Private school forced to close after one in three pupils drop out
Bishop Challoner School in Kent told parents this week it would close at the end of the term because it was no longer 'economically viable'.
The Catholic school, which this year celebrated its 75th birthday, said the 20pc levy on school fees meant it was no longer able to retain and recruit enough pupils.
When Labour won last summer's general election, standing on a commitment to tax private schools for the first time, the school had 317 pupils.
This fell to 270 in January when the Government's VAT raid came into force. A further 52 pupils have withdrawn for the next academic year, meaning the school would have had just 218 pupils remaining from September.
The loss of around 100 pupils in little over a year – equivalent to 31pc – is five times more than the 6pc of pupils that Labour forecast would leave as a result of its VAT raid.
In a letter sent to parents seen by The Telegraph, the school cited the VAT levy as well as the loss of business rates relief and increases to National Insurance in April as reasons for its closure.
The school, which is on the border of London and charges £19,686 a year, also blamed the falling birth rate in the capital and wider cost of living concerns for it being harder to attract new families to the school.
Ticcy Colling, chairman of trustees, wrote: 'The impact has been felt this academic year with a fall in pupil numbers from 317 in 2023-24 when the school ran at a slight surplus to 270 in 2024-25.
'Despite the efforts of all involved in marketing the school more broadly, the projected pupil numbers are currently only 218.
'The combination of the falling revenues and increased costs resulted in a material loss being made this year. The impact of this and a further significant worsening of the position next year means that the school would not have sufficient cash reserves to trade to the end of the next academic year.'
Bishop Challoner said it had attempted to merge with nearby schools, and had appealed to benefactors, but these efforts had not been successful.
One parent told The Telegraph: ' The falling birth rate was one factor, but the decisive blow has undoubtedly been Labour's introduction of VAT on school fees and the removal of business rate relief. This policy has directly caused the closure, no matter how well-intentioned it may have been.
'We feel incredibly let down by the late notice. With just a few weeks left in the school year, we're left scrambling to find new places for our children – either at another independent school or within the state system. It's stressful, overwhelming, and entirely avoidable.
'Ironically, the policy that aimed to make education fairer is doing the opposite. Pushing children from closed private schools into a struggling state system creates more pressure, not less. It reduces tax revenue, not increases it. And even if more money did somehow reach the system, there's little confidence it would be used in a way that truly benefits pupils.'
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer announced on Wednesday that revenue raised from the VAT levy would be spent on an affordable housing scheme, despite Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously promising 'every penny' would go towards state schools.
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