Has anyone ever told private school they could no longer afford the fees, if so, did they offer you a reduction?

[dontknowwhattodoforbest]

Have started a thread on primary section regarding removing my DD from independent school due to severe financial issues.

Going to speak to the Head of DD's school tomorrow to inform him I am looking into removing her to send her to a local State school - just wondered if anyone had ever done this and if so, what was the outcome?

I have not done this but there have been times where I have just about managed to pay the fees. I think it depends on the school, their financial situation and your child's progress at the school. At the school my ds attends, there have been several children removed from the school because their parents have not been able to pay the fees, one parent was phoned and asked to collect her child. She was told by the head that if she was not collected within one hour social services would be contacted. Have you checked whether your school offers busaries? These are income dependant and you will be asked to fill in a form and provide documents. Not all school's offer these though. It's best to be honest, they are running a business though. I have read other posts on here from parents that have been unable to afford the fees and have been given financial help from the school but I really do think that it depends on the school and whether they are able to do this. You can but beg. Good luck.

My children have been given a bursery, but this is due to dh being terminally ill. The school was exceptionally understanding, and in fact gave us more than we had asked for, for the duration of the kids education.

this haoppened with my brother. his parents had him in private, their firm went bust and the school 'made up' a scholarship for him! then, when his younger brother was old enough the school took him on for free as well!

They might look at a short term option, assuming you are likely to be able to fund again at some point, or a bursary, but would probably depend on age of child (one near to exams or finishing might be helped as priority over a younger one who has more time to deal with disruption of a move), circumstances (sudden job loss, illness), your financial situation (house/shares to sell, savings) etc. You probably need to approach the bursar initially.

DD is only in reception, I doubt they care whether she leaves or not! Bar losing the fees of course.

'Please collect your child within one hour or social services will be called'. OUTRAGEOUS! And these are the people entrusted with looking after and educating people's kids! Great role models!

thank God for state education.

I suspect very few bursaries are available for under 7's.

Ours was in Y11 so bit different. We were allowed to spread the payments for that last year over a longer time period and pay monthly instead of termly.

We are moving ours (start in state school in September) for partly financial reasons (dh was made redundant, although he actually found a new job within 2 weeks but we had had to hand in notice to school in those weeks as it was Easter and we had to give a term's notice).
Was not offered any reduction in fees to stay (ds in year 2, dd would be starting reception but has been in the nursery there for last year).

Message withdrawn

Unfortunately they will have people on a waiting list for reception places, so I don't think you will be very lucky. I know a few people who have been offered places mid term because families have dropped out due to financial reasons.

If it was an older child at a more crucial stage of education, they are more likely to ensure the child completes to the end of that stage, eg- GCSE's or A's

They don't have anyone on a waiting list, its not full capacity this year.

Cod, who are you replying to?!

Iwanted... Not all schools have waiting lists.. our school doesn't have a waiting list for any of the infant classes (none of them at capacity yet, they seem to fill up in the Juniors)

I wouldnt have thought they would help tbh. If she is only in reception its not even a full year at the school. She also has an awfully long time left at the school so any assistance could be very costly for the school.

I'd start checking if the state school has a place and will you have enough time to give notice with already being in the last term?

Our local independent schools are oversubscribed at entry by at least 4/5girls to 1place, they take 2x 20 at 4+ another 4 at 5+ and 4 at 6+ making 24 in each class.

A lot of parents are starting them in reception because they stand a better chance than at 7+ as that has very few places and is heavily over subscribed again

They should let you pay your fees monthly, ours do by D/D, lots of parents get behind for a while.

Good luck, I know how hard it can be to remove them, we had to, but the school closed a year later so I didn't feel so bad.

never hears of someone asking in reception - usually happens when they have been there for more than a year.

has something drastic happened to you in the last year that has bought this about?

Iwanted - we do pay monthly, it will be £540 a month come September - that is a mortgage!

Beetroot - what has changed is my DH now spends £700 a month on fuel (he doesn't get this back) getting to and from work, our gas and elec bills have risen dramatically and I have had DD2 (who was totally unexpected, she was conceived after we enrolled DD1 at the private school, I was supposed to be going back to work to help pay for it) and we have to realistically admit that we will never be able to afford £1100 per month when DD2 starts in 2 years (in pre-school). Far better to remove her whilst she has only been there 1 year than move her when she has been there 3 years.

Got an appointment with Headmaster at 3pm. Will see what he says, I do not expect him in the slightest to subsidise her place.

i cant imagine why he would subsidise a place especially as you dont have any unusual circumstances

bite the bullet and look at the local provision

IME schools will grant a bursary for families in dire circumstances such as terminal illness, death of earning parent etc. It will be only for part of the fees and will be for an agreed limited time only.
I expect feeling the pain of the "credit crunch" wont count.

Schools can do but it would depend on the circustances surrounding the financial difficulties and also how long those circumstances are likely to be in place.

Having read the post on your circumstances..gosh £700 a month is such a lot to spend on fuel. Would it be worth moving to be nearer your DHs job, given that fuel costs are likely to be high for the forseeable future? It sounds as though without the petrol costs you would be able to afford the private fees for one child on Dhs salary and if you go back to work later on, you would probably afford 2 sets of fees.

However, if your local state schools are good maybe it would be better to send your daughter to a state school for now and think about private schools at a later stage.

I wonder what your Headmaster will say? If the class is not full maybe he will offer you a discount on the fees as then the school will still get something. However, if this happens you will still have the issue of what to do re: DD2 and it would maybe be harder to move your daughter to the state sector later on. Therefore maybe it would be best to move to the state sector now and remove the financial worry. If the school is not oversubscribed you would always be able to move your daughter back later on if your cirumstances changed.

Yep, I agree, I doubt he would even consider a bursary or discounted fees just because we simply are overstretched.

Katebee - we have recently renovated our house and we are now stuck between a rock and a hard place as we would lose thousands if we sold it, I had it valued on Friday and they valued it £25,000-£50,000 less than we thought it was worth. He has always had to spend a lot of money on fuel so it is something we have always accounted for but the school have also put their fees up 13% which has certainly not helped.

I have never been one of those parents who really wanted to send their children private just because we could, I had very little options last year of where I could send her as we moved after the enrollment deadline and the only school that could give her a place was awful. I always thought I would have a better chance of getting her into one of the good state schools in my area if I left it until Year 1, as people move and the children leave.

Most schools offer bursaries from Prep age only, ie. Year 3

Have you got her name down on the waiting list for all the possible state schools? if not, do it now!