overpriced and I'm now regretting my decision. There was a 14 day cooling off period but the reality is that 14 days is not long enough to see the problems or benefits of the package.

[allsgood]

I fell into the Exemplar trap yesterday, had a salesperson come round after school made a point of filling the leaflet in.
At no point did the salesperson mention credit agreements or payment periods (4 years!! even though ds finishes secondary school in 2!). Alarm bells started to ring when she was asking my financial info, at which point I showed her the door. Very shady way of dealing by conveniently not giving you the full picture, and asking your child to do assessments and telling you they need tuition even when in the top group for maths and English.

[twinsmum66]

BEWARE SIGNING UP FOR EXEMPLAR!
This company have made my life a misery - I signed then needed to cancel.
Sales rep said it was easy to cancel if you have a genuine reason.
That is rubbish , but I stupidly didn't check that . IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CANCEL. Even if you have a genuine financial reason which I do.
I have been really naiive regarding signing a 3 year finance agreement and so far I have not managed to cancel.
I have spoken to them, written to them, called them to chase progress of my complaint many times (customer services is a call back only service "they dont give the direct number out" ).
What kind of company doesnt give out their customer services telephone number ?
I have spoken to Citizens Advice Bureau who reported them to Trading Standards for mis-selling but that is not going to help me as TS just collate reports like this.
I am at the point of instructing a solicitor and feel trapped . I will be writing to our head mistress and the local council as what they do is frightening.
PARENTS BEWARE.
14 days is also not long enough to assess the suitability of the programme for your children -

[yebut2017]

A friend actually worked for these people. He lasted about 4 weeks. He was trained up for a week, the script is learned by rote. The salespeople and that is exactly what they are don't need any qualifications. They are paid on commission only.....no sale no pay. I think he made one sale and was totally disillusioned, more about the product than anything else. He also felt that he was ripping people off. Way over priced.

[admission]

Sorry but there is basically something wrong when a school is handing out information about tutoring for work that the school should be doing.

It says something about the school as an educational establishment and it also says something about the naivety of the head teacher or other staff if they cannot see how much of a bad light that shines on the school. And that is apart from the very obvious, how are they possibly allowing anything to be given out that has not been checked out as being reasonable and more importantly of value to the pupils.

[twinsmum66]

Thank you for sharing that info about your friend , I can well believe it now. Exemplar have given their "Final Response" to me, which is to say they dont agree with me and the sales person denies my "allegations"! Of course. Their actions as a company are ruthless.
I am now in touch with the Financial Ombudsman Service but not holding out much hope.

[Vshort]

I have been looking for a tutor for my children. I was given information by the school about Exemplar. I registered interest and was contacted a couple of weeks later. They talked me through what they do on the phone. I wasn’t won over, as I was looking for a tutor to come to the house and sit with my children 1 on 1 to give support. They were doing it via an app. However, I agreed for someone to come around to talk me through it.
Tonight I have had a lady come to my house from Wxemplar and sit down with my children. She asked me what stages they were at in school. I explained at parents evening just before Christmas both girls were at “at expectation” for this time of year in their classes and were both on track to be at the right grade for end of school year. The lady from Exemplar told me the school have to tell me that as the school can not talk negatively about the children. I challenged her on this and said I disagreed as I have had conversations with the school previously when one of my children’s work standard slipped quite considerably. We came up with a plan to get her on track, which she did.
The lady from Exemplar basically called me a liar!!!! Not one for taking rudeness, I argued back and ended up telling her to leave my home.
From reading some of the other comments I am not on my own and also got away lightly!!!

[yebut2017]

What I will say is that for the price they are quoting just look for a private tutor.

[Manina]

Am in the exact same situation as you are, I signed up stupidly and now fighting to come out of it, 14 days is not enough time to cancel as it happens so fast. My circumstances have changed after 2 months into the program and they have said no to cancelling which o find really strange cause if I physically haven’t taken the loan, yes I have accessed the service but paid for that time as well, and to know that the director of exemplar is the same as the 3J finance company leaves many question marks.

[laurascott33]

I have just read all the comments on this thread after trying to find a way out of our contract with Exemplar.
We too have been ill informed and our circumstances have changed since joining the program last July.
I feel so cross with myself and am seeking any advice other families may be kind enough to offer / share.
Our sales advisor was new in post when we enrolled and we too were told that although the cooling off period was 14 days exceptional circumstances would be taken into account if we wished to cease our enrolment at a later date. Having done research (a little too late!) It would seem that under NO circumstances can we be released from our financial contract.
We were in a tight emotional spot when we signed up as our daughter was struggling with Maths, sadly we signed when our emotions were ruling and not our head.
Worst decision ever.
PLEASE DO NOT SIGN WITH THIS COMPANY - WALK AWAY from any advertising or spin that they deliver.

[F4me]

Thanks for the insight into exemplar education. I received a call this evening and they wanted to come out and do an asessment. I will not be going ahead with booking them in. My instinct was right to look online and research their reviews. The woman on the phone seemed very pushy and very nosey. I was a bit perplexed as to why the assessor wanted both my husband and I at the home and was very inquisitive about our jobs. NOW I KNOW WHY!!!
They will certainly not be coming into my home!!! Thanks all.

[twinsmum66]

Actually, if I had a partner present during our salesman visit I would've had a witness. As it stands it's my word alone...
I await the decision of the Financial Ombudsman now and hope someone is on the side of parents.

[Elektringa]

We also joined at the start of this school year.... worst thing ever!
Our internet is not slow but the lessons stops in the middle!
It seems that the videos are from 80ies.. very old! Youtube have better lessons for kids. I feel so stupid getting into this :(
Our financial circumstances will change soon and I am worried too much about this.
Did anyone managed to cancell?
I am thinking of involving BbC watchdog and The Guardian as well as going through trading standards. Just need some support on how to make it work straight away!

[yebut2017]

Also this is an Australian production so when it talks about seasons they are back to front. Confusing or what!!!