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Original poster

Will private senior schools struggle with admissions?

27 replies

Jetset78 · 28/08/2020 23:43

Given the current recession and poor economic outlook, what are your thoughts on whether independent schools are going struggle getting sufficient pupil numbers?

So many parents, who run their own business or earn a decent salary, must be heavily impacted by the current situation. Do you think that the numbers of children in independence schools will significantly reduce over the next few years?

Will the big oversubscribed schools start loosening their admissions criteria to make up the numbers?

What about the traditional boarding schools like Wellington, Radley, Eton etc that heavily rely on overseas money to fill their boarding houses. What will they do to plug the numbers if the boarders don’t return?

Will it become a buyers market for parents?

OP posts:
wigornian · 29/08/2020 15:27

DS is going from Prep to year 7 in all through private, virtual school was outstanding, numbers are up, they have had a surge in the last month, extra entrance exam days and are now creating an extra firm for the year. We had a sensible discount too despite the excellent alternative provision Grin

tineand · 29/08/2020 07:47

I imagine that the impact on the most popular schools will be limited. The big name schools will, I suspect, have lost relatively few children, including international boarders (based on what's happening at DS's school). They have long waiting lists and can easily fill any places that do come up with 'high quality' applicants, without really loosening their admissions criteria at all. However, there will probably be a trickle down effect. Some children will 'shift up' to fill these places at more popular schools, leaving more places in less popular schools, so these less popular schools might either struggle to stay open or relax their entrance requirements. I do think there's been a shift in recent months though. At the start of the pandemic, there was lots of chat where parents were questioning whether it was worth paying their fees (and demanding discounts) given that the schools were closed. Now, however, because of perceptions about home learning provision (whether accurate or not), there seem to be lots of parents considering a move into private. Overall, the pandemic recession is surely going to have a bit of an effect on the sector, but I can't see it having a major impact on admissions criteria at the top end.