What you will find on this page
- The four types of deposit and what they mean
- The clauses that decide the refund timeline
- Notice periods, by country and school type
- Debentures: when they matter and when they sting
- Worked example: a Hong Kong family's recovery timeline
- What good practice looks like
- Questions to ask before signing
The four types of deposit and what they mean
Schools use the word "deposit" to mean four different things, with very different refund expectations attached. The first is the application fee, usually USD 100 to USD 1,000 per child, due before assessment. This is almost universally non-refundable, regardless of whether the child is offered a place.
The second is the registration fee, charged on offer acceptance, usually USD 500 to USD 3,000. This is also generally non-refundable, and is sometimes credited against first-term tuition rather than refunded. Some schools call this a "seat fee" or "acceptance fee" but the mechanism is the same.
The third is the refundable deposit, usually equivalent to one term of tuition (USD 8,000 to USD 15,000 at mid-tier schools, more at the top end). This is the deposit that actually returns money to the family on departure, subject to notice and final invoice settlement. Its terms are the focus of most of the rest of this guide.
The fourth is the debenture, a larger lump sum (often a full year's tuition or more) that operates as an interest-free loan to the school. Debentures are most common at long-established not-for-profit schools in Hong Kong, Singapore and a few other Asian cities. They typically refund only when the seat is reassigned to another family, which can take months or years.
For a wider view of the fee stack the deposit sits within, see our piece on the hidden fees that double the sticker price.
The clauses that decide the refund timeline
Once the deposit type is clear, the refund timeline depends on three clauses in the contract. The first is the notice period. The standard expectation at international schools is one full term's written notice before the child's last day. Some schools require two terms. A notice period missed by even a day usually voids the refund or attaches a substantial penalty. Most families who lose a deposit lose it because they gave verbal rather than written notice, or because they confused "end of term" with the contractually defined notice date weeks earlier.
The second is the refund trigger. A well-drafted policy refunds the deposit a defined number of days after the child's last day, usually 60 to 90 days, provided all final invoices are settled. A weakly drafted policy refunds only when "the seat is reallocated" or "after the end of the academic year in which the child leaves", either of which can stretch the timeline significantly.
The third is the set-off clause. Schools generally reserve the right to deduct unpaid fees, damage costs, lost technology, library fines and any other outstanding charges from the deposit before refund. A careful family makes sure the leaving paperwork closes out all such items in writing before the deposit is processed. A small unresolved charge can hold up a sizeable refund.
Free download
Our 18-page deposit and refund clause checklist, with marked-up sample contracts and the specific questions to send to the admissions office before signing. Download free
Notice periods, by country and school type
Notice expectations vary by jurisdiction and by school heritage. British curriculum schools globally tend to follow the UK independent school convention of one full term's written notice before the start of the leaver's final term. American curriculum schools tend to ask for 60 to 90 days' written notice before the planned departure. IB schools sit somewhere between the two. Schools in the Gulf and Asia have, on average, slightly stricter requirements than schools in Europe or North America.
| Region | Typical notice period | Penalty for short notice |
|---|---|---|
| UK and Commonwealth | One full term, written | Forfeit of one term's tuition |
| Continental Europe | 60 days, written | Forfeit of partial deposit |
| Middle East and Gulf | One full term, written | Forfeit of full deposit at most schools |
| Hong Kong and Singapore | One full term, written | Forfeit of deposit, possible debenture penalty |
| North America | 60 to 90 days, written | Forfeit of partial deposit |
The most important practical step is to put notice in writing, by email to the registrar with the school principal copied, on or before the contractually defined date. Many families lose money because they assumed a phone call to a class teacher constituted notice. It does not.
Debentures: when they matter and when they sting
Debentures are a feature of a relatively small number of schools, but the families enrolled at those schools should understand them well. The classic debenture model is found at ESF schools in Hong Kong, at a few legacy Singapore schools, and at one or two large not-for-profits in Asia. The amount is substantial (typically HKD 280,000 in Hong Kong, more at premium schools) and the refund mechanism is tied to the seat being reassigned.
The economic effect is that families effectively make a multi-year interest-free loan to the school. If the family expects to stay for many years, the cost of the foregone interest is the only economic friction. If the family expects to stay for a short period and then move on, the friction is the delay between asking for the money back and receiving it, which in soft enrolment markets can be a year or more.
A subset of debentures, often called "corporate debentures", are owned by employers and transferred to staff on appointment. These do not require a family deposit, but the seat priority sometimes lapses when the employee leaves the company. Families should clarify ownership and portability with both the school and the employer in writing before relying on a corporate debenture.
For the broader picture of how Hong Kong school fees and structures work, see our pillar on Hong Kong international school fees and our piece on hidden fees that double the sticker price, both of which cover debenture mechanics in more detail.
Worked example: a Hong Kong family's recovery timeline
Consider a family at a Hong Kong international school with a HKD 100,000 refundable deposit and a separate HKD 280,000 debenture. The family decides in January to relocate at the end of the academic year. They give written notice on 15 February, before the contractually defined deadline of 1 March.
The child finishes in late June. The refundable deposit is processed within 60 days, less HKD 4,800 in outstanding canteen and trip charges that were settled at the leaving meeting. The family receives HKD 95,200 in early September.
The debenture is a slower story. It sits on a re-assignment list and is offered to incoming families as part of admissions. In a strong enrolment year, it can be reassigned within 12 months. In the post-2020 Hong Kong context, debentures have sometimes taken 18 to 24 months to be reassigned. The family in this example sees the debenture returned 14 months after departure, in August 2027, with no interest paid for the delay.
The lesson is to treat the debenture as a long-cycle asset, not as a near-term cash recovery. Families relocating with significant debentures should budget as if the refund will arrive at least a year after departure, and plan their relocation cashflow accordingly. Our piece on the broader cost of relocating with school-age children sets out the relocation cashflow picture more fully.
What good practice looks like
The schools that handle deposit refunds well share four practices. They publish the deposit refund timeline clearly in the fee schedule on their website, not just in the contract sent at offer stage. They confirm the deposit balance in writing at the start of each academic year, so families always know what they have on deposit. They run a clear leavers meeting that closes out final charges in writing and confirms the refund date. They process the refund within the contractually defined window without families needing to chase.
Schools that handle deposits badly typically score poorly on at least one of these. The reputational damage to those schools is, in our experience, much larger than the saving they make by holding deposits longer than necessary. Talk to recent leavers wherever possible before signing.
Questions to ask before signing
Send the admissions office a written list of questions before signing. Ask for the exact wording of the deposit refund clause and the notice clause. Ask the typical refund timeline in days from last day of attendance. Ask whether the refund is contingent on the seat being reassigned or independent of it. Ask what charges, if any, the school is permitted to deduct from the deposit, and on what grounds. Ask whether the deposit attracts interest if held longer than a defined period. Ask whether the deposit can be transferred to a sibling on departure rather than refunded.
If the admissions office cannot answer these in writing within a week, the school is unlikely to handle the actual refund crisply later. Take that as a data point in itself. For the broader context on family decision making, our piece on how to choose an international school sets out the wider framework.