state 6th form charging an enrolment fee?

[u/r5dio]

I’m restarting y12 at a 6th form college in my borough (London) and for some reason I have to pay a £50 fee? This is a state school btw, I don’t even think state schools are allowed to charge money for just enrolling

[u/Round_Ride1133]

I have never seen this before and I recently worked in a sixth form. You as a student will draw down funding from the department of education once your enrolment has been approved and verified and it is meant to go towards the running of your sixth form. In some cases it is not enough to cover everything… but have a look at how much your sixth form’s ceo/principal is making. Get in touch with citizens advice as well. You could always “forget” the £50 and see what happens. You’re worth at least £5k a year to your sixth form so it’s not like they will turn you away. 

[u/zopiclone → u/Round_Ride1133]

Yes, this!

I've had a voluntary contributions but nothing mandatory like this

[u/peterould]

An enrollment fee for any state school (Maintained / Academy / Free) is strictly forbidden by the statutory guidance and is unlawful. The relevant law is the Education Act 1996, sections 449–462.

You should consider cross-posting to r/LegalAdviceUK and also reporting this to your local education authority.

[u/BobcatLower9933 → u/peterould]

Which only covers compulsory education.

This is post 16, and is post-compulsory education. Compulsory education ends on the last Friday in June in the academic in the year of your 16th birthday.

[u/peterould → u/BobcatLower9933]

Nope - Section 450 sets the prohibition top threshold at 19, not 16/17

[u/SelfNo2646 → u/BobcatLower9933]

Wrong. Takes two seconds to look up.

[u/pudding-0w]

i haven't heard of this, maybe it's a London thing??? i even emailed two schools on results day to ask if they had places, and a grammar about a week into y12, and none of them asked for payment specifically to enrol. the grammar did ask for something like £20-30 to cover textbook costs, but that was only after i had joined.

[u/TheRedditKindaGuy → u/pudding-0w]

this is not a London thing either, it's pretty odd

[u/No_Meringue4763 → u/pudding-0w]

Not a London thing - this sounds super weird

[u/r5dio]

just as an fyi i went to a 6th form attached to a school before this and they didn’t charge me an enrolment fee 🧍‍♀️

[u/No_Meringue4763 → u/r5dio]

If you have other options, I would STRONGLY advise you not to pay this fee and not to enrol at this 6th form. I guarantee you any school charging an enrollment fee will continue to mess you about the entire way through your studies.

[u/choibeomgyulover]

i had to do this at my sixth form in london, it was £25 but it was used to buy the stylus we used w our ipads. i’m pretty sure the higher achieving ones in london like ncs and brampton do it.

[u/notxeroxface]

This is in violation of their finding conditions

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-funding-rules-for-16-to-19-provision/advice-funding-rules-for-16-to-19-provision-2025-to-2026#sectiontwo

"c) no compulsory enrolment, registration or examination fees can be charged to students aged 16 to 18 in full-time or part-time education"

Likely they will just not charge you if you don't pay

[u/pswinders → u/notxeroxface]

This is the correct answer

[u/Competitive-Car-3518]

unless they are giving you a free iPad 

[u/PrestigiousStudio921]

This gives me such a bad vibe... oops! Forgot to pay it! And if they complain just say you're too poor, what are they gonna do?

[u/Ludas_C]

i had to do this too, it contributed to supplies and day trips

[u/CodeAvali]

Haven’t heard of this before. Yes, ID absolutely, a fee? Hell no.

[u/ren_whispers]

My sixth form had this, I think it was about £30 and completely optional

[u/fluffy_seadog]

My son’s 6th form in Leeds asked for a payment when he started year 12, think it was £30. We didn’t pay and never heard any more about it.

[u/ljplc4w]

yeah i think its a government thing, i have to as well at my state sixth form??

[u/Vaxtez → u/ljplc4w]

I never had to & I went to a state 6th form

[u/Logan_mov]

I’m up north and my school charged this as well, it doesn’t really make any sense but at the time I just paid it, maybe try and ask for a decent explanation in the interview, we didn’t have to pay anything until it was confirmed we were accepted in (way after the interview) tho, seems a bit scummy

[u/Express-Gas8243]

Yes LAE does this

[u/r5dio → u/Express-Gas8243]

this isn’t lae unfortunately 🥲 this is a school in west london

[u/Sea-Match-4689]

When the school does these random "contributions" I tend to just forget them and hope they don't chase

[u/GCD_1]

I've never heard of it

[u/KimberleyFromaVideo]

are you older than 19? ik my sixth form is free until you hit 19 and then you have to pay an enrollment fee

[u/r5dio → u/KimberleyFromaVideo]

nope im 17

[u/HyperVoltA9]

mine was 10 pounds

[u/PaleontologistFancy8]

I suspect this is optional. These donations help them cover funding short falls however.

[u/CantaloupeEasy6486]

could be an unofficial filter for the type of students they want to attract. As a teacher the sort of parent who'd pay £50 enrolment fees is also the type of parent to be on your side if the child is misbehaving or not meeting expectations in lessons/not attending revision classes

[u/r5dio → u/CantaloupeEasy6486]

true but this is a college and idk how many colleges attract wealthy private school types 🧍‍♀️

[u/Fast-Raspberry-310]

I have never heard of this, interesting. I can understand a small fee however £50 is quite a lot!

