School’ s £900k fee loss contributed to closure

Kilgraston School, which is to close at the end of this term, took a huge hit to its finances during the pandemic. The 93-year-old private school – for girls only at the senior stage – announced its closure earlier this week. Losses incurred as a result of lockdown and travel restrictions curtailing international boarders were among the reasons cited for its demise. Over two years, it was estimated to have lost £900,000 in fees revenue. A probe we conducted last year into the finances of private schools in Courier country laid bare the impact that Covid had on the Catholic school at Bridge of Earn, in Perthshire. It was one of three local independent schools to suffer a net loss in 2020 and 2021 – the others were Morrison’s Academy, Crieff, and St Leonard’s School, in St Andrews. The former has since turned the tide, while the latter continued to spend more than it made in 2022. The High School of Dundee’s income also took a tumble then recovered – but it has recently revealed it is cutting costs and raising fees due to economic pressures. Before Covid struck, Kilgraston School reported a net income of £48,575. But in 2020 it registered a net loss of £208,445. The following year, with pupils having spent months learning remotely, that loss more than doubled to £496,552. Even with a business loan of £500,000 in May 2021, its cash balances fell from £571,339 in 2020 to £351,750 in 2021. The school, operated as a charity, is late in filing its financial statement for 2022 with the Office for the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). But its 2021 statement described the “significant” financial impact of Covid. As lockdown hit the UK in March 2020, Kilgraston pupils were sent home to learn remotely and school buildings did not reopen until the autumn term. By then, the school had suffered the additional hit of losing summer rental of its estate – over 2020 and 2021 an estimated £400,000. Lockdown struck again in January 2021 putting an end to face-to-face learning for most of the spring term. In the 2021 statement to OSCR, the trustees said they were “increasingly mindful of the fact that the economic climate may have affected parents’ ability to choose an independent education for their children”. Fees per term at Kilgraston School are £12,970 in the senior school and £14,015 for international students. For day pupils the cost per term is £7,595 in the senior school. Other hits outlined in the statement were the school’s entitlement to business rates relief for charities and increasing costs of gas and electricity, which were only to get worse. The report stated: “The financial impact for the school over the two years has been significant due to the impact of reduced school fees during periods of closure and reduced international boarders through travel restrictions as well as lost revenue over the summers of 2020 and 2021, usually generated through an extensive external lettings programme.” As well as the loan, the school claimed government grants to help it stay afloat during Covid and it cut costs. But the impact on its fees revenue between 2020 and 2021 was estimated to be a massive £900,000. Announcing the “heartbreaking” decision to close, Thomas Steuart Fothringham, chairman of the board of trustees, said the financial viability left them with “no alternative”. The school will close its doors on June 24.