A total of 105 independent schools have closed due to Labour’s controversial VAT raid on fees, affecting 25,000 children.
The grim tally was revealed by independent schools’ leader Julie Robinson on the first anniversary of the policy being introduced on January 1 last year.
Ms Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, warned of a bleak picture in 2026 as Labour pushes on with what has been called ‘an ideological class war’ against private education.
Ms Robinson told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We are likely to see further closures over the coming months and years as the effects of VAT and other tax measures mount up.
‘While there is a combination of factors contributing to school closures, we know that there are some for whom the Government’s decision to tax education is a bridge too far.’
She said the total of 105 schools included 15 which had been merged with others.
Even some of the most famous schools in the country have been hit by financial worries.
Marlborough College, the alma mater of the Princess of Wales, has been forced to turn off the heating during the holidays to save money, according to one staff member who