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.

Because they can't/don't understand what an independent can offer that a state can't.

My teen visited her friend at a top name public school and came back absolutely knocked for six at the difference between that and her perfectly decent state. Why I can’t get too exercised about contextual offers of course you will do well with a dedicated expert assisting with your EPQ 🙄.

I apologise for returning to the Ofsted point, and again I may be overlooking something obvious.

How is the fact that Ofsted carries out inspections in some private schools relevant in terms of the quality of/ provision in those schools vs state schools?

Ofsted inspected both my DC’s childminder, and their secondary school. That didn’t mean I could draw any conclusions about which was ‘better’ - the criteria were entirely different.

Equally, if both my local butcher serving hot baps, and a 2 Michelin star restaurant are inspected by the same body for Food Hygiene and get 5 star ratings, it doesn’t mean their food can be regarded as ‘comparable’, nor even that their food is being compared, just that both had good hygiene.

Again, I’m sorry if I’ve misunderstood the point being made.

Agree but other PPs want independent schools to be inspected to the same criteria. They are failing to understand that that's impossible.
The Oftsed framework is incredibly narrow and prescriptive, it simply isn't flexible enough to cover independent schools. It is focused on the national curriculum etc so wouldn't be able to wrap its head around a school choosing to not follow the NC.

In your example the childminder will have been inspected under EYFS criteria so not same criteria as the secondary school.

Thanks - your final paragraph was exactly the point I was making.

My confusion was around posts earlier in the thread, where ‘many of them are overseen by Ofsted’ was used as a defence of private schools. Both the butchers’ and the Michelin star restaurant are ‘overseen’ by Food Standards, but it says nothing about the quality of the food or service?

It seems to me that If two providers of anything - education, childcare, food - are inspected by the same body BUT either only in certain aspects OR against different criteria, then no conclusions can be drawn at all in comparing the two just because the inspecting body is the same.

Yes. It wasn't a defence of independent schools because having worked in education for over 20 years I don't pla e much store by Ofsted anyway.
It was other PPs who want to bring Independent schools under Ofsted because they think it will be "good". I was pointing out that's it pointless.

'But shouldn’t they have to teach to a certain standard and if they don’t teach to that level they should be giving money back
My friend said some of the teaching was not very good in her opinion'

If I'd wasted a ton of money on school fees I'd probably be looking for someone to blame too, to save a bit of face. Perhaps she could teach her kid a lesson here rather than looking elsewhere for blame - mummy's money isn't going to buy the way out of this one, do the child needs to take responsibility and put some work into re-sits. Or accept the fact that she isn't academic enough for the university course she wanted.

That’s awful, sounds like this cohort had a really rough ride.

That’s a bit harsh on a child that apparently did put the work in but was not taught very well. She was told she was on track
My friend stated there were issues with the pastoral care to that hadn’t been addressed properly

Was this the same cohort that tragically lost one of their year?

That's very sad and may have affected some of them in terms of studying.

Awful, awful situation - terrible school anxiety which lead eventually to tragedy - as was reported in the local papers

Must have affected students terribly

Look, there are clearly some serious issues at this school, but no one is getting their money back. Better to shine a light on what these issues are so they can be fixed. Some of them are easier to fix than others though, I guess.

Clearly Shrewsbury High needs to take a long look at their issues which appear to be multiple looking at this thread and the 2016 thread. I like the idea of money back as it makes the school really think about their problems and sort them out. I expect parents going forward will vote with their feet. Just glad it wasn’t my money wasted

Well, the parents would say that wouldn’t they? Particularly if the child in question had been sent to private school because they’re ‘better’.

Dfriends very bright kid ( according to the school, not the parents) also didn’t get the grades for university, and will have to re-sit. Turns out, all that time ‘revising’ wasn’t spent in revising.

As we have said before. This was not a particularly bright cohort as evidenced by the GCSE results. Their A levels were in line with their GCSE results. There’s not one bit remotely suprising in any of this. When you join or continue to attend a school with a history of declining academic achievement and tiny classes your alarm bells should be ringing. Yes the teachers shouldn’t have said these girls were on track but maybe, as they’ve not had a core cohort of high achievers for some time they don’t really know what on track means because they don’t really see it.

As said before, how do we know that the thickos didn't all leave? I know of quite a few who went on to non academic courses after GCSEs. Either way, I can't see many people sending their DDs here until things change.

Interestingly, the school has announced that they are moving to new owners, the ‘Inspired Learning Group’, presumably leaving GDST, at the end of 2025.

Yes it has been confirmed the school is being taken over by another group at the end of the year. Does anyone know the reason - are they being forced out by the GDST because of poor results/finances or has it come from the school itself wanting to go co-ed and so can't be part of the GDST anymore.

I would guess it was a choice between closure or transfer of ownership, with co-education being a strategy to bolster numbers (traditionally girls’ schools eg Malvern St James have also been trying this route under new owners). However, I have no definite information one way or the other. Interestingly, the SHS press release talks prominently about co-education but the ILG’s does not.

Sounds like the GDST want to dump SHS. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a combination of poor results and declining numbers. Our friends have not had their complaint about a teacher resolved yet either, so sounds like quite a lot is going on. Glad that SHS has a future, and hope things go well for all the children. Bit surprised they're keeping the same leadership if these problems have occurred under the same people though.

Private schools are businesses and they make decisions based around that. Falling numbers = less income.
bad reputation = falling numbers
falling numbers = less money.
its not rocket science.

Does the school select pupils via an exam?
If (like many) it will just take more or less anyone whose parents are willing to pay the fees, I doubt there will be any redress. TBH there are plenty of what in my day I’m afraid to say were called ‘rich thickie’ schools.