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A private boarding school which charges £33,000 a year and was attended by Britain’s Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees is the latest to be forced to close following Labour’s bombshell VAT plans.
Bedstone College in Bucknell, Shropshire, which was set up by the parents of the prominent astrophysicist, will close at the end of the academic year, with the school blaming the VAT rise in a letter sent to parents yesterday.
The closure of the 77-year-old school, also attended by broadcaster and marine biologist Monty Halls – who was head boy, will cost 50 jobs and disrupt 120 students.
Robert Tasker, the chairman of the school’s board of directors, said VAT was ‘final nail in the coffin’.
The co-educational school, which charges boarding pupils £10,920 a term, increased its fees for international students in September and lowered them for British students, following Labour’s VAT changes.
Headmaster Toby Mullins said VAT on fees and the rise in employer’s National Insurance contributions, had added ‘further pressure’ to finances but stressed they were not the ‘root cause’.
‘Over the past five years, the school has been sustained by significant financial contributions from its owner, who has remained deeply committed to its success,’ the head teacher wrote.
‘However, despite these efforts, it has become clear that the school is not financially viable in the long term.’
Britain’s Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees attended Bedstone College, which was set up by his parents
Bedstone College in Bucknell, Shropshire, will close at the end of the academic year, with the school blaming the VAT rise in a letter sent to parents yesterday
The closure of the 77-year-old school will cost 50 jobs and disrupt 120 students
The co-educational school, which charges boarding pupils £10,920 a term, increased its fees for international students in September and lowered them for British students, following Labour’s VAT changes
‘While the upcoming VAT on school fees and National insurance rise has added further pressure, this is not the root cause of our closure – it is simply the final challenge in what has already been an unsustainable situation.’
He said there ‘no need for any immediate changes’, but the school would soon gather information about available places for students at other places.
‘Our priority is to help students transition smoothly, ensuring they can continue studying their chosen subjects, preferably on the same syllabuses.’
One parent said they were ‘shellshocked’ by the impending closure
Posting on social media, they said: ‘Shellshocked doesn’t cover it. My child is autistic, without a statement [of special educational needs], so we self-funded. State secondary was [an] utter disaster — she felt safe and happy here, the alternative will be so costly.’
Shropshire Councillor Nigel Hartin said: ‘This is very sad news, quite a shock. The school has been prominent in the local community for many years, employing a number of local people..
‘On a practical level Bedstone School currently supplies good quality school dinners at cost to our primary school – St Marys Bucknell.
‘On a number of levels, the closure of the school will be keenly felt.’
Headmaster Toby Mullins (pictured) said VAT on fees and the rise in employer’s National Insurance contributions, had added ‘further pressure’ to finances but stressed they were not the ‘root cause’
Robert Tasker, the chairman of the school’s board of directors, said VAT was ‘final nail in the coffin’
Stuart Anderson MP, the Conservative MP for South Shropshire, said: ‘[I am] saddened to hear about this fantastic school closing its doors at the end of the year. I warned the Government back in October that rural communities would be hit the hardest by this measure and that it would be the smaller schools who would be affected.’
The school previously reduced its fees for day pupils from £5,700 to £4,000 a term in response to VAT rises.
The move was made to ‘ensure that current pupils remain at the school and that the school provides an affordable option for parents who are looking for a new school, having been priced out of the market elsewhere,’ the school said.
In November 2023 the independent school had 156 pupils, but just 120 remained at the start of this school year.
Bedstone College is the latest in a wave of closures since Rachel Reeves announced Labour’s tax raid on private education.
In January, the 114-year-old Maidwell Hall school in Northamptonshire, attended by Earl Spencer, said it would close its doors after it ‘received further blows’ following November’s budget.
As well as the VAT hike, private schools in England with charitable status will also be stripped of their 80 per cent business rates relief from April.
Loughborough Amherst school – which began in 1850 – is another recent victim of the economic headwinds facing the sector, alongside other institutions in Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire and Scotland.
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