Prep school deposits

[ag123]

Just wondering how these generally work...

Ds is 3, 4 in Jan, just started his 'nursery' age year.

We were undecided about the state/private issue and ended up registering and paying a £1000 deposit to secure a place in the nursery class of a local prep school,

We changed our minds several times subsequently but ultimately decided to send him to the prep school, partly to give ourselves another year to make the decision and to be able to get the deposit back if we ultimately decide to move him to state for reception.

We wanted to base our decision on how well he got on at the prep throughout the year.

I have now discovered that we will be being interviewed for admission to the reception class in the second week of October, therefore I believe entering the standard admissions procedure and I presume needing to put down an additional £2000 to make up the full deposit to secure the place.

Does anyone have any experience of whether this is actually likely to be the case?
Is the deposit usually required very soon after an offer is made?
Is there any way of being able to delay the final decision until we see how he gets on at the school with any hope of still getting a deposit back?

TIA

You normally pay the deposit on accepting the place with part being offset against the final term's fees and you need to check how much is non refundable. 3k is a lot ime but you may risk the security of a place by delaying payment if there is a waiting list for Reception entry. You also need to make the final decision by Easter to avoid be liable for a term's fees in lieu.

That is a good point. Last year in the summer term they still had a couple of spaces for the reception class so it might not be too much of a risk to delay accepting the place and putting down the deposit. They wouldn't be able to refuse is doing that would they?

They can do whatever they want - I don't think the admissions code applies. They can tell you there isn't a space at reception even if there is if you have pissed them off by messing around.

Private schools generally want to prevent parents hedging their bets at their expense. It is common, for example, for parents to apply to both the Outstanding local state primary and a private school as a back up if they don't get in. Private schools realise this and most will make you commit yourself to a deposit and a terms fees before state primary places are allocated in April.

This is the price you pay for having a cast iron back up unfortunately. It doesn't matter if the private Reception is full or not, if you have signed him up, you will be liable for deposit + a terms fees if you ultimately decide to send him elsewhere. They can and will pursue you for the fees owing if this happens.