What is School Fee Plan and what are the benefits to parents and the school?

School Fee Plan enables a unique form of budgeting for both the school and for parents.

The school relies on fees being paid termly, which School Fee Plan continues to offer to school. What is unique, is that School Fee Plan looks for a monthly payment from parents.

So parents benefit from the ability to budget monthly, while the school benefits from the ability to budget termly.

Can you explain how fees typically work at Ackworth?

The fee structure at Ackworth is termly.

The introduction of the 0% School Fee Plan offer is attracting much attention from our parents. We now see a significant number of parents who would prefer to budget more effectively on a monthly basis rather than a termly basis.

We see many of those parents moving across to School Fee Plan in the forthcoming academic year.

As a finance professional, do you view School Fee Plan as a smart option for parents?

I think School Fee Plan is a smart option for our parents. It allows them to better absorb some of the significant changes in the independent sector, particularly the additional VAT on fees.

All of our families have experienced a substantial uplift in their school fees, especially those with more than one child.

Not having to find an entire term’s worth of fees all at once and being able to spread that throughout the year, makes family financial planning so much more straightforward.

For most families, their other outgoings are monthly, and school fees are usually the exception. Bringing them into line with the rest of the family budget, whether that’s over 10 or 12 months, and making them part of that same monthly planning process, just makes life so much easier for our families.

How do your parents experience the introduction and onboarding process of School Fee Plan?

Parents who already use School Fee Plan find the process of signing up very straightforward. They also like the administrative support that comes from the company. In terms of new families they also find the process of being introduced very straightforward.

School Fee Plan is very flexible, how do most of your parents use the service?

When parents sign up with School Fee Plan, our experience is that they continue to use it. They like the service, appreciate the convenience, and do not want to give it up once they have started.

Not all parents sign up initially. Some discover the service through the school or talking to other parents, and some parents only sign up once they start to get larger school fee bills such as a second or third child.

But irrespective of what point they choose to sign up; they stay with School Fee Plan for the rest of the time at school.

Can you describe a recent example where School Fee Plan has been used and valued by parents?

With the introduction of VAT, a number of parents have found it difficult to work out how they would manage a fee increase in the region of 20%.

When we have discussed options with those parents recently, pointing them in the direction of School Fee Plan has given them the confidence that they can remain with the school.

They can remain in the independent sector, and we have new parents signing up for School Fee Plan for September 2025.

What questions do parents ask about School Fee Plan?

The first question parents will ask when they're considering using school Fee plan is: “What does it cost?”

With the new 0% offer, that question is very easy to answer. We can reassure parents that they are paying no more than they would if they were paying fees on a termly basis.

How would you describe the financial challenges facing independent schools in 2025?

In 2025, the financial challenges facing independent schools are clear.

What is quite unusual is that the sector is experiencing its third financial shock in five years. Normally, those shocks will come along every five to six years, but we have seen three in quick succession. So it's tough right now in the sector.

What are the business and operational benefits of School Fee Plan to Ackworth?

The financial benefits to the school, in business terms, are that it allows us to plan better for our next academic year. It gives us earlier clarity on retention, and greater clarity on what we think our recruitment will be.

School Fee Plan just makes our picture that bit clearer.