Half term at the independent schools and a key time for school fees searches

Its a very exciting time of the year for school fees planning. Easter half term is the point in the year when most independent schools have sent their offers to pupils wishing to join the school in the Christmas term and start turning their minds towards the next round of open days.  This coincides with a peak in on-line searches for private school fees from prospective parents.  This makes sense; you check the price of a house before looking at the the details so why wouldn't you do the same with a private school?

Interestingly, not all private schools show their fees on their websites.  We think this is a mistake but fear not, allaboutschoolfees.com have all fees for all UK independent schools, so parents can visit the site, subscribe and create bespoke long term fees and savings schedules.

Private schools add hidden charges of 15% to school fees as they battle recession

Article blogged from Laura Clark,  Daily Mail, 16th February 2010

Private schools are increasingly sneaking extra charges on to parents' bills as they battle to stay afloat during the recession, it has emerged.

Parents have reported receiving bills with a string of extra charges automatically added - including four different types of insurance.

The charges are usually accompanied by small print explaining that parents must actively deduct the extras or the school will assume they accept them. 

'Fine-toothed comb': Experts have advised parents to go through their bill to stop items being charged automatically

Schools earn commission on insurance policies sold - such as medical or personal effects insurance - but many parents may not actually want or need the cover.

The tactic - dubbed 'inertia selling' by critics - is among a range being deployed by independent schools as they fight to make ends meet, according to experts.

Schools are increasingly hiring lawyers to chase unpaid fees or, as a last resort, expelling children if their parents fail to pay up, it emerged.

Growing numbers are allowing their buildings and grounds to be used for weddings or summer schools, while others are aggressively marketing themselves abroad to tap into a lucrative international market.

According to the Good Schools Guide, parents must be alert to the possibility of hidden extras being added to their bills. 

Researchers for the guide have calculated that extras such as uniform, lunches, sports tours, music tuition, books, insurance and membership of Old Boys' or Old Girls' clubs can add five to 15 per cent to the quoted fees.

Added extras: Some private schools are charging parents for books

Some costs - such as lunches - were traditionally covered by the main fee but schools are now putting them on bills as extra charges.

Schools are also increasingly asking parents to pay up to £1,000 for a school-specific laptop, it emerged.

Many of these 'extras' are optional but parents are subtly encouraged to pay, said the guide's regional editor Sue Fieldman.

'Parents should pick through their bills 'with a fine-toothed comb', she warned.

'We have noticed an increasing tendency to pop in items with a footnote saying that "unless you notify the school and deduct the amounts mentioned, it will automatically be charged to you", in other words inertia selling. 

'Examples are the Old Boys/Girls Society and your "contribution" to charities. Do not be shy about deducting these sums from your cheque,' she said.

'Insurance needs particular care. Often policies are taken out automatically unless you say otherwise.'

Many schools, particularly boarding schools, offer parents at least four different types of insurance.

These include policies for medical treatment if the pupil has an accident or falls ill at school, dental treatment and the loss of pupils' personal effects. 

Some also try to sell school fees insurance that returns a proportion of fees paid if a child falls ill and misses education.

But parents may be able to find the same cover cheaper elsewhere, use their own existing insurance, such as home contents, or do without it altogether, said Mrs Fieldman.

'We know of sickness policies on offer, for example, that only pay up once the child has been ill for at least eight days, but don’t pay up for illnesses lasting longer than a term,' she said.

'Of course schools are looking after the interests of the child but they earn commission on all these policies. The more they can sell the more they earn. 

'All schools are looking to maximise their income. If they feel it can be maximised by these sorts of policies, they will try and sell them.

'But 95 per cent of parents pay them without giving them a second thought.'

Meanwhile schools often charge parents for books over and above basic textbooks even though they can be bought second-hand or borrowed from libraries.

Mrs Fieldman said: '"Extras" can add between five to 15 per cent to the bill. Parents need to take great care in comparing fees between schools. Some schools quote an all-in fee, while others seem cheaper but have a huge number of unavoidable extra costs. 

'The Good Schools Guide advises all parents to always check carefully what is included in the basic school fees and get a full breakdown of the extras.'

There is also evidence that schools are becoming more proactive at chasing up unpaid fees. There are fears that the worst effects of the recession are yet to come, since schools took several years to recover from the last downturn in the early 1990s.

Lawyers Veale Wasbrough, which help schools with fee recovery, have observed a sharp rise in the number of active claims brought by schools against parents.

The 'unprecedented' rise was a direct result of the financial climate, it said.

Schools were advised at a recent seminar hosted by law firm Wilsons to consider a range of measures including making staff part-time, merging with other schools and making the most of their buildings to use as wedding venues.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251245/Private-schools-charging-parents-string-hidden-charges-battle-recession.html#ixzz0fib8ZsTh

Private school fees inflation - an ('orrible) ode

Do you know the impact of inflation on your child’s school fees

These statistics are quite scary; they could bring you to your knees

In the past school fee inflation has exceed RPI

By a rather gruesome margin, every year, and that is why

If you pay, 10 grand in school fees every year for the next six

Inflation at just 5 percent, could still leave you in a fix.

Multiplying 10 by 6 just does not tell it like it is

The effect of annual compounding, means it is much worse than this

10 times 6 just equals sixty – everybody knows this well

But the impact of inflation could put you in finance hell

5 percent for six whole years on your 10 grand will mount up quick

Here – I’ll do the calculation – the result will make you sick!

5% inflation over six years means your bill will be

Not the sixty grand you thought but £71,420

If you’d like some help from us to do these rather complex sums

Come to allaboutallaboutschoolfees.comschoolfees.com we make it easy for Dads and Mums

Private school fees planning - it helps the schools as well!

Its a been a long few days!  We are contacting independent schools and telling them about the site but what many hadn't seemed to grasp is that private school fees planning helps them as well as parents.  Parents use a site like allaboutschoolfees.com to create bespoke fee and savings schedules and realize:

• Private school fees aren't as expensive as they might have thought
• A long term savings plan can dramatically reduce the cash required to pay for private school fees
• The costs might seem daunting but its better to know and plan than simply assume it'll be ok.

I still feel we have a way to go to get this seemingly obvious point across but I'm not giving up yet.  Wish me luck!

Private school fees advertising

 We're considering placing an advert in the upcoming Daily Telegraph Independent Schools supplement to raise awareness for our private school fees planning site, allaboutschoolfees.com.  What do you think, dear readers? Let us know via our email (I can't post it there or we'll be spammed!)

Back to school and back to budgets...

The snow is finally thawing and the kids are all back at school, it feels like the new year can start properly now.

We have been doing a lot of work on schools advertising media.  Is the best value via printed press which is expensive but widely read or on-line  media, much cheaper but with a more tightly defined and smaller audience?

I feel that the trend is inexorably towards the on-line world, but perhaps the ads that will really work will be those carried online by the big media players, eg a placement in the Daily Telegraph on-line.  Its obviously too early to tell, but its crucial for school fees sites like allaboutschoolfees.com which have a very tightly defined market audience of parents and IFAs.

I suspect that main trends will start of emerge as we move through 2010 and that by the end of the year the early winners, and losers, will start to come through.