Frustrated by lack of transparency

[RubyLennox]

My DD has for several years been on a means-tested bursary at an independent school where this is the norm. When we started out we could just about manage the fees, but each year the contribution asked from us goes up by more than our net income does, and together with the rise in general costs of living things are getting worryingly tight! Although we return exhaustive financial details to the school for an annual reassessment, we are never given any explanation or context for the contribution increase - we get a letter that simply states ?the full fees for next year will be X, from which you are expected to pay Y?.

Last year the school published a new bursary policy, together with guidance figures that to our relief seemed to indicate that we might expect to pay less than before. But when the annual reassessment came through, it was another whopping rise. I asked why, comparing our contribution to the published guidance, and was told that ?the new policy applies only to new entrants?. The school does not publish any comparative figures for existing parents, so it?s difficult to find hard evidence but at our level of household income (squeezed middle!) the potential difference appears to be about £3000 a year, so we?re not talking peanuts here! I asked the school to confirm this, and to justify why such different assessment criteria should be applied to existing/ new pupils, but they simply won?t answer my queries; at first they just ignored me, but I?ve kept on asking and eventually (after seven months!) received a platitudinous response which hasn?t actually addressed any of my questions!!

We have always been grateful for the support we do get from DD?s school, and she?s getting a first-class education which we could never otherwise have afforded ? but I?m not sure how long we will be able to keep up with the increasing contributions and we are extremely frustrated by the lack of transparency in these matters.

I don?t have any knowledge of the independent school system outside our experience with DD?s school. Is what they?re doing fair? And are there any guidelines anywhere for accountability or best practice that I could refer to when trying to get them to give me some straight answers to my questions? Or am I being ungrateful and unfair in asking?

Do you mean that they ask you to pay a greater percentage of the fees, or the same percent, but of increased fees?

My friend was in a situation where she got x% bursary, but as the fees increased she could no longer afford to pay her share, and she ended up removing her DS from the school.

My gut reaction is that if they are subsidising your fees then they can do what they like although it does seem grossly unfair, on you financially and the uncertainty it causes for your DC. I'd start looking at state schools.

It depends on the size of the bursary fund and the number of students who dip into it.

These are going to be different every year.

It is difficult to be totally transparent and any disclosure of the fund to you could be breaching confidentiality of other families. It really does have to be hush-hush.

Everyone is struggling, including full fee-paying parents who may not be getting a pay rise this year. Why should you be protected from the harsh realities of the economy when no one cares about the goose that is laying the golden egg?

The guidance figures might be the maximum the would contemplate offering to an income band. It does not mean that all those in that bracket will get the full amount. Tread carefully.

Thanks all - that's more helpful feedback from MN in a few hours than I've had from DD's school in 7 months!

AgentProvocateur, I mean that we are being asked to pay a greater percentage of the fees - though as I've said, this is difficult to prove when the school only publish figures for new entrants, and leave the rest of us in the dark!

Snowmummy, we are already investigating state school options for the sixth form - though desperately hoping that we won't be forced to move DD before she sits her GCSEs, which could be devastating!

Tiggytape, I wish it was that simple! As I understand it, we pay a percentage of our net income on a sliding scale, so the more we earn the higher percentage of our income we pay. Sounds fair enough in principle, but the detail of this scale is not accessible to parents so it's impossible to guess what you're in for each year! However it is clear that the calculations are totally different for families joining the school now.