Thirty private schools on verge of closing down owing to crisis

AS MANY as 30 British private schools are preparing to close because of the coronavirus pandemic, with parents struggling to pay fees contributing to their collapse.

Most schools “have not got deep pockets” and the crisis has pushed dozens of institutions over the edge, Neil Roskilly, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association, says.

Nine schools have already formally announced that they intend to shut down, but Mr Roskilly said around 30 overall are in a similar position.

“It is very worrying for the pupils and their families,” he said. “Some will resurrect themselves. Sometimes they go into administration then they will be bought up and reopened under different leadership.”

This week, the Minster School in York, which provides choristers for the city’s cathedral and can trace its origins to the seventh century, announced that it will close due to a cash shortfall. And Boris Johnson’s former prep school, Ashdown House in Sussex, is to shut down after 180 years.

Of the schools which have announced their closure, about half are prep schools. Three have cited parents’ inability to continue paying fees as a factor in their decision.

The Right Rev Dr Jonathan Frost, York Minster’s Dean, said that in recent months “a number of families indicated they would be unable to keep their children at the Minster School”.

Moreton Hall, a prep school in Suffolk which charges £24,000-a-year for boarders, said its reasons for closure included the fact that many parents “now find themselves in difficult financial straits”.

Stephen Spriggs, managing director at William Clarence Education, which assists leading public schools with recruitment, said families pulling their children out because of financial difficulties is a real concern.

Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, said: “It is impossible to predict with accuracy the full impact of the pandemic. It is already affecting independent schools, like all small businesses, and also affecting the livelihoods of feepaying parents.”

She added that independent schools are “highly adaptable to a change in the market”, adding that their switch to online learning has been well received.