Private school underperformed I think my friend should get a refund. AIBU?

[Rambler96]

Friends daughter did her A levels at a posh girls school in Shrewsbury and failed to get the grades she needed for her university place. Now all the results are published, it looks like the school has massively underperformed for some reason. I think she should get a refund on some of the fees.

I doubt it. I suspect the parent is well aware that you don’t get refunds.

@twistyizzy
This is just bollocks. You think parents who are paying school fees don't check and demand qualified teachers?

I think compocompocomp is just enjoying the opportunity to have a go at private schools with the usual - thick, posh kids, unqualified teachers, state schools are superior and so on.

Not the OP’s but her friend’s business certainly. Like any customer.

But not of the OP.

Girls private schools can be subject to strange declines in a good GCSE cohort going onto A levels at the same school because they can sometimes lose a large number of pupils who decide they want a co-ed sixth form and/or a change of scene and/or the parents realise the state system can deliver a better education in a selective state school sixth form (e.g. a state school sixth form that requires certain grades to progress/enter the sixth form, hence removing some of the incentive for these parents to pay for what they perceive to be a better environment).

If it's the brightest pupils who leave the girls private schools for co-ed/state system/change of scene then that can leave a cohort who are on average less academically able and the A level results for that year-group will be much less good than they were for GCSEs, without the standard of education necessarily falling itself.

OP mentions a change of head. An unknown or unwelcome change in the girls private school might also prompt parents to move their girls to other schools for sixth form.

Have you been on MN long? You seem unfamiliar with the concept of someone posting a musing on here about something they are once removed from in real life, even though that makes up a substantial portion of posts here. You also seem oblivious to the hypocrisy of hanging around such threads repeatedly telling the OP they shouldn’t be interested in the thread you apparently can’t draw yourself away from.

You're a delight aren't you? I'm just replying to direct quotes when others ars replying to me. I'm not doing what you are ie hanging around telling other posters what they can/can not say or do.

Agree. I would be very interested to know what proportion of the GCSE cohort were represented at A-level, how many joined, and the GCSE results of those who were there to take A-levels (as opposed to the girls who took GCSEs 2 years previously, potentially a very different group.

That might explain a fall, but does not explain the fact the pupils and parents were unaware of their own performance lagging before results day.

Of my DS's cohort, the only child to fail English and maths GCSE - and others - was the one who was educated privately. She went to state school for 6th form and passed both.

OP, don't be ridiculous. A school is a school, and it is up to the parents to decide whether it is suitable for their child.

To choose between state schools, chose whether state or private, choose between private schools. Or to home school? Different things suit different children.

Presumably your friend followed her child's progress during the 7 years of senior school? Checked her grades? How did she do in GCSEs? She attended parents evenings? Judged for herself whether homework was appropriate? Whether her daughter was confident and happy and succeeding?

Whether the local state option was better, more suitable for her DD, achieving high exam results? Or did she not check?

Waiting until the summer of year 13 and then moaning and being surprised is not good parenting. Or any sort of parenting at all.

My ds is 8 months away from A'levels. I already know he will get somewhere between BBB and BCC. I know the UCAS points he already has and how his NEA is progressing. These things are not left to chance.

Exactly.

But that's not what the OP implies. OP makes no suggestion that there was no feedback etc throughout the course. I just don't see how it can get to the end of the course and the result be a complete surprise. What about the mock exams? End of year exams?

The OP did not say her friend complained at any point during the A level course.

Firstly I wouldn’t say a GDST school is particularly posh. Secondly looking at the GCSE and A level results it’s a school clearly in decline. This year 42 girls took GCSE’s compared to 86 in 2012. If you look at their gcse results in 2023 their 9-7’s were pretty poor at 38% compared to the previous year at 60% and their 9-8 fell off a cliff at 19% compared to 43% the previous year. That cohort were the 2025 A level results so it’s no surprise the A level results were poor, which they are. Due to low pupil numbers they clearly let girls who were not A level material to take A levels as they needed the money. Your friend should have identified that this was a risk. Equally the classes in some subject were not just small, they were ridiculous. Classes of 1 or 2 do not give any kind of motivation, discussion, collaboration or challenge. So no, they don’t deserve a refund, it was a very clear risk when she put her daughter into 6 form that this was a likely outcome. I would suggest that this year will be more of the same and the current year 12 may be better

I can see how my post could be read that way.

But the OP did say that parents at the school had to be told to be more polite in their emails to staff.

Interesting, the drop in numbers since 2012 - Shrewsbury School became fully co-ed in 2014, mixed for 6th form since 2008, which could account for some of the difference for more wealthy families. It’s not as if there is a huge amount of local competition?

But why then is it only this year's girls who have had a massive drop?

If your argument was valid, the results would surely be similar over the years, not just one year dropping off a cliff?

Em, see Tagliatiarora’s post at 14:04 - the GCSE results for this cohort were also significantly lower than historic norms, so the A level results should not have been a surprise.

Absolutely not, but my friend’s daughter has been let down both by this school and the whole of the GDST - who you would expect very high standards from

I was going to suggest contacting the GDST - what has their response been?

Agreed

You need to go back to 2023 GCSE’s to see that is was going to be a problem. As I said before, it wasn’t a high performing year group even before now. They were year 8 at the start of the pandemic, maybe that year group lost a large amount of core teaching at this point even if they were online. It’s clear it’s a school in decline, in order to survive they can’t be very selective and therefore they’re not going to get the top students when other schools are more in demand

Unless I could afford an elite public school I’d only go private if the local state options were appalling. I don’t think many middle rank private schools are worth it these days.

Agree to disagree on that one. There are good state schools and good independent schools. There are also shit state schools and shit independent schools.
Sounds like these "friends" didn't do due diligence when choosing the school. That's on them. It's also on them to not complain until Yr 13