What to Ask a School Before You Accept a Place

A school sends an offer on Tuesday, asks for a deposit by Friday and says your child can join in the autumn. You may be close to choosing, but a few details still decide whether the place will work. Which campus will your child attend? What time does the bus arrive? Can the school deliver the adjustment your child relies on? Ask about those things while you still have a choice and get the answers in a form you can refer to later.

Read the offer as a set of practical commitments

Check the child’s name, campus, year group, proposed start date and how long the place is being held. Ask which conditions remain and who confirms that they are satisfied. A place can depend on a document, an assessment, a visa or your address. Find out what happens if the family’s arrival is delayed, and which date would trigger a different intake, an additional fee or the loss of a place. Where more than one child is joining, confirm that you have an offer for each.

Ask for the terms that apply to the payment you are being asked to make. Write down what the deposit secures, when it is due and when it can be refunded or carried over. Check the full charges for tuition, examinations, school meals, transport, trips, technology, uniform and additional support where they apply. Ask for the notice requirements and what happens if the child needs to leave before the end of a term. Include the costs and the relevant dates in the household’s move budget.

Walk through a day from the gate onwards

1. Arrival. Ask what time pupils can enter, who receives a new pupil, and what to do if you arrive late. Follow the route from the proposed bus stop or drop-off point.
2. Lessons. Ask to see a timetable for the relevant year. Check teaching languages, how homework is set and which subjects or activities the child can choose this year.
3. Lunch and break. Find out how meals work, where children go during breaks and who can help if a child has a concern. Ask who manages any dietary or medical arrangements relevant to your child.
4. Pickup and clubs. Confirm the usual finish and the arrangements on days when clubs run. Ask how the school verifies a change to the person collecting your child.
5. Home communication. Ask which messages come through an app, how parents are contacted in an urgent situation and how to get help if you do not understand a message.

If the school can arrange a visit, take your child and let them ask a question that matters to them. One child wants to see the sports field, another wants to know where they can go if they feel overwhelmed. You can observe how staff respond without asking for a guarantee about how the child will feel. If you are abroad and cannot visit, ask someone at the school to talk you through a typical day on a video call. Request a copy of the routine and bring it to a visit before the first day if possible.

Speak to the person who would deliver the support

If the child needs language support, access arrangements, a specific timetable or a regular health procedure, bring a short description of how it works now. Ask to speak to the person who organises it. Explain what happens on a normal day, what the child does independently and which part needs staff involvement. Ask who delivers the support, how it is funded, how the school manages staff absence and when you can review the arrangement. A useful answer connects the school’s policy to the child’s classroom, timetable and start date.

Ask which documents can be shared in advance and how the school accepts personal information. If it needs reports from a previous school or provider, find out who can receive them and how to identify any missing details before arrival. Request written confirmation of any arrangement that would affect whether the child can attend. If there is an assessment to complete first, ask when it will happen and what that means for the place while you wait.

• Who should your child speak to if they need help during the first week?
• How will staff know which lessons or topics the child has already studied?
• Which changes can a teacher make straight away, and which need someone else’s agreement?
• Who will contact you about attendance, learning or concerns after the child starts?

Check the evidence that applies to this school

Find the education authority and inspection or accreditation information relevant to the school. The Department for Education publishes inspection reports for schools accredited through its voluntary British Schools Overseas scheme. If a school says it is accredited, check the entry, the campus and the date of the report. Read the parts that bear on your child, then ask what has changed since it was written. A report and a conversation can answer different questions about the year and class your child will join.

If the child is working towards qualifications, ask for the awarding body and the exact subjects available for their intake. Confirm which exams the school can arrange and what happens if they join after a course has started. For younger children, ask about routine transitions, approaches to play and how a teacher will help them feel part of the class. Check whether a conversation with the relevant teacher can happen before you accept or in the run-up to the first day.

Decide which answers you need before Friday

Ask who will support the child after induction ends. A school can tell you how many pupils join in the middle of the year, how they are introduced to their classmates and how quickly a parent can speak to a teacher about a problem. Ask how staff share information when the child moves between subjects or rooms. If there is a regular meeting after the first weeks, put it in your calendar and ask what you should bring. You can agree which observations from home would be useful.

Check whether the arrival arrangement depends on a parent being available for part of the first week. Confirm any shorter days, first appointments or required purchases, and compare them with your own work start.

Imagine Erin has an offer at a school that would work for the family if their child can use the early bus. They check the route and find the bus is full for the first month. The school can offer a later service, but that would clash with Erin’s work. Before paying the deposit, the family asks about a second stop, prices temporary transport and finds out how the deposit is treated if their plans change. They can now compare the offer with a school closer to home using figures and timings they can actually use.

Keep a short list of essentials, who confirmed each one and where the confirmation is saved. Mark the remaining questions and the date you need the answer. If a condition is still open, ask for more time or price an alternative that your household could manage. Once you accept, put the start date, remaining documents, arrival routine and first check-in in the calendar. Share the details with the people who will get the child to school and help them settle.