IDPE 2025/26 Membership model frequently asked questions
1. Why isn't the new membership model based on the number of development staff at the school?
IDPE have chosen to base the fee around number of pupils, as income is generally based on pupil numbers, therefore the smaller the school, the lower the income and therefore the lower the affordability to spend on resources.
Schools with more pupils are more likely to have a larger pool of alumni, and therefore more likely to receive more income into the development office, enabling those offices to afford more towards their membership fee.
Pupil numbers is publicly available information which is easy to obtain and to manage within our database.
Basing the fee on the number of staff in an office would open IDPE up to having to re-calculate the fee each time a staff member leaves or joins, which would be difficult to administer across the membership.
2. We are a very small development office, but our school belongs to a large group, are there any group discounts available?
IDPE offers a group discount, whereby if you work at a school that shares some administration with at least 5 senior schools or more you could be entitled to a 20% discount for each school in your group that joins IDPE.
3. Do we have to pay additional subs because we have affiliated prep schools?
Yes, in order to simplify the model, we are counting the number of pupils for each school that is supported by the development office.
4. We are part of a Multi-Academy Trust, but the development office only serves one school, what will our subscription cost?
You will only be charged for the pupils that attend the schools that the development office supports.
5. We are a development office serving a number of schools in a Multi-Academy Trust, what will our subscription cost?
You will only be charged for the pupils that attend the schools that the development office supports.
6. What happens if there are changes to our school during the year?
IDPE will look at the pupil numbers per the DfE website (or equivalent) in the Autumn each year, and it is this number that the subscription fee will be based on for the following year.
7. We are part of a group of schools that have a shared value and ethos. Is there a group membership for us?
To be eligible for the 20% group discount, the schools would need to have a shared administrative function, and be invoiced centrally with a minimum of 5 senior schools in the group.
8. We are an independent school working in partnership with local state schools, can they benefit from the IDPE membership?
IDPE Membership is available to all schools across the UK and abroad. There are a wide range of resources and training tailored specifically to state schools, you can access a list of the benefits for all here. We also have a state school fundraising toolkit which is available for free to help state schools on their fundraising journey.
9. We are a really small school looking for support with school's development but the subscription fee is still prohibitive, what options are there for us?
As part of our mission to help all school's IDPE offers access to a number of resources for an individual fee including parts of our professional development programme, benchmarking reports. We also have a free state school toolkit available through the website. You are welcome to contact us to discuss your requirements, please call Alison Adams, Membership and Engagement Manager to discuss.
10. What if I can't afford the changes?
IDPE understand the increasing budget pressures schools are facing, therefore we welcome an open conversation with schools that maybe struggling financially, there are always ways IDPE can help members, please email Alison Adams to discuss what support IDPE maybe able to offer.
11. I work for a foundation supporting multiple schools. My subscription is going to increase quite considerably, what additional member value can you offer me?
Each school covered under the membership can access the member benefits as outlined here, this includes being able to access our training programmes at the discounted member rate.
IDPE understand the increasing budget pressures schools are facing, therefore, where the subscription fee has increased significantly, IDPE would like to help reduce the burden by applying the increase in fee across two years. Please email info@idpe.org.uk if you would like to enquire further.
12. We are a stand alone educational institution and serve pupils who are not between the ages of 5-16, what is our subscription fee?
For any UK or Ireland based stand alone educational institution serving pupils of any age the subscription fee is based on the number of pupils per the DfE website (or equivalent).
17. What if we are at the top of the band, then go over the threshold temporarily, what would our fee be then?
Where your school has exceeded the threshold by a small margin, which is believed to be temporary IDPE will charge based on the pupil numbers in the previous year, if the school pupil numbers are still above the band the following year, IDPE will then increase the charge accordingly.