Moving from Private to State

[clarepg]

So along with a lot of other people we are looking to move our ds from private prep to a local state school. We were struggling to pay before the VAT increase but fees went up over summer by 5% and they have passed on 15% of the cost of VAT from January. We have spoken to the local primary school about getting a place and they have no space so we will have to go on a waiting list. The waiting list for September 2025 doesnt open until summer 2025 and places won’t be allocated until start of September. Also the prep requires a terms notice. What have people done in this situation? Put name down on waiting list and then just paid a term’s fees for nothing or have you been successful negotiating a reduction? Did the waiting lists even free up? Thanks

Is there only one school your ds could go to? As they have to allocate him a spot. But if you want one particular school, then you just have to wait. You could put him temporarily in another state school while you wait for the one you want to have a spot.

Can you give provisional notice? That normally gives you some freedom on timing.

The other nearby school was inspected in 2022 and requires improvement.

I work in a private school. Ask about rolling notice - if they’re not full they may go for this. Basically you give notice, but if you haven’t got a new place at the start of term then you stay on and your notice rolls to the next term. Whenever you need to go, you’ve given notice. Obviously if they’re full with a waiting list at the private school this won’t work as they’ll give his place to someone who definitely wants it. But in small non full schools an extra terms fees are always welcome!

the children who have left our school to go to state have done so at very short notice. State won’t hold the place for you while you give notice to your current school, or even till the end of term, generally your child has to start the state school within a couple of weeks or they give the place to the next person on the waiting list. In this situation you just have to accept that you will lose a few weeks, or even over a whole term’s fees, but it will be cheaper than paying fees for the rest of their schooling so I guess you just suck it up.

You could go to a different state school if there were spaces. Have a look at a few.
The requires improvement school might actually be very good, it’s probably worth a look.
Kids with supportive parents tend to do well in whatever school they go to.

That sounds very odd about applications for September not opening until summer, unless you mean for an In year place which has to be taken up quickly. If you were willing to write off fees until then you could apply now and move mid year if needs be. What age are dc?

I used to work in state primary admissions. My advice is to get out of the mindset of only moving at the start of the school year. The thing about the waiting list not 'opening' until the summer really means that they can't hold places in advance - you can join the waiting list whenever you like, but if a place came up before around June, then they would only be able to offer it for an immediate start, not a September start.

If you definitely have to move, and there's a particular school you want, then apply now and take a place whenever it comes up. If you limit yourself to a September start only, then you could find that you never get a place. It's not ideal to move mid year, but loads of kids do it. And yes, you'd just have to accept losing a term's fees.

Are you sure the prep school is sticking to its normal term's notice policy at the moment. Our has waived it due to the timing of the budget and the uncertainty. Children can leave in January if they give notice by the end of the Autumn Term. And I think the same might apply to the Spring and Summer for this year only, I'm not sure. It's in the school's interest to give parents as much time as possible to see if they can make it work.

Presumably you don't want him to move before Sept, hence being told to apply in June. You presumably could apply now and be on the waiting list, but would have to take a space in 3 weeks if one came up.

What is your intention if a place in the local primary school doesn’t become available or others have a higher priority for a place or are allocated through Fair Access? Will you keep your child in their independent school or accept a state place elsewhere?

There is always the home education option too if the state is unable to provide a place (hopefully court litigation will put paid to Labour's awful plans but we cannot bank on that).