Fees & Bursaries 2024 / 2025

VAT on school fees update

Monkton recognises the financial challenges that families may face, particularly with the introduction of VAT to school fees. In order to share the burden and demonstrate our commitment to the wellbeing of our community, Monkton will be ensuring that the headline fee cost to parents will not rise more than 10%.

What the government is planning:

• From January 2025, we expect to have to add VAT at 20% to your bill for all fees for children in Reception and above;
• The government is also removing our relief on business rates from April 2025.

What Monkton is planning in response:

• From January 2025, we are committed to ensuring that the cost to parents of the headline fee currently presented on our website will not rise more than 10%; 
• There may be a small part of our provision which remains exempt from VAT and we will clarify this once the legislation is confirmed;
• Whilst we are responding to rising costs, we are committed to the quality of our provision; some of which is optional, such as trips. Any changes we make to these extra provisions will be to deliver our aims more effectively and not be connected to VAT.

Uncertainties

• The exact date when the policy will be put into effect is uncertain.
• It is not yet determined if there will be exceptions for children with special educational needs (SEND) or for military families receiving the Continuity in Education Allowance.

All school fees must be settled in full by the first day of the term, unless paid by monthly Direct Debit. Any payment plans that deviate from this must be approved in writing in advance by the Director of Finance.

We strongly encourage all parents to make payments via direct debit. To set up a termly or monthly mandate for the 2024/25 academic year, please get in touch with our finance department at [email protected] or sign up using the link below:

https://www.monktoncombeschool.com/admissions/fees-bursaries/fee-payments

A fee of £10 will be charged for any Direct Debit returned to the School unpaid. Additionally, late payments will incur interest as outlined below.

Interest will be charged on outstanding amounts at a rate of 3% per year above the Bank of England base rate. Unless otherwise specified in writing, this interest will accumulate on a daily basis from the due date until the actual payment of the overdue account.

If you have any further questions or require assistance, please don't hesitate to contact our billing department at [email protected].

In Year 6 the day fee includes one midweek boarding night per term.  In Year 7 and 8 day fee includes three midweek boarding nights per term. These are subject to availability and include breakfast, activity* and supper,  Monday to Friday. It is preferred that these are taken in one block of up to 3 nights, in order to bring more stability to boarding life. Alternatively, these can be taken on a regular weekday evening each week for a half or full term, with an additional charge for any extra nights past the included three per term. For all other boarding nights a fee of £80⁺ per night is charged.

*Some activities and weekend trips have additional charges

⁺Subject to availability and for weeknights only

Parents' contracts for music and LAMDA lessons are almost always directly with the individual teachers rather than with the school, therefore we are unable to put this charge on the school bill. We believe that this gives our pupils the best value for money and allows us to offer a broad range of instruments. If parents wish to stop their music lessons they should inform the music teacher with at least half a term's notice.

The EAL charge is for the standard provision in each year group; there may be an additional charge for bespoke 1:1 lessons where necessary to enable access to our mainstream curriculum.

Please note that our fees are inclusive of costs that apply to all pupils, including textbooks (unless lost or not returned in time), all meals and transport to School fixtures. In common with many other independent schools, the fees do not include external examination charges. In the case of boarding pupils, the fee also includes laundry (except dry cleaning) and most weekend activities and trips. We endeavour to keep extra charges to a minimum, but will charge as extra costs that are specific to individuals or groups of pupils and which are non-compulsory, for example:

• Certain materials required for practical subjects or hobbies (eg Art and DT)
• School publication
• Hire of musical instruments and cost of music accessories/sheet music
• Theatre and other curriculum related trips
• LAMDA lessons
• Transport and escort charges for dental/medical appointments
• Activity trip

Monkton is committed to our boarding ethos, believing that children benefit from stronger relationships with peers and teachers when they are able to spend longer in school in a wider range of contexts. Whilst this costs more to provide, it supports our pupils to build much greater independence and resilience.

All of our pupils are part of a boarding house, cared for by married couples as House Parents and supported by a 1:1 tutor. This is a critical part of our pastoral care and ethos, and the life of the school and house goes on well beyond a normal school day. All pupils are encouraged to be fully involved in all aspects of school life. 

This is reflected in our fees to ensure every pupil feels part of their house and is why we refer to them as Day Boarders. Whilst some schools make supplementary charges for compulsory lunch, at Monkton Day Boarders are fully provided for within our fee and are able to stay for all meals, including breakfast and supper, as well as prep and other activities in the evening at no extra cost.

