independent schools and recession

[Malkaperlichka]

Is anyone worried about their child's school financial health? Am I crazy for moving my Dd from a very desirable state school to an independent one, when everyone seems to be doing the opposite? If that school closes down due to lack of funds, my Dd would be left without a place. How can one predict the school's future?

DD has an academic scholarship and as a result we are required to give two terms' notice instead of one.

This effectively means that once she's on the second day of term, we are committed for the next three terms - a whole year.

Like most other fee-paaying parents, we have to think a long way ahead about whether we are comfortable with fee payment alongside all our other financial commitments e.g. mortgage and utilities.

TBH I would be a bit wary of choosing a school that has only been going for 18 years - it will have neither a warchest of funds to see it through a recession, nor the ability to tap up old boys for a few quid. The school my DS has been going to is as ancient as they come and even they have noticed a drop in roll because of the credit crunch (they sent out a brief letter about it). They will be able to weather the storm though it might be tough. I grew up in the same area and remember that during the last big recession in the Thatcher years that this school (and the 'other' one in town) both turned co-ed in order to get through the pain then. Perhaps this time they will have to allow ALL life forms to attend in order to keep the rolls up...

Yes, this school is privately owned by an asian family. It is a limited company.What worries me is, that there is no information available on Google about the school's founder and his prevoius achievements- line of business. The only info I've found is what the school files at the Company House. I wonder how is it possible.

Malka - why are you moving your dc, if the school s/he is currently attending is so "desirable"?

Is the school not listed in the ISC?

Is the school not listed in the ISC?

I am looking for another school, not satisfied with the standards at her current one. I am a foreigner and although have made my research in advance, obviously have made a mistake. I have not quite understood the state educational system at the time. I believe the current school's popularity is due to the succsess of the secondary boys only adjoined to it.
The one I am enquiring about is listed in the ISC.

Having moved from London where it seemed that everyone was doing entrance tests aged 3 we moved to East Kent. Here it is the opposite! So many schools of all types and hardly enough bums on seats to go round! Here the independents are not necessarily as good as the state schools. It is a revelation!

happywomble - yes the drop in income is very important. MANY are facing real age deflation. Many were using bonus and overtime payents to send kids to school now that has stopped. Their mortgage may be cheaper but a lot of peole are facng 25% - 50% pay cuts and others are facing threats of job loss.

The main effect will be to cause people to postpone putng their DC in private school for a few years. Maybe delaying until Yr3 rather than putting them in to Reception. That has certainly happened at DSs school for the last 2 years. A few have also gone to state school after Yr 6 and a few more have been taken out in other years.

The other effect is that house prices falling and lower invetsment income has hit Grandparents hard and schools are very well aware that many school fees are being paid by Grandparents using equity release from the old family home or Trust Funds. That game has stopped.

There are some very bad private schools around (and state schools). I tend to look at if they are in the top 20 - 30 in the country for A level results and work down. If you go by that sort of yardstick or for prep schools are they owned by a senior school in that kind of league or do they get most of their chidlren into schools at 11 or 13 in that league you cannot go far wrong. Doesn't work if you have a not very clever child though or if you chose to live somewhere without decent state and private schools.

I was interested to look in the pupile list when DD brought it home on the first day of the new term - lists all pupils the in the school and shows new children in capitals - because I thought there might have been some movement and that class numbers might be down, but apart from one girl in her year who left to go back to Russia for parental business reasons, there have been no other drop-outs in the school, and as DD2 is applying this year, we have been told that the number of applications are even higher .
This is a big, old, famous school, so maybe it is a 'flight to quality' in the sense that people are applying there, even tho' more expensive and hard to get into, as tehy think will be more likely to be stable financially than smaller more recently establised ones?

There are spaces in the year groups either side of dd but none in either of the dc years. There is also continued evidence of investment in the school. One reasonably local prep merged with / took over another smaller, mainly girl's, one and there was some fallout to dc school from there.