Term fees in lieu of Notice - leaving a school

[Mjoshi28]

Hi - we are looking to move our daughter to another independent school and gave the current school notice yesterday (28th April) specifying that DD will be leaving the school at the end of the summer term (essentially not starting the new school year at the current school/ Autumn term). The school has come back saying that I have to pay the Autumn term fees in full as I have not given the school a terms notice. I find that quite unacceptable as there are still 4 months to go before the new school year starts and they are a very sought after school that will have no problem in filling up the seat. There is also the school deposit that they may not refund. Any thoughts on this please?

We did this and negotiated to pay the outstanding fees on a monthly basis - not ideal but it’s what we agreed to when we signed up to the school. A lot of school contracts will also say they have the right to withdraw your offer if they find out that you owe money to another school and that they check this as part of your induction to the new school.
I’m afraid you’ll have to pay

I agree @After8itsgrownuptime. We recently moved our DD to start at a different school for her 6th Form. We needed to give notice to her school during the Easter holidays and her new school contacted her old school for a reference and to check there were no outstanding arrears. This is standard practice I’m afraid.

Most preps will take you to court, they’ll go all the way if you don’t pay. How can they not? If word gets round that a family left without paying….

also don’t underestimate how many private schools talk to each other. Around here, several ask for proof the final bill has been paid from the current school. So do we. On of our families wee refused to start until their final bill was cleared.

Poor English in my last sentence. One of our families were prevented from starting until proof of final bill clearance was provided.

Most new schools understand. Our new school has offered January entry because we haven't given notice at our current school.
If there are ongoing issues at your current school which make it impossible for you to stay i.e. your children are completely unhappy for whatever reason then perhaps they may understand and allow you to leave without a full term's notice.
Whatever you do, remember you will need a reference from them.

Take you to court for unpaid invoice and inform new school that you have not paid your fees, which will make new school not want to accept you.

Why did you not give a full terms' notice?

Out of curiosity, Is it the same for students who haven’t even joined the school but had only paid a deposit and failed to give terms notice? Will they still take you to court?

Technically yes, although if they ultimately fill the place and suffer no loss they may not bother. You may find you cannot get a place there or at other independents later on though.

Why other independent schools?

What did your contract say when you signed it?
And has it changed since? If so, when were you informed?

Is there a valid reason why you couldn't give a full term's notice?

Dd went to independent schools from being 4. The contracts were all very clear that it was a term's notice.

Both schools successfully claimed this money from parents trying to avoid paying up in these circumstances.

Some independent schools will check with the original school to ensure there are no unpaid fees before your child starts.

Bursars may share information and you usually have to declare you have no outstanding fees elsewhere.