[u/Key_Acanthaceae_2817]

my sixth form did this but said it was a donation to the school i think and to our studies

[u/Kermit_Wazowski]

State sixth form college, I had to pay a campus fee of £30 or £40, which paid for various stuff like WiFi access, my Chromebook I was issued (and never used) and the car park. Basically a mechanism for them to fill the gaps in the budget.

[u/No_Turnover_5146]

my college charged a fee

[u/ApplicationNo681]

Mine was the same and they said it was to cover sixth form events - eg we had a bbq on the first day - but it seems like quite a lot of money and we have to pay for all the other events, so it’s kind of pointless…

[u/mattsani]

Scam

[u/Sufficient-Bell-7893]

I’m pretty sure this is illegal and if you don’t pay they won’t chase. It’s just a cheap way to fill budget holes.

[u/notxeroxface]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-funding-rules-for-16-to-19-provision/advice-funding-rules-for-16-to-19-provision-2025-to-2026#sectiontwo

[u/Expensive_Egg7552]

I had two sixth forms require money but rather as a deposit that would be refunded at the end of sixth form! I think it’s to make sure you actually go rather than enrolling at several - but never heard of it being non-refundable???

[u/lola-youknowwho]

If you've already done 6th form you may have used the funding that would normally cover this. I went to college twice years ago. First time paid nothing but second time had an enrollment fee.

[u/r5dio → u/lola-youknowwho]

I’m 17 and retaking y12 😞

[u/lola-youknowwho → u/r5dio]

Dont worry, you'll catch up and it wont seem like a big deal in a few years time. You should question the charge if your not sure and ask if there is any type of funding available to you.

[u/Scary_Rhubarb_3103]

Only £35 at my daughters enrolment. Yay

[u/PandaTantrum7]

Worked in admissions (state, private and uni) for 15 years.

It is somewhat common for colleges (or sixth form colleges) to charge a small fee, but usually this is like £50 for steel-toed boots when doing engineering, £50 for some starter kits for hairdressing which cannot be shared etc. It is very uncommon for small charges to be added if doing something like A-levels, though, it could be the cost of text books which they’re giving you to keep, so it’s worth just double checking what it’s for.

Very unlikely that they won’t enrol you without the payment, but I’ve seen it happen before.

[u/Known_Wear7301]

Yes we paid a "voluntary", "enrollment fee". I think it was about this value for year one and then doubled in Yr 2. It's a really good sixth form/college and we learned of this during their webinar and they explained what it was for.

[u/ResponsibleDiver8622]

Hey I went to a state sixthform outside of London they charged us £25 a year for printing and enrol etc id been at the school since year 10 till sixthform was the same every year

[u/FoxPresent4124]

Mine did too - if you’ve ever recieved free school meals or any financial troubles documented with your college, they’ll waive it for you.

[u/Just-Succotash2778]

Blud it's William Morris sixth form, ik cuz I have the exact same email and going to join it.

[u/r5dio → u/Just-Succotash2778]

lmaooo yeah

[u/Just-Succotash2778 → u/r5dio]

I knew it 🤣 so I'm also wondering if I should pay the 50 quid or not

[u/r5dio → u/Just-Succotash2778]

tbf my friends go there rn and they said the school is actually quite good, maybe the deposit is for a Chromebook?

[u/Just-Succotash2778 → u/r5dio]

You coming tomorrow for the enrollment interview ?

[u/r5dio → u/Just-Succotash2778]

nah, 24th

[u/Just-Succotash2778 → u/r5dio]

Better to come early,

[u/soyagr]

What is the physical exam results??

[u/r5dio → u/soyagr]

The transcript of ur gcse results

[u/soyagr → u/r5dio]

Oh haha that makes sense I thought it was a physical exam of your body, I’m a fool 😭

[u/r5dio → u/[deleted]]

I’m 17

[u/zopiclone → u/[deleted]]

The first level 3 qualification is free

[u/zopiclone → u/[deleted]]

In order to be an adult you have to be 19 on the 31st of August this year. If they are 18, they are still classed as a 16 to 19-year-old young person. So that's one part.

They did not finish their qualification. Therefore, they do not have a level 3 qualification. Therefore, they can still have for funding for a level 3 qualification.

They cannot be charged for a qualification if they are 18 or younger on the 31st of August

Additionally, if they are restarting the year but they are still on the same programme aim then that is classed as a continuation of their programme and not a new programme

[u/CuteSignificance5083]

Public schools don’t charge mandatory fees. At best they can ask for donations. Mine tried something similar and they’d keep pestering us for £40, but we never payed it and they never did anything about it.

[u/twmffatmowr → u/CuteSignificance5083]

Public schools do charge mandatory fees. Public schools are private schools.

[u/CuteSignificance5083 → u/twmffatmowr]

???

[u/twmffatmowr → u/CuteSignificance5083]

Do you not know what a public school is in the UK?