• *Weekly boarding is available Monday to Friday night. Saturday and Sunday nights are billed as additional nights at £90 a night
• Weekly Boarding is available for up to 2 years. 
• Occasional Boarding is subject to availability and billed at £90 per night
• For day boarders that would like to try staying overnight, we offer 3-night boarding for one term only as a part of the journey into boarding. This is only available to day boarders, the three nights must be consecutive weekday nights and is subject to availability. The fee rates for 3 night boarding are:
  • Y9 - Y11 £11,350 per term
  • Y12 - Y13 £11,790 per term
• The Day boarder fee includes one boarding taster week of up to 5 nights plus two other tasters of up to two nights each in the year.

Exeat Weekends: 

Boarders wishing to remain in Senior School for Exeat weekends will be charged £130 for the weekend.

Parents' contracts for music and LAMDA lessons are almost always directly with the individual teachers rather than with the school, therefore we are unable to put this charge on the school bill. We believe that this gives our pupils the best value for money and allows us to offer a broad range of instruments. If parents wish to stop their music lessons they should inform the music teacher with at least half a term's notice.

The EAL charge is for the standard provision in each year group; there may be an additional charge for bespoke 1:1 lessons where necessary to enable access to our mainstream curriculum.

Our fees are inclusive of costs that apply to all pupils, including textbooks (unless lost or not returned in time), all meals and transport to School fixtures.  In common with many other independent schools, the fees do not include external examination charges.  In the case of boarding pupils, the fee also includes laundry (except dry cleaning) and most weekend activities and trips. We endeavour to keep extra charges to a minimum, but will charge as extra costs that are specific to individuals or groups of pupils, for example:

• All Year 9 pupils joining the School will be required to rent a School Chromebook from the School at a charge of £55 a term for their time in Years 9 to 11       
• Certain materials required for practical subjects or hobbies (eg Art and DT)
• School publications
• Hire of musical instruments and cost of music accessories/sheet music
• Theatre and other curriculum related trips
• Special activities in one week at the end of Summer Term (mainly Years 9 and 11)
• Rowing club subscription, regatta costs etc
• CCF camp and lost kit
• Pearce Centre membership and activities (Years 12 and 13 only)
• Transport and escort charges for dental/medical appointments

Registration Fee

When your register there is a £125 non-refundable fee to pay

Visa Compliance Admin Fee

For those students with a school sponsored VISA there is an additional termly charge of £125 to cover the school's administration costs.

Deposit

A deposit is payable before entry to confirm acceptance of the offer of a place. The deposit is refundable after the first term of education and will be offset against the final term’s account. The deposit is non-refundable if the pupil does not start their education at Monkton. 

When transferring from Prep to Senior, only the balance between the deposit paid at Prep and the deposit due at Senior is payable, although the full amount is forfeited if your child does not take up a place at the Senior School. 

Fee Reviews

Fees are usually reviewed annually with changes generally taking place for the Michaelmas term. Any fee increases are notified to parents at least one term in advance.

Cash Advances

The School cannot advance cash to pupils or purchase personal items on their behalf. Parents are requested to ensure that pupils have sufficient cash for their needs including travelling and for interviews etc.

There are a limited number of small endowment funds which provide bursaries to enable pupils who meet certain specified criteria to come to Monkton who would otherwise be unable to do so on financial grounds. A limited number of bursaries are also offered each year, out of School funds, with the level of assistance offered being means-tested and dependent on completion and assessment of a full confidential statement of financial circumstances (CSFC). There is no fixed limit to the level of assistance provided in any single case, although typically bursary support is not more than a third of annual fees and financially there is a total limit to the amount of assistance that can be offered to pupils in any one year. Higher priority is given to children of clergy or missionaries, or where special circumstances give rise to a particularly deserving case, alongside those that are Boarding and at the Senior School. It is currently very unusual for bursary assistance to be granted to any day pupils.

Any family needing such assistance should notify the Admissions Team at the earliest opportunity and no later than the point of registration.  Applications made after this point will not be considered in the first year of joining the school.

10 February 2025 – An application received between 29 October 2024 and this date will be notified of the outcome at the end of the Lent Term (by or on 28 March 2025). 

To make a bursary application for 2025/26 please contact [email protected]

Please note, the bursary application deadlines for the 2024/25 academic year have now passed but please contact the team if you wish to make an out of cycle application, applicable for the Lent 2025 term onwards.

For parents who are eligible for a Continuity in Education Allowance (CEA), we are pleased to offer a 20% discount from September 2024. This discount is offered only to boarders. Please also note that where a sibling discount or other discount is awarded, the School reserves the right to subsume the discount into the discount.

Sibling discounts are applicable where a family has two or more children in the School at any one time from Reception year upwards and where the family is not in receipt of a bursary or other fee remission assistance, with the exception of scholarship awards. Discounts available will be 5% for the second child in the School at any one time, 10% for the third and 15% for the fourth (or more) child(ren) in the School at any one time.