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Original poster

Independent school deposit, advise need ASAP!

34 replies

doubletiger · 23/08/2019 19:17

Hi

I need advice on the independent school deposit and fee please.

My DD was offered a place at an independent school, for study A levels from Sept 2019, the offer was on a conditional that DD need to get 7 (equivalent A on the old grading system) on her 5 best GCSE subjects. The offer was in December 2018 and I paid £1000 deposit to secure the place. On GCSE result day (yesterday), we found out my DD did not get 5 subjects of 7, DD only got 3 subjects of 7. We emailed the school; the school came back said they would still offer my DD the place. But we feel the school is no longer suitable for my daughter, as we feel DD academic does not meet the school minimum requirement, and DD will be struggling at this independent school if she is studying in this school. We prefer to send DD to local state school now.

I am now worrying about the deposit and fee. I have not contacted the school yet. my two questions are:

(1) Prior we paid the place deposit, the school told me " if your daughter did not meet her GCSE requirements and we ended up retracing our offer of a place, we would reimburse the £1000 place deposit to you.". but in this case, my DD did not meet GCSE requirements, but the school still offer the place, do I have any right to get this £1000 place deposit back?

(2) I heard someone was forced to pay a whole term fee if the place offer did not take up. Does it apply to our case?

please advise ASAP!

thank you

OP posts:
Aussiejazz · 24/08/2019 13:04

You have signed a contract which, almost certainly, means you will have to pay a term's fees in lieu of the notice required. I don't really see why you should expect to be released from this contract. It sounds to me as if the school is sticking to its side of the bargain and you are seeking not to.

ittakes2 · 24/08/2019 10:14

Honestly, I have a completely different view to you. If your daughter did not get the grades than I think she might be better off at a private school - the smaller class sizes and the fact the teachers have more time for her. A private school is very interested in their grade achievements as that is what they use to promote to other parents to come on board. Not so much at the local comprehensive.

Schoolmumm · 24/08/2019 10:10

Yes you may find that she gets better support to attain good grades at A level, so don’t necessarily write it off just because gcse grades were not what was expected.
The school would not have offered the place if they felt it was not suitable for her. It’s worth thinking about at least.

MirrorHope · 24/08/2019 09:50

Not to de-rail your thread but what's changed?? Why wouldn't it still be the best option for her? Your DD won't be the only one with her grades and she could gain a lot from those last two years.

sleepwhenidie · 24/08/2019 09:42

I would agree with your interpretation of the contract wrt ‘enrolled’ OP - you have no basis on which to get the deposit back, whether you are liable for first term’s fees depends on definition of enrolled (which should be there in the contract somewhere.

The only exception may be a clause that says they will refund if they fill the place. I know of at least 2 highly oversubscribed schools (London) have honoured this with friends who (for various reasons, mostly timing of offers) accepted places, paid deposit and first term fees and then withdrew for different schools. Those schools had long waiting lists though and if DD still had a place even without required grades this may be unlikely.

Try and think positive, it hurts to lose the money but think how much you won’t spend over the next 2 years! If you are absolutely sure the state option is the better one for DD then be happy about that.

ourkidmolly · 24/08/2019 09:34

I think you're liable for both. Private schools are notoriously hardline about this type of thing.
If you can afford it, why don't you send her though? Feels like you're writing her a bit?

Original poster
doubletiger · 24/08/2019 09:21

Thanks for advice!

Just found the school policy:

"Should a parent withdraw from an accepted place, for whatever reason, prior to their child enrolling at the school, the £1,000 place deposit will be retained by the school and is not refundable under any circumstances.

Parents of all girls currently enrolled at xxx School are required to give a full term’s written notice in advance to the Headmaster, of their intention to withdraw their daughter from the school. If a full term’s written notice in advance is not given, Fees in Lieu of Notice will be payable in full for the following term."

the keyword is "enrolled". My understand is if already enrolled, need to give 1 full term notice. If do not take a place, it is prior to enrolling at the school, only liable for £1000 place deposit, not a full term fee. Can someone please confirm if my understand is correct?

thank you.

OP posts:
Schoolmumm · 23/08/2019 23:44

Agree with SouthChina here. Any school contract we have ever signed, required at least a terms notice. Presumably you have signed some form of agreement on paying your deposit. I would check it thoroughly, but it seems unlikely you would not be liable to pay at this late stage. Good luck.

SouthChinaSea234 · 23/08/2019 21:21

It is almost impossible to wriggle out of these contracts. You will not get your deposit back and you will probably have to pay the first term‘s fees as well. Sorry.

From the school’s perspective, they offered your DC a place based on assessments and exam predictions. They have stood by their offer despite your DD not getting the expected grades. They are unlikely to fill the place at this stage so are looking at losing two years of fees if she does not attend.