Can’t afford school fees, does this sound ok?

[Rightmovestalker]

Ds is year 11,GCSE year, going to state school in September for A levels. DH has a job but I now don't. The fees bill covers Easter - July and is £4.5k. My pay would have covered it but I’m not entitled to any state help.

We are overdrawn but have £3k available credit of our overdraft limit. We have another overdraft available for £1.5k. If we pay the fees now we will have no cash at all until 30th April when dh is paid and we have other bills to pay.

We are thinking of proposing that we pay £500 now and then chip away at it until it is cleared. Dh usually gets a bonus in July but it may not be paid this year. If it is we can clear it. Our other child went to the same school and we’ve spent c£160k in total with the school. This is the last year of fees. Does our proposal sound reasonable? Thanks.

YABU = borrow more to pay
YANBU = your proposal sounds ok

[swimster01]

I do agree with Greydove28 though - going down the private schooling route is a major financial commitment for the parents - and a major emotional commitment for the children.

I wouldn't dream of entering my DC into private schooling unless I was certain I could pay their fees throughout their education and ride out any potential financial storms.

[Theduchessstill]

I'm also shocked that you are paying this money for something freely available when within a month of losing income you are unable to pay the fees. I certainly don't think you should pay your last (borrowed) pennies to them though and I hope you sort something out that's manageable for you.

I'm just shocked by some of the responses considering all the threads I've read in which people are berated for even considering a family holiday if they haven't got 6 months' salary saved up...

[Rightmovestalker]

To be clear, we have paid c£160k+ of fees over the years with no issues. Always on time and in full. My monthly salary is usually more than £4.5k but I don’t have that any more. Thanks everyone, we will see what they say. I’m happy to pay as soon as I’m working or dh gets his bonus.

[Rightmovestalker]

anyone saying “you shouldn’t have committed” - £160k has been paid already, we clearly did manage it. So DFOD!

[mrscampbellblackagain]

In RL lots of people pay school fees out of income. That may not be received wisdom on mn but it is the truth.

Also, a lot of grandparents pay school fees and they are probably looking at dwindling investments at least in the short term and wondering if they can afford them ongoing.

[alphasox]

Speak to the school and explain your situation and ask for help. See what they suggest. Ours actively said, a recent letter from the governors offering us 25% off this term, that we should make contact and seek help if we had financial difficulties. There might be bursaries you can access as well as payment plans.

[BubblesBuddy]

Bursaries are highly unlikely for 1 term. They are usually given for DC starting at a school, not leaving it. Also I have little doubt bursary money (that’s not already allocated - and most of it will be) will be enough for all the parents that need help. Many schools take bursary money from fee income. If you have fewer pupils due to financial difficulty, this source of income dries up. Most schools don’t have Eton-like resources for bursaries.

[BubblesBuddy]

That should read: I have great doubt that bursary money will be enough etc.

[findumdum1]

Lots of schools have established specific coronavirus Hardship Funds - might be something there?

[CeriseClementine]

anyone saying “you shouldn’t have committed” - £160k has been paid already, we clearly did manage it. So DFOD!

That’s not the point though is it? Month 1 of losing your income and that’s it - you can’t pay. Where’s the rainy day fund for such a massive, voluntary, debt?

If you’d lost your job 5 years ago for other reasons, would you have had to move them?

Unless you’re in a position where you have at LEAST an academic years worth of fees saved - meaning you’d never risk being in a position of having to move schools mid year- paying private school fees is a ridiculous risk. And it’s only the dc being put at risk.

[Rafflesway]

Well said houselikeashed!👏👏👏

As another mother of a now adult dd with asd I can only imagine how worried you are about having to give notice to your dd’s school. REALLY hope you find a good solution when this is all over. 🤞

OP, definitely contact the bursar! You will not be alone in this situation at all. Good Luck!

