Independent schools GCSEs and Alevels summer terms fees

OP, why would you be livid for a boarding school?

If they finish at the end of June they have a short term anyway.
Mine isn't at exam age yet but when she goes back on Monday if we take off half term she will only be at school for a nine week term.
As I believe that the school add up all the weeks and divide the cost into 3 equal payments, I can't see the problem.

Y11 start study leave 12th May and Y13 Fri 26th May.
They come back for exams and stay until the end of June.
This also includes a half term so they'd be off anyway.

The cost of exams will be the whatever the board charges for the session they are taken, so it's not possible to say in T&Cs exactly what the charge will be (they might change exam board, or the exams themselves might change).

That should be discoverable from google, and I think it's around £25-£95, depending on board and subject and whether single or doubt award; with most around the £35-£50 mark.

For boarding school, you would have had over 2 years knowledge of what the normal procedure is (more if school starts to at 11+) and considerable notice of the exact dates.

*many, not any

We have some boarders too. They can stay in the boarding house during study leave. We also finish at the end of June so there is no time to return to lessons/school at the end of term after the public exams.

I teach at a private school and parents of Year 11 and Year 13 students pay full fees for the summer term as well as full fares for the school buses and the full cost of lunches (lunches are compulsory). They pay the exam. entry fees, which I have always believed to be rare as I understand most other schools do not charge for these unless the exam. is a re-sit, plus an admin. and invigilation fee to the school for each exam.

As a result,any parents send their children to school every day for lunch and some send them every day as they've paid for the bus so think at least their child can use the school's WiFi and other utilities all day.

The invigilation fee is the biggest scam as teachers are used for invigilation!

When I worked in a boarding school we would teach normal lessons until that particular exam was done and then they would either come to our classroom for their scheduled lessons to do revision for other subjects or revise in their boarding houses. Once all their exams were over They could then go home for a couple of days before coming back for end of term concerts/speech day etc. We did finish term at the end of June though so there wasn't much time left over really.

Many independent boarding schools met their yr 11's and yr 13's go home on study leave once they've finished all their public exams with the option of coming back for school events. For some ye 11s this can be as early as the end of May beginning of June. Parents are usually billed for the whole term I've heard quite a few complaints about this over the years.
DS2's school didn't in yr 11 lessons carried on as normal with prep all through their IGCSE's and right up until the last day of term irrespective of whether you were continuing the subject or not into yr 12! In yr 13 the boys could go home once they'd finished their Pre Us but had to be back for the last few days/weekend but this was only the last two weeks of the term.
I assumed all independent schools charged for public exams.

user1491148352 - our school offers none of this. School as normal until 5th May, then that's your lot until one half day end of June for returning books.

Does the school not offer revision courses during the summer term? DC school - which does charge for exam entries and asks for full fees for summer term - does not encourage students to go home for study leave, though they can do so if they wish after consultation with house masters. But teachers run revision groups and are available to offer extra help up to the day of the exam. School also runs a post exam programme.

DD also in for just 2 weeks & goes on study leave 5th May. They do have option of studying in school if they wish, but they're not supervised sessions and lessons are scheduled lessons for any. I am very clear though, that if any contact is required, I'll be knocking on doors!

Exams fees are an extra but less than £400 I'm sure.

Agree with posts above about the straightforward 3 x split of an annual cost, perfectly reasonable.

Looking at some of the feedback above, I feel we've been sold rather short re. study leave - so much of GCSE is about exam technique & getting past papers checked by teachers. I'm a huge fan of school-led revision sessions, personally. Oh well.

I know a percent who took a school to court over this (well actually the school took the parent to court for not paying the fees). Court sided with the school who argued that the fees were averaged out over the time at the school, and staff still needed to be paid etc. If that term was cheaper, another one would have to b more expensive to cover the fixed costs.

The schools see it as cost per term, with some terms being longer/shorter more/less demanding than others, but it all evening out over the full school career. Also, as well as staff needing to be paid and all the other running costs of the school continuing, some activities keep going (notably sports fixtures) and sometimes there's other stuff too. Or just finishing early for a rest (counterbalancing the number of extra sessions run in the Easter term?)

Whether public exam fees are included is usually laid out in the T&Cs that every parent should read properly when their DC joins a school.

This is the silliest thread I have ever read on MN, are you serious? Do you expect the staff to not be paid for the summer term?

Dd doesn't have to go back after exams except for book return day. I didn't 30+ years ago either.

School fees are just for parents convenience divided into three

This, it's not a daily or a weekly fee based on how often you go, it's an annual fee basically because most kids go to school for the year. If you quit then the term fees come in because there is a notice period or a penalty of A terms fee.

I'm struggling to believe this thread is for real

At most independents the students will not go on study leave until half term and they may be required to come back to school for enrichment between the end of exams and the end of term. The school doesn't gain any financial benefit by not teaching while public exams are on. The staff are all still employed, the cost of running the buildings continue, etc. Your child will be sitting their exams in school and will be invigilated by school teachers who do that during the lessons when they would have been teaching. It is a pretty intense term for teachers, who often offer extra revision sessions during lunch breaks and after school, whilst also continuing with almost all their usual teaching, extracurricular and pastoral duties.

Technically they aren't free in the state system- the school pays.

Why on earth would you expect them to be free at private school? They will either be an extra or rolled into the fees, but not free.

Oh ok then, some random story you heard fourth hand then. Some schools do charge for GCSEs, some roll them into the fees. It would never be as much as £700 though, even for GCSEs.
School fees are just for parents convenience divided into three. Oddly enough the teachers don't stop needing to be paid just because a couple of classes are on exam leave.

My daughters exam fees were included, paid three term fees and in summer term she was there most days in sixth form, studying and the teachers working with them on study and exam technique. They were expected to attend, She only stopped going when exams ended. They way I looked it was annual cost it was simply broken down into three. The annual cost was what was important

The fees cover costs that are incurred year round, so there is no such thing as paying less in the summer term.

Mine are in state but he has 2 weeks then study leave. Teachers are holding revision sessions during study leave and are available to the students. Obviously exam fees are free.

When I was at private school, my parents only paid for exams that weren't taught at school.

I've never heard of any school taking 10 weeks study leave.
I know some that have a couple of weeks or up to 4 weeks in some cases, certainly not 10 weeks.

I would say it depends on the school and your location. DS did GCSEs at a private boarding school as a day pupil and there was no study leave - as the exams were taken those lessons reverted to study periods when he had the choice of working in the boarding house or library. Post exams there was a long weekend allocated as a mini holiday but then they were back in school for introduction to sixth form and various activities.
By contrast, after his final year at school in Scottish system, he had ten days in school after Easter and then was on study leave and just went in for exams.
Regarding the fee payments, it can seem like you are paying for not much but fees are annual cost and are simply divided into three for parental convenience. The majority of a school's costs are fixed e.g. teacher salary, building costs, catering contract so the absence of pupils on study leave makes no difference.