School fees and notice periods enforcements

[CactusPapa]

Hello everyone,

Firstly, I hope everyone is or soon will be able to enjoy more normal activities.

I wanted to ask how strictly a school could enforce school fee payments for not giving a full term's notice.
We informed the school we would be moving out of the UK and return on the continent to pursue an entrepreneurial venture.

As I cannot guarantee we will be back in the UK, the school is not willing to make any compromises and expect the fees to be paid in full. I have the cash to pay for the fees and want to have a fair settlement but believe asking for the full term for being 5 days into term is a bit excessive and given I do not know how the venture will turn out, do not feel it is financially prudent to accept their terms.

In your experience and given the more recent guidances on contract enforcements from the cabinet office, do you believe they are 100% entitled to make such requests and I am just being difficult or that given there have been precedents for other parents I should continue negotiating?

Any advice or experiences to share will be rewarded with eternal gratitude

Thanks

Some schools allow you to give rolling notice.

The prep school I work in you can give rolling notice.

So you have moved already or you are giving notice now to avoid the autumn terms fees?

I worked at an independent school. You could give rolling notice or very advanced notice but if you missed the deadline they would pursue you for the term’s fees. Not sure that really answers your question though.

They will pursue it. Is there a deposit held?

A full term notice is exactly what it says on the tin, and schools can and do pursue breaches of contact in the courts, and they win them

I am a little unclear as to whether you are already at the school and leaving, or potentially not going to join the school in the first place? On what basis do you think they would not be able or entitled to enforce this clause of the contract you have with them?

Unless they have sufficient notice of someone leaving they can’t realistically be expected to fill the place from waitlists. Hence the logic in being liable for term’s fees.

Fwiw I am a solicitor (not currently working) of some years experience and have also had to give notice to my childrens’ school and nursery at the beginning of this term.

You may be able to pay and hold the place for the term, but once you hold the place past day 1 of the term you become liable for the fees for the next term. one term's notice is standard and they will pursue you.

The Cabinet Office guidance relates to contracts impacted by the Covid-19 emergency. It does not apply in your situation. Even if it did, it is not legally binding.

Schools can and do enforce their terms regarding notice. One term's notice is pretty standard for independent schools.

You say they expect you to pay the fees in full. If they took you to court it is almost certain that the court would agree with the school. The only cases I am aware of where the parents have won have been where they were able to show that the school had fundamentally breached the contract. Nothing you have said suggests the school is in breach of contract at all.

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. To answer some of your questions:
My child is in school and I have given notice ahead of the autumn term. I understand the contract in its strictest terms effectively requires a term's notice and I was 5 days late in doing so.
There is a 3000 gbp deposit

It seems though that the die is cast and I will have to pay those fees. I do not want to sœur our relationship with the school as we might come back to the UK but cannot help myself thinking is is somewhat unbalanced. We're I to give a term's notice at any other point in the school year, they would find it far more difficult to fill the spot vs between academic years. Not to mention the inflexibility of the cut-off date, I work on far larger contracts with significantly higher stakes and continuously need to be flexible with clients.

Thank you all again for sharing your experience

If they were ‘flexible’ with the dates people could give notice they would have an absolute nightmare.It needs to be clear for all.
I worked at a private school and so many parents try and get get out of paying notice fees that they suddenly decide are unfair, despite the fact they have signed a contract that clearly states the notice period needed.
You could ask for rolling notice period like others have said.

You can hand in a provisional notice to the schools bursar and the head.

If you're upset about paying notice, delay your whimsy entrepreneurial endeavour and give proper notice another time to waft off and do whatever you've suddenly decided to do, with better planning?

We're I to give a term's notice at any other point in the school year, they would find it far more difficult to fill the spot vs between academic years

Actually I do not think that is true. From the school’s perspective it is easier to fill a slot for the autumn term if they know in January that it will become available. By May pretty much all families looking for a place for September will have been offered, accepted, signed a contract and paid a deposit. Offers are made in March. If they change their minds in May /June they will also forfeit a term’s fees. I suppose there may be more movement in eg London but that does not apply everywhere so many schools will be left with an empty place for up to a year.

@EllieNBeeb

If you're upset about paying notice, delay your whimsy entrepreneurial endeavour and give proper notice another time to waft off and do whatever you've suddenly decided to do, with better planning?

Without getting into details, the complexity of the deal my partners and I are trying to pursue will not suffer any accommodations with regards to school timings or fee considerations. I believe from everyone's feedback that there is little to no room for negotiation so will deal with the consequences accordingly. My reflections are very much driven from the way I currently run business, were I to try and enforce similar behaviours with some or all of my clients, I would not be in business very long.

Yes, your business just be very specific then, as most good independents have been in business for hundreds of years

Have you had a chat with the school? They are fully entitled to enforce it and many/most do.

I work at a private school and it is always astonishing when parents think the school should make an exception for them in terms of paying fees when they haven’t given the required notice.

Apart from it being in the contract they signed, if they stopped to think about it, they would realise that our primary allegiance must be to the pupils and parents who are remaining in the school, not the ones who are leaving. Unpaid fees means something else has to be sacrificed for existing pupils and staff.

@jeanne16

I work at a private school and it is always astonishing when parents think the school should make an exception for them in terms of paying fees when they haven’t given the required notice.

Apart from it being in the contract they signed, if they stopped to think about it, they would realise that our primary allegiance must be to the pupils and parents who are remaining in the school, not the ones who are leaving. Unpaid fees means something else has to be sacrificed for existing pupils and staff.

I would have some sympathy for your comment if I didn't know the school was owned as secondary from a private equity fund and had insights on the deal multiples of the first round. The institution in question is a commercial organisation and although I fully respect and value the teachers' work (which I have never questionned), one should understand this is a commercial discussion between a client and a profit maximising institution in this very instance. As such I have no moral qualms over negotiating pricing and its associated terms as all of us do in many circumstances.

However, once you have agreed terms, do you generally expect people to abide by them?

Because you agreed the exit terms when you signed the contact for the school.

As it turns out, you have made a subsequent decision which means your agreed exit terms feel like an utter PITA. But that's your choice, not a change from the school.

You cast your own die when you entered the contract

@CactusPapa no one forced you to send your child to the school and you signed the contract so PE or not why should they make an exception just for you? And if they are PE owned I'd say even less chance.

You could have handed in the notice on time!!! Then possibly rescinded it. 5 days late seems ludicrous to me. You really should have looked at the contract and believed it. Why didn’t you hand it in on time? If you come back, go to another school. I’m not sure the school has to accommodate your business decisions which seem to ignore deadlines in your personal life.

This is very unusual
The contract applies. You owe the fees pay them.

Your call on how you run your business but if you don’t want to apply your contract why have it.

How odd

OP, there aren't many private equity firms running schools in the UK. Of those that I can see (quick google), their fees are generally low, and profits go to educational charitable organisations. Pay your notice, and get on with your life.