Secondary School making 75% profit - help?

bod1467

SuperHan wrote: »

120 included the registration fee

And the OP didn't mention profit margins, they said they didn't want to pay an extra 75%, which would indicate mark up not profit margin

Assuming we're working on 37.50 exam fee and £30 registration fee, and the OP paying £120, they are paying an additional £52.50 than initially detailed, around 77% extra [52.5/(37.5+30)]. Round to the nearest 5, 75% ;) (sorry, the accountant in me can't resist sometimes....)

Perhaps you are (were) an accountant, but your reading skills are sadly lacking.

The thread TITLE says Profit.
In the OP it says £120 and £30 registration fee (not including).

Fenchel wrote: »

I purchased a single IGCSE exam place (single exam, no coursework) for £120, and the school cited a £30 registration charge that would be 'good forever' if I decided to do more IGCSEs there.

Hintza

Fenchel wrote: »

Normal edexcel price is £37.80, school charged me £120 including £30 registration.

Pedant time

WTFH

Is this like one of those silly maths things you see on Facebook - the ones where people use bad mathematically "grammar" to make an equation confusing. There are rules in maths, but there are also standard of how you should write things so they make sense/easy reading.

So, we have £37.80 + £30 registration = £67.80 out of a total fee of £120.
To me that means a profit margin of £52.20, which is a mark up of 77% (52.2/67.8). A mark up is the multiplier of the cost which is then added on to the cost. The mark up does not include the cost as well.

The profit is 43.5% (52.2/120)

bod1467

Hintza wrote: »

Pedant time

Good spot. I overlooked the last line of the OP.

And WTFH ... Yes, your calculations are correct, assuming the £30 registration is a cost item to the school.

MamaMoo_2

WTFH wrote: »

Is this like one of those silly maths things you see on Facebook - the ones where people use bad mathematically "grammar" to make an equation confusing. There are rules in maths, but there are also standard of how you should write things so they make sense/easy reading.

So, we have £37.80 + £30 registration = £67.80 out of a total fee of £120.
To me that means a profit margin of £52.20, which is a mark up of 77% (52.2/67.8). A mark up is the multiplier of the cost which is then added on to the cost. The mark up does not include the cost as well.

The profit is 43.5% (52.2/120)

I guess it depends whether the OP was classing the £30 as profit or costs. As the £30 isn't directly paying towards the exam, I'd guess OP was classing it as profit. Alas, we won't know until the OP returns, if they ever do.

MamaMoo_2

Hintza wrote: »

Pedant time

Haha, oh dear!

My apologies to Bod for doubting his skills! After all this kerfuffle turns out that he was right (assuming OP classed the reg fee as profit)!

duchy

It isn't a Maths question there are two questions the OP should be asking themselves.

What do other institutions charge to sit the same exam and is it too late to register with them or not. (but check to see if the original school will refund in full or charge an admin fee)

What is it worth to me personally to sit the exam.

This really is no different to buying anything else (although the OP should have researched their options properly before paying out)

WTFH

http://www.nwilts-he.org.uk/he_exams_wiki/index.php/Finding_an_exam_centre

Exam centres are under no obligation to accept private candidates; it creates extra work for them and may involve some disruption to their schedule or difficulties for the school. They are entitled to charge an admin fee which compensates for this to some degree, and that fee varies hugely - from £15 per subject at some schools to over £150 at others.

Fenchel

My understanding was that an iGCSE was equivalent to a GCSE qualifications for all wants and purposes but consisted only of a terminal exam with regards assessment.

In terms of profit etc, I'm afraid I incorrectly used the term profit and the calculations I did we're based on £37.80 + £30 as a standalone fee for the exam, meaning I did 52/63 * 100. This goes back to my original qualm - my understanding of the £30 fee was that it is charged by the school not Edexcel (have asked for clarification) and is a fairly standard 'admin fee' type charge, which would cover costs incurred. indeed, I was advised to wait until after results day for my results as I would be at the bottom of their list. I'm not unhappy to pay these charges. It's the extra £52 that were charged to me for school events which I was querying.

Those of you who have addressed the issue of centres do so with good cause... It's a very limited market, even in London. At the end of the day, I'm jumping through hoops for UCAS as I already have an A-level in this subject but am required to have the GCSE too.

bod1467

Fenchel wrote: »

At the end of the day, I'm jumping through hoops for UCAS as I already have an A-level in this subject but am required to have the GCSE too.

Really? They need you to have a lesser qualification to support a greater qualification? How utterly bizarre!