VAT on private school fees: Wakefield school could close this year 'as profoundly sad' move announced
One of Wakefield’s schools could close this summer.
A ‘collective consultation period’ has been started with the staff at Wakefield Independent School, on Doncaster Road in Wragby, with a proposed closure at the end of this academic year.
A reduction in pupil numbers after the government removed the private school fees VAT exemption is partly to blame, says the school’s owner.
In a letter to parents, the school’s proprietor and chairman of the board of directors Philip Hardy, said he was writing with “a broken heart and the profoundly sad news”.
"Due to many factors outside of our control and following a comprehensive financial review, months of lengthy meetings with landlords, lawyers, accountants and experienced corporate solutions consultants, in an attempt to save the school, I have concluded there is no viable way but to put the proposal for closure forward,” he wrote.
"If we do not consider this decision now, I fear we could quickly run into an even more difficult situation, at some point in the near future.
"The timing of this proposal has been fraught with the difficulty of balancing many considerations.
"We hope that making the announcement now gives staff, parents and pupils, with our full support, several weeks before the end of term, and a full summer holiday, to make any necessary arrangements for the future, without sacrificing the education we’re determined to provide up to the end of term.”
He said there have been several challenges – many sector-wide - facing the school over the last six months including a reduction in pupil numbers he said had been caused by the government’s VAT decision.
There have also been increases in business rates, the Minimum Wage, employers’ National Insurance contributions and outstanding fees.
"The underlying mission of Wakefield Independent School has always been to provide affordable private education on a non-selective basis,” he added.
"With fees remaining half of those at other selective schools in the area, we have always achieved that by keeping costs as low as possible, margins tight and by operating on a not-for-profit basis.
"The closure of the school would leave a massive hole in our hearts and the wider community but I feel confident that our children would continue their journey having had the most excellent of starts.”