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 must apologise for my earlier post re Ofsted, which arose from me having a dim moment.

I read ‘inspected by Ofsted’ as ‘having a classic Ofsted inspection, of the type I have endured multiple times as a teacher’ and went ‘I didn’t think private schools had those?’ - and posted accordingly.

Then I Googled and realised that Ofsted inspects eg safeguarding in private schools, but not in the same format / assessment criteria as state schools (for all the reasons others have given around curriculum freedoms et al), and went ‘ah, I was being dim, confusion sorted’. No value judgement intended or implied.

No wonder they always get rated excellent

Agree otherwise they are marking their own homework so to speak

Why do people think private schools = good grades automatically? My 3 went to private and not for a minute did I assume they will perform better academically. It was about the whole package, wrap around care, facilities, traditions, small classes etc. I know friends with intelligent kids who’ve done amazingly in state and friends in private who’ve flunked everything. It depends entirely on how much work the children put in. I can’t believe anyone would seriously ask for a refund?!

It’s more than work put in. Underlying intelligence is a big factor and that is innate not purchased.

So you would happily fund the ISI through ypur taxes? If not then who do you think should fund them?
It's no more "marking own homework" than a state organisation ie Ofsted, inspecting state organisation ie a school.

You really do have an agenda here don't you?

So longstanding problems then?

Christ if they’d seen this thread beforehand I think they’d have sent their daughter elsewhere. Looks like multiple issues and some teachers not with the best interests of the children at heart

The ISI should be disbanded and private schools examined and inspected just the same way as other schools are, and yes that can be tax payer funded. The end .

God some people are really hard of understanding.

They can't be inspected to the same criteria because they aren't run on the same lines. Thank fuck for that too!

However as I've previously proven, just under half are already inspected by Ofsted ie you pay for that.

Also as the taxpayer doesn't fund independent schools they have no business sticking their noses in.

I want my child's education as free as possible of state oversight, all politicians do is destroy education.

"some teachers not with the best interests of the children at heart" how do you deduce that from exam results?

You seem to be very hard of understanding that not everyone shares your views. No matter how much you stamp your feet.

My DD was at a “posh girls school”
but elsewhere… she didn’t get grades she wanted / needed either but I don’t believe it’s down to the school at all!!

Could say the same for a few on here!!

Read the 2016 thread

Private schools pay for their Ofsted inspections. They are charged just over double the amount state schools pay out of their budgets ( tax payers money)
We’re actually subsidising that aswell twisty

All the more reason these ridiculous places should be paying their fair share of tax.

They already are!!! Why do you think they aren't? They contribute Billions in tax and employment each year

Only if you believe you are buying results! My dc will get the results they deserve . They are at an independent school but will get the sameish results as if they had gone to state. This always surprises me that people think independent fees are a cost paid proportionately for exam results only.

It’s not a waste of money as a lot of independent parents do not think they are buying gcse results! It’s worth a lot more than that.

But they don’t.

A former colleague of mine was on a team which inspected Eton (years ago) and told us they failed.

It was only on paperwork, though, everything else was fine.

It may be partly because the examination boards decide what percentage of pupils will get high grades. It's not always down to performance (which seems wrong to me).

Rambler96 · 12/10/2025 20:24
Looks like it was a colossal waste of money all the local state schools out performed the school

Why the desire from so many to ban private education if it’s so useless and doesn’t give its students a leg-up?

That is entirely incorrect, I managed the awarding process at an AO.