How to decline independent school offer of a place

[justanotherdaduser]

Is there a standard format at all? Do schools expect a reason for not accepting the offer? Do you say sorry etc?

thanks!

There is no need to apologise or do anything like that. Just say "thank you for the offer, we have chosen a different school for DD/DS and so will not be taking up a place."

Or even shorter, "thank you for the offer, however we will not be accepting."

Or something along those lines.

This is presuming you applied through normal channels. If you applied late, phoned them 20 times, begged for an interview after the main application round etc. then I think an apology might be nice!

They tend to ask you after the event, sometimes as part of a tick box on the electronic portal (usually simply asking which school you’ve gone for). No etiquette, completely expected. Those children who have passed tend to have multiple offers.

"Thank you for the offer of a place for dd. She really enjoyed the assessment process. We have however decided to accept a place at another school. Kind regards ...." Something like that.

Similarly to above, I have thanked the school, acknowledged their welcome / friendliness to my child and said that after careful consideration we have decided to accept an offer from another school.
But however you phrase it, I think it is really helpful to let schools know asap. I understand that this year many schools (at least in my area) have been particularly oversubscribed and we know children who don’t have any firm places, but are on waiting lists. It really helps schools and those on waiting lists if you decline places as soon as you have made a decision.

I have just turned down a private 6th form place. I said that on reflection we were declining the place and thanked them for all their support during the application process. There is a small possibility we may go back to them after the GCSE results to see if they still have the place so didn't want to burn our bridges. DD was not 100% on the school and we are waiting to hear from a state 6th form and I didn't want to lose the deposit which was a terms fees so said no to them.

I agree this is context dependent. We thought very carefully about how to word our letter to a school saying thank you for holding scholarship offers until the results of a school with later exams were known. They had worked with us over more than a year to work out where our son would really thrive, and although the outcome has been the best for DS, had he not gained the place where he is, we feel confident the other school would have looked after him extremely well. (the main difference would have been how he fitted in his cohort, or being rather a "lone wolf")

It depends if you might apply again for other children or at a different entry point. If not, just a simple note informing them is fine.

If you might want to reapply, then a little explanation might be helpful.

Thanks for the the offer, we have chosen a different option for now.