For many parents, this is a very difficult time. The cost of living, coupled with VAT on school fees is making private school extremley expensive.
The number of children at independant schools has fallen by 30,000 since January 2025.
Parents of children at schools governed by the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) sign contracts with the Trust when they enrol their children.
These contracts impose strict conditions and penalties, which can amount to many thousands of pounds.
Parents are having to pay huge sums of money if they withdraw their children from a GDST school without providing the requisite notice. This is causing enormous financial distress and anxiety at the most difficult and disruptive time for parents.
We of course understand that schools need to be able to plan properly, but we believe that the penalties which GDST are imposing on parents are grossly disproportionate and unfair.
Furthermore, we suspect that the GDST has intergrated the fees from fines into its core business model, incentivising the Trust to show as little discretion and leniency as possible, making life as difficult as possible for parents – often when they are at their most financially vulnerable.