contract school education

[Johnboy007]

Re: contract school education

Thanks JB
Only skimmed through this AM as was on way out.
How confusing that application is.
How can an acceptance form be meaningfully signed at the same time as an application form?
As application is presumably made by post, no offer of a place could have been made when the application form is completed, so how could it be accepted?
Is it deliberately misleading to head the "acceptance form" with the words in CAPITALS: APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION
That's why I probably missed it this morning.

I'm not sure the school's grievance procedures are the way to go.
By using their formal process the op is in danger of admitting their is a contract existing between themselves and the school. I feel they would be on safer ground denying their was ever an offer and subsequent acceptance of a place for their child (I assume there was no offer of a place[probably a dangerous assumption]) and therefore no monies owing.

But I'm open to discussion

I agree Des,
If I was the OP I would just pay the £150.00, or swallow the loss if already paid.
Then I would just reply to the school, if they demand semester fees...
I will not be paying any further fees, as I have not contracted with you for anything other than the £150.00 Administration costs.

[evgeny]

Re: contract school education

Hi


Thanks, as I have explained in my previous post. We paid them 150 registration fee and 1500 pounds deposit as well as signed their application and acceptance form on the 6th of december 2013. But we where misled by head teacher oral comment that they need the deposit to increase our chances to be accepted by the school.


the school is now claiming that it has offered us a place on the 6th December, without seeing our child and without having any documents from our previous school. we have received no communication from the school since 6th of December 2013 till 30 of May 2014.


The school is now threatening to take us to the court if we will not pay them the full semester fees before 22 of August. They told us if we did not want a place we should have informed them before start of the latest semester, as per their Terms and Conditions. We are quite confused, because as we understand it we have never had an offer from them.

[evgeny]

Re: contract school education

They want us to pay for coming Autumn 2014 semester, for which we obviously will not be joining their school.

[MissFM]

Re: contract school education

evgenny,

I'm so sorry for misunderstanding earlier - please accept my apologies. I'm now up to speed and:

In your position I would ask that (demand that) the £1500 be returned. You need to be pre-emptive IMHO and spell out that:

- You, in good faith, made an enquiry as to whether your child would be accepted at the school

- You were told that you should pay £1500 on top of the admin fees to be more likely to be granted a place for your child

- As no place was offered, you have made alternative arrangements - clearly 5 months was enough time for a place to be offered if one were available. You were assured that, of course, the extra £1500 would be returned should a place not be available.

- at no point was a place either offered or accepted

- You expect the extra £1500 to be returned forthwith

- If they want to take you to court for further money - bring it on - you will counterclaim with extreme vigour

I agree with all those above that have said that you will most likely have to write off the £150 registration fee.

Good luck with this and stay strong because you really are in the right, both morally and legally

[des8]

Re: contract school education

You paid the admin fee and the deposit on 6th Dec 2013, and at that time you also signed their acceptance form.
Was this at an initial interview with the head, who now claims he offered your child a place at that time?
You however deny he made an offer, but suggested it would help your application if you paid the deposit up front before receiving the offer.
You have never received an offer in writing.

On the basis your version is correct, it suggests to me the school is losing student numbers and perhaps has financial problems.

More to the point, I find it rather odd that a school of this standing will offer a place to a child without interviewing the child and checking the information supplied.
I recall being interviewed 62 years ago, aged 8, before being accepted for a prep school. Perhaps things have changed.

IMO their forms are contradictory,
As Jb pointed out (post 7) in their Application form (page 3) it is agreed:
"We understand that the admission process is complete only upon signing the EIFA Acceptance Form and upon full payment of the applicable tuition and fees."
They invoiced you at end of May 2013, for the balance of fees for the first term.
You have not paid these, and so "full payment of the applicable tuition and fees" remains outstanding.
Whilst they are outstanding the admission process remains incomplete, and as such there is no contract.

They then to confuse the issue further the APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION(Acceptance Form)
does not actually state you are accepting a place, nor does it acknowledge a place has been offered .In fact it says "we hereby APPLY"
It goes on to state "we/I agree to pay the fees and supplemental charges when due", but they only become due when the admissions process is completed.

I think you will have to decide whether or not to call their bluff, and see if they follow up on their threat to sue.
I personally would see them in court if necessary, but this would not be everyone's choice.

[Wombats]

Re: contract school education

Personally I'd demand the £1500 by dd/mm/2014 or state you will take them through the small claims court for the money. The contract is, to my mind misleading in several areas, it tries to over-ride statute with its own Terms and Conditions which is unlawful, specifically in relation to the Data Protection Act. Finally, and most significantly, it contains a number of unfair terms which, in my opinion, a court would uphold in your favour.

There is, I think, a section on here about court action and the process of taking court action. If nobody supplies the link I can post something up to help (feel free to pm me if I forget).

Unless the school can somehow wriggle out of this by being registered in France or something, I find it almost impossible to see they have any significant merit to their case, whereas you have a lot of contract law on yours.

For a basic aid, have a look here - I've linked to the page about Unfair Terms, but you'll see there are several other pages as well which are worth a read.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/..._contracts.htm

[Wombats]

Re: contract school education

Here you go:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...all_claims.htm

[Johnboy007]

Re: contract school education

Hi,
Demand your £1500.00 back.
State that you have never had a positive offer from the school, and as such there is no offer.
Terms and conditions state....
We understand that the admission process is complete only upon signing the EIFA Acceptance Form and upon full payment of the applicable tuition and fees.
As full payment has not been made, then the admission process has not been completed, and the acceptance form is null and void.
As such, we consider your account to have been settled as per registration form.