Fees to go up at JCG and JCP

Thursday 01 August 2019

Islanders with children at Jersey College for Girls and Jersey College Preparatory school will have to pay higher school fees starting in September, followed by further increases in January and September 2020, as the schools look to grow.

From September, the fees at JCG will be £1,822 per term, rising to £1,960 per term in January 2020.

At JCP, they will be £1,761 per term from September and £1,893 per term from January 2020. This represents an increase of 7.5% from January 2020 in order to meet "anticipated costs".

The Treasury Minister, Deputy Susie Pinel, approved the fees for the 2019 to 2020 academic year proposed by the governing body. She also approved the fees for the following year which will rise to £2,058 per term at JCG and £1,988 per term at JCG - an increase of 5%.

Pictured: The new fees will be implemented from September.

The fee increase for JCG should result in additional income of £292,000 for financial year 2020 - based on a fee increase of 7.5% from Jan 2020 and a further indicative rise of 5% from Sept 2020. As for its linked prep school, it should bring in an extra £143,000.

News of the fee hike comes outside the of the usual term's notice provided to parents by the school, which the school's Chair of Governors, Karen Rankine, blamed on the government.

In an email sent to parents on 10 May, Mrs Rankine said that the Governing Body was “committed to ensuring the College is provided with the financial resource to maintain the high levels of education you have chosen and which your child receives” and had therefore requested a fee increase. 

However, she noted: “Despite meeting with the Education Minister in January, providing financial forecasts and having numerous meetings since with the Education and Treasury departments, the Governing Body is deeply frustrated that we have yet to receive approval from the Education Minister.”

Pictured: The Treasury Minister approved the increases proposed by the schools' governing body.

Questioned by Express over this at the time, a government spokesperson said that a review of the proposal was in its “final stages” and that the decision would be communicated “at the earliest opportunity". 

A decision to increase the JCG and JCP school fees for the academic years 2019-2020 and 2020-21 was signed by the Minister for Education, Senator Tracey Vallois. It  eventually ratified when the Treasury Minister also gave her approval on 18 July. Her decision was made public on 26 July on the government's website.

The fee hike comes after JCG and JCP announced ambitious growth plans.

Last year, JCG put forward proposals for the conversion two potato fields into the “best kind of classroom” – green spaces for sport, archaeology, beekeeping and growing fruit and veg.

They also submitted plans to transform Claremont Lodge, a former caretaker's cottage conveniently sited between the two schools, into a state-of-the-art music centre, featuring a band room and recording studio.

The recently-published Government Plan 2020-2023 contains plans to help fund this growth, with the government set to give the school a boost of £500,000 and £1million in 2021 and 2022 to help fund its music facilities plans.

Victoria College also requested to increase its fees. Express has asked the government whether that request has been approved, and is awaiting a response.