Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire – honestly, so disappointed and feel like we wasted our money

[JuliaBee066]

We sent our child to Ratcliffe College in Leicestershire, and honestly, I’m still kicking myself for not doing more research beforehand. I know it looks great on paper – lovely grounds, decent results, all that – but our experience has been really underwhelming, especially considering what they charge.
For day pupils in the senior school (Years 9–13), fees are now over £8,500 per term, which works out to more than £25,000 a year. And that's just day fees – if you board, you're looking at over £16,700 per term, so nearly £50,000 annually. For that kind of money, I expected more than what we got.

The pastoral side felt very surface-level. My child struggled to settle in, and the support just wasn't there in a meaningful way. Staff seemed stretched, and a few later joiners we knew also said they found it hard to fit in – which matches what I've seen mentioned elsewhere. For a school that prides itself on being a "family", it didn't feel that way to us.
Academically, I know they publish good stats – 45% A*/A at A Level and all that – but honestly, I think that reflects the intake more than anything else. A lot of the students are tutored privately anyway. My child didn't feel inspired or challenged in the way I'd hoped.

And the things that really grated – the constant requests for extras, the feeling that if your face doesn't fit, you're just another paying customer… It just left a sour taste.
I'm not saying it's a terrible school for everyone, and I know some families love it. But if you're a parent thinking about it, please do your homework properly. Visit on a normal day, talk to parents whose kids aren't thriving, not just the ones giving glowing reviews. And definitely factor in whether that fee is genuinely worth it for your child – because for us, it absolutely wasn't.

Honestly wish we'd looked elsewhere.

It’s difficult to take seriously a post that was so clearly written by AI

My friend’s DC went to Ratcliffe & the expectations of him were so low, so I would agree, not great. It’s not great if it were free but shocking given the fees!

You ARE just passing customers though. Could always save your money and send children to state school? Your children may have to mix with poorer children, but I’m sure they would thrive.

Haha, fair enough – I did use AI to help me structure it because English isn't my first language and I wanted to sound clear. But every single thing in that post is 100% my real experience, not made up. I have photos on my phone. I just didn't want to post them publicly for obvious reasons. If you're genuinely considering the school, dm me and I'll share more privately. I've got nothing to gain from lying – I just wish someone had told me this stuff before we signed up.

Photos of what? What can the photos prove?

If it was so bad, why didn't you change schools? You sound bitter because your child hasn't got the grades you thought you were paying for.

Can you please do an explainer of why AI was so obvious? I didn't spot it. Genuinely interested!

I wondered that too @Cat3rpillar7?!

The dashes I believe are a give away -, wider.

@JuliaBee066 why would you stay more than 6months if the school was the wrong fit?

Look at the opening sentence - it reads like a Daily Mail feature (also written by AI).

Repeated use of words like ‘honestly’

It’s hard to explain, but you get to know the ‘rhythm’ and pattern of AI written lines.

Things like: ‘And that’s just…’

How is your child now they have left?
Are they on a good place to follow the career path they want to?

Not really sure if it was such a bad fit from the start why you persevered. Did you not at some think to cut your losses and move them to state school?

So you wanted to do a hatchet job on mumsnet?

Intrigued about the photos. What are they of?

Whether written by AI or not, there’s a covert assumption that, because you pay a lot of money, you’re entitled to good results.

Surely it’s far more shocking that you were clearly forced at gunpoint to keep your child at this school for years, rather than doing the obvious thing and moving him somewhere else when it was clear it wasn’t working?

@JuliaBee066 Did you really understand how private schools work here? There’s 100.% “premier” parents whose dc get the best of everything. The pastoral care for them will be great. Those parents will be the cheerleaders. What you need to ascertain is what the school does for everyone else. You don’t talk about music, arts, sport and drama and at private schools you will pay for extras and school trips can be very expensive. Good grounds don’t mean very much - lots of sports activities and teams is what I would expect. I would also want every child to have a broad education with opportunities to become a useful member of society with their interests catered for. My DDs enjoyed dance and music for example.

This level of private school won’t necessarily attract the best teachers and far too many will just teach lessons to the exam syllabus without pushing the brighter dc with extension work. The best private schools will enthuse pupils but it’s not universal! If dc wax there for 5 or even 7 years, why did you stay? Rugby isn’t far away? Why not go somewhere much better?

The thing about school fees is a state pupil gets a minimum per pupil funding 0f £6640, which if you add vat means a parents needs to spend £7968 to match a state school, then thats not actually the full funding picture aa the average per pupil turns out to be 8500 as there are other variables (again plus vat you spend just over 10,000 to match state provision) then state schools also have access to additional funds for capital works that can sit outside the revenue budget that they bid for - it can be worth quite a lot or nothing depending on the year.

So i think when people look at school fees they need to be realistic that you could feasibly spend 15k or a little more (due to vat) if its a year a school gets a good capital bid just to match the "worst' state school you can think of.

So did the extra get you anything above that? It might make you feel better or worse.

i went to a mixture of state and private. Admittedly years ago. My experience was that you pay to sit text to wealthier / middle class. This can be a bad thing, as well as a good thing. At my private boarding there were more ED’s, but about the same level of teen pregnancies as state.

the worst school I went to ( a state one) was one that shouted loudest about pastoral care. They literally lied to my mum. The best one (also state) said nothing about pastoral care at all.

Exactly this.
My local state school has just got a massive grant of millions for the school have a new roof.
that’s a separate pot outside of the funding per pupil.

It’s got all the classic hallmarks e.g. ‘and honestly’, the sentence structures, the rule of three, overuse of dashes.

I always use dashes 😅

Thanks!

Agree, see this too.