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Private school parents told they will not be issued refunds for closures due to charity law

Parents will not be issued with refunds
Parents will not be issued with refunds

Private school parents have been told that they will not be issued fee refunds for this term due to charity law, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Independent schools, along with their state counterparts, have been ordered to close until at least February half-term, as part of the national lockdown.

But unlike the previous period of school closures last Spring, where many institutions issued parents fee reductions, it is understood that no such rebates will be issued this time.

Headteachers have told families that due to charity law, they are unable to issue refunds for invoices which have already been issued and paid.

“The vast majority of private schools are charities,” said Christopher King, chief executive of the Independent Prep School Association.

“Most of our schools, prior to introduction of lockdown, will have already issued their invoice for this term. As charities they are not allowed to withdraw an invoice that has been issued. So if there is to be any consideration on the fees, it will have to wait, due to charity law, until the summer bill is issued.”

He said that the exception is for boarding schools, where there may be some cost savings on boarding and meals which can be passed on to parents.

Last year, schools were ordered to close on March 23, shortly before the Easter holiday. This meant that invoices had not yet been issued for the summer term and so parents had considerable leverage when they demanded that their fees should be reduced for the final term of the year.

Schools are closed under current lockdown restrictions
Schools are closed under current lockdown restrictions

It was only during the Easter holidays that private schools started billing parents for the summer term, which prompted a backlash from parents who argued that they should not have to pay the full price since schools are closed.

At the time, many bursars bowed to pressure and agreed to reduce their fees despite the fact that their finances were under pressure due to a collapse in the overseas student market prompted by the pandemic.

But Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association, said there is less of a clamour among parents for fee discounts this time around.

“We have had quite an effective switch to remote teaching,” he said. “The experience of the first lockdown means schools are on the whole better prepared.”

“There is a lot more confidence in the quality of what is being done now, partly because parents have seen what is possible and there is more experience in doing it. Last lockdown was a real learning curve. Schools now have all that expertise and experience banked.”

A poll by the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, and Public First last April ground that pupils at private schools were more than twice as likely to receive daily online tuition than their state educated peers.

At private schools, 51 per cent of primary and 57 per cent of secondary students have accessed online lessons every day, compared to just 19 per cent of state primary and 22 per cent of state secondary students.

Mr Eliott Lockhart added that even if parents were to ask for a discount this term, it would not be possible. "If you have already sent out the invoice, or fees have already been received, under charity law you wouldn't be able to return the money unless you were not providing services you were contracted to deliver,” he said.

“If schools are providing the learning online, you wouldn’t be able to change the fees. What a lot of schools also did last year was freeze fees for this academic year so effectively fees are already reduced. Schools have already done a significant amount to reduce the burden on the fee payer.”

Guidance published by the Charity Commission last April said that any decision to reduce fees must be made in the best interests of the charity.

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