Terms notice , have not started school

[newtothis15]

We have paid deposit for private school and accepted place from 2022 however change of circumstances and cannot take ip a place , cqn terms notice be flexible, i e if i cancel place beginning of may would qe still be liable?

if you’ve signed the contract and it says a term’s notice, you’ll almost definitely be held to that.

It'll totally depend on the school. Contractually they can hold you to the term's fees, and many would, but it's still within their discretion not to.

A friend of mine had a son at a private school and started in year 7, he got offered a sports scholarship a week after easter term started, so gave notice but they wouldn’t budge on returning the remainder of that terms fees, despite his elder brother being at the private school until he was 18 and my friend did quite a lot of fundraising for the school. He tried several attempts at getting money refunded to no avail.

If they have a waiting list and fill the place that you don’t take up, they could pursue you but couldn’t demonstrate a loss so not sure they’d be successful. Speak to them.

I doubt a school would ever return fees as they are unlikely to fill the spot and would lose money. They may waive the next term fees if you are required to give a whole term notice, if they have someone in a waitlist. Kind of irrelevant that there was another sibling there

You have signed a contract so yes, legally, you can be liable for the fees. However, in some instances the school may waive these, particularly if they have a waiting list and the spot could be filled.

Situations more likely that the bursar will be amenable (and proof can be provided) - death or serious illness of parent, losing a job, having to move to a different part of the country etc.

Situations highly unlikely to get you off the hook - you’ve changed your mind, DC has another offer from a school you prefer, you have another child on the way.

The only person who can say once and for all is the bursar.

What Bookworm said!

It should be less difficult with it being the start of a new school year. I'd call on Tuesday to make an appointment to see someone.

They are absolutely within their rights to make you pay. If the school is in demand and they can fill the spot easily it is possible that they won’t hold you to the contract but that’s in the school’s discretion. You have a better chance if they can easily fill the place and if you have a sympathetic reason for the change but it’s up to them. At our private primary in London they NEVER let people off the hook even though they can always fill the places from the waiting list. It’s not nice but school places in our area are so in demand that they can pretty much do whatever they want.

I'm afraid this happened to me. DC passed entrance exam and went for taster day. Contract signed, then DH got a new job hundreds of miles away. The school held us to a term's fees, and I was particularly cross because my DF had taught there for many, many years 🙁!

I worked in an independent school. Read your contract terms and conditions. Extremely unlikely as whatever (dire) situation you might be in, numerous parents before you have lied about to get out of the, nearly always clearly, stated 1 terms notice. You would be amazed at the excuses, reasons, pleadings etc. I wasn't in finance so those are the examples I am aware of.

We had to pay a terms fees in lieu. We accepted a place and paid a deposit in February but Dd was offered a very substantial bursary at a dance school in the May. It hurt!

Term's notice is usually before first day. You might be lucky if there is a waiting list or can negotiate it to half a term's fees.

Good luck - the quicker you tell the school the better.
Is it an oversubscribed school? Co ed? Near London? Maybe lots of children still on the waiting list so they might be kind this week if they fill the position quick🤞

The school, unless undersubscribed - in which case your departure definitely means a loss - will have turned down another candidate in order to offer you a place. And rejected candidates will have taken up places elsewhere by now. So remaining candidates are not the ones they would have chosen (definite offers or first scramble from waiting list). So they're likely to end up with no replacement, or one which they think is a less good fit, which of course ha an impact.

Some schools have a bit in their T&Cs about what remains payable if an accepted place isn't taken up. Otherwise the standard term's notice will apply, and this means a term (not parts thereof, or half a term plus another half term after the break).

I've known schools waive on compassionate grounds.