Parent contracts, policies and related compliance

In 1989 we made the first full analysis of the legal relationship that arises between an independent school and parents under the contract for educational services. This followed the decision of the Court of Appeal in Price -v- Dennis (1988) that a school's prospectus document sets out general principles only and is not sufficient on its own to describe the contract terms.

Within a few years many of the leading independent schools had adopted our contract forms which have been updated regularly in consultation with the Office of Fair Trading, the regulator of consumer contracts.

Our parent contract templates consist of:

• Registration form
• Letter offering a place
• Letter offering a scholarship or bursary
• Standard terms & conditions
• Acceptance form and parents' declarations.

This is the most comprehensive set of admission forms available to the sector and is in use by many hundreds of schools and regarded by them as the standard in the profession.

The process for adopting our parent contract forms is as follows:

• We examine the school's governing instrument, prospectus and existing admission forms and related pastoral care policies and procedures.
• We request information about specific changes that may be needed and we advise as to the various different ways in which the final documents can be printed and presented.
• Using our templates we produce a first draft for approval. This will reflect the school's tradition, ethos and discrete terminology as appropriate. Any further amendments are then made during the course of a meeting or by correspondence.
• We then produce a final copy which can be e-mailed or sent on disk to printers for preparation of proofs and final checking.

The new terms and conditions can then be sent to current parents as well as prospective parents explaining that they have been amended to reflect recent changes in law and practice and also to bring all the terms and conditions together in a single document for parents' convenience.  Any material changes in the terms and conditions are brought specifically to parents' attention.

While updating their parent contracts schools often ask us to review and comment on certain of their policies, including Admissions, Special Educational Needs, Anti-Bullying, and Discipline, Rewards and Sanctions.  This ensures that the policies are consistent with the admission forms.

The process we have developed over the last fifteen and more years for this work ensures that we can provide new parent contract forms very quickly and conveniently for your school.

Moreover, the track record of these terms and conditions is outstanding. They have been scrutinised by literally hundreds of governing bodies and are considered and upheld almost every week in county courts throughout the country. The relevant clauses were upheld again in the high profile case Gray -v- Marlborough College [2005].

School Fees Recovery Scheme

The Scheme handles defended as well as undefended cases. It is managed by the Scheme solicitor, Laura Trescothick and staffed by three legal assistants with combined service of more than 40 years in work for independent schools.

Please contact us for further information or to receive an indication of cost of the cost of providing or updating the parent contract, policies and procedures, and also Scheme membership.