I think I spoke to your mother a few weeks ago as I was just about to go into surgery. Good luck with CTC, you'll be having a blast out there. I'm very jealous!
I won't get into any slagging off of any particular schools, but I cannot see any reason why a school should hold onto your money.
You put it into an account with them and whilst you may lose some of it for "administrative purposes", there is nothing that stops you getting YOUR money back.
If it was me, I wouldn't be slagging someone off on a VERY public website if I was still trying to get money out of them. Try every option first, from solicitors to trading standards. Direct attacks on here won't really help you much I'm afraid.
Unfortunately this is just another example of why you must NEVER pay upfront.