[Devlesko]

it sounds good as a proposal and these aren't normal times.
they may not accept though, what does your contract say.
Ours says that if you don't give a full term's notice then you have to pay the 12K. I think offering 1/3 of the bill would be good if you can.

[houselikeashed]

Thank you Rafflesway.

[LIZS]

Yes ask bursar for a payment plan. You may also be due to pay exam fees for the gcse which you would not wish to jeopardise.

[BubblesBuddy]

The decision was already made to move for 6th form wasn’t it OP? You will get this sorted and lots of people don’t have spare money lying around. Although if you earn £4500 a month (and your DH earns too) but fees were £4500 a term, you should presumably have had some opportunity to save from your very decent income. You still had over £40,000 pa left over.

[CatWithKittens]

In real life most people with young children do not have the luxury pf saving a year's fees before starting their children in an independent school and once they have done so they certainly cannot do that or any other saving, at least not in our personal experience or judging by friends who are in the same boat as us. You go into it, and put your children into the system, for a variety of reasons and have to hope that good health, employment and other risks in life allow you to continue. I wonder if those who say otherwise have a year's savings which would cover all their outgoings if they fell on hard times - or do they just have such enormous incomes that they are sheltered from the risks and problems of nearly everybody else struggling and balancing funds to do their best for their children as they perceive it?

[Solara]

We have DC in four different schools. Two have reduced next term’s fees by 15%, one by 20% and one has not reduced at all So schools do vary. DH wrote to the school which has not reduced fees and got a very convoluted justification, but basically the upshot was - “the full 9K is due for next term, Thankyou very much.” But there was something in there about paying in instalments.

These are senior schools in London though, so we don’t mind paying because they are providing the full curriculum online (even assemblies, PE and individual music lessons etc). I do however, definitely think the final term of Year 6 should come with a big discount in these circumstances - maybe 50%? Independent schools don’t do SATS and all that malarkey - the stress is over by Easter when the 11 plus results are in. So usually the final term is all about doing a play or there’s lots of trips etc. None of these will happen now.

So no, YANBU to ask for a fee reduction plus payments in instalments. I’m surprised you haven’t asked already - must people will have weeks ago.

Good luck!!!

[BubblesBuddy]

Sats are early-mid May and term usually ends weeks after independent schools for state school pupils. However both have a bit of fun planned at the end of y6/y8. .

[swimster01]

The fact that the curriculum winds down in the last term is irrelevant - the school's costs are spread over the school year.

[TheTeenageYears]

DS's school have reduced the day fee by 10% for everyone and are not charging boarding fees. If school resumes before summer they will pro rata the costs for boarding. They have also removed the exam fees from bills for now because they don't know what the costs will be. The cost will be added to the extra's bill at the end of the summer term.
Maybe this year it needs to be thought of as a qualification fee. All Y11 & Y13 students will receive their qualifications even though there will be no exams. In terms of costs to administer who knows yet if it will take teachers longer to assess pupils as per the criteria compared to having to invigilate exams. It could be that the cost to provide the qualification this year is lower for exam boards but they still need to charge for providing the qualification.

[BubblesBuddy]

I wasn’t suggesting that the content of the summer term means that fees should be reduced. I’m aware of how school income works. I was just saying that even if schools did Sats, there is still at lot of term left after these dates. In fact where my DD was at school, teachers were teaching and only y8 leavers had an easier time. At y11, they prepped for the 6th form so I fully understand staff were working.

[Lordfrontpaw]

No reductions here. In fact they said that borders could still pay the full fees if they wanted (it goes into a hardship fund and they are looking after the staff well).

[Bringringbring12]

@Lordfrontpaw
So offering a discount to boarders?

[MitziK]

Hell's Bells. A second salary of over fifty grand a year and you're skint in under a month?

You really, really need to learn to economise and manage your money better for the future, whether that's with two incomes or one. It's probably going to be difficult to get your head around not having thousands all over the place when that's been the case for years, but the principles used to make ends meet on £1800 a month still hold true.