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Our Fees in Advance Scheme offers an opportunity to reduce the overall cost of your child’s education by making a lump sum payment to the school, in exchange for termly credits applied at a discounted rate.
In return for an upfront payment, parents receive termly fee credits for an agreed number of terms. The payment amount is calculated using a commutation rate, currently 3.0%, which reflects the discount applied to the total value of those credits.
The scheme operates by parents buying a credit against future invoices at a discounted amount. These two examples show how parents can benefit from the scheme:
Parent/guardian pays the majority of school fees in advance:
Full Duration Payment:
A lump sum of £114,273 provides £6,000 credit per term for 21 terms, effectively saving 9.31% over the period.
Each term, parents will receive a standard invoice showing the full fees. The Finance Department will then confirm the adjusted amount payable based on the credits applied.
Parent/guardian pays the minimum qualifying amount:
Minimum Entry (Nine Terms):
A lump sum of £51,910.07 covers £6,000 per term for nine terms, resulting in an effective saving of 3.87%.
The parents will receive an invoice each term showing the full fees. The Finance Department will then contact parents each term to confirm the actual payment due.
For all enquiries and to receive a personalised and accurate quote for the Fees in Advance scheme, please complete the below form.
Unfortunately not. As we do not know what tuition fees will be in the future, we are unable to guarantee that you will have nothing more to pay. The fees in advance scheme also only covers tuition and boarding fees; you will still have to pay extras (like music lessons or trips) on a termly basis.
Banking regulations mean that we are unable to refund fees paid in advance other than under clauses (14) to (16) of the following terms and conditions. This effectively means we can only refund fees if your child leaves the School.
Fees paid in advance form part of the general unrestricted reserves of the School, the School is therefore free to used fees paid in advance as it sees fit. However, as a general rule fees paid in advance are held in a separate bank account from the School’s general account and an amount is then released to general funds at the start of each term.
As the law is currently written, VAT is due on a taxable supply of a service at the earlier of the service being provided or payment being made. If the fees in advance scheme is used, the time of supply would be time that cash is received into the School’s bank; and under current legislation that means VAT would not be due. If VAT does get added to school fees in the future and the time of supply rules are not changed, VAT would not be due on the amounts paid in advance. Parents could therefore potentially save the cost of the additional VAT by paying in advance.
However, if VAT is added to school fees at some point in the future it is also possible that the time of supply rules could be changed at the same time. If VAT does become chargeable, the School will have to pass this on to parents regardless of fees having been paid in advance. There is therefore a risk that either way parents will be liable for VAT at some point in the future.
The School is unable to provide legal or taxation advice on whether using the fees in advance scheme is appropriate for parents. We recommend that parents obtain appropriate advice from an accountant or solicitor before opting to make a lump sum payment.
Yes; however, we may need to undertake further checks to confirm the relationship with the student and the source of the funds.
Yes; there is a minimum limit of £30,000. This amount is the minimum to be paid to the Schools and is the amount after the discount has been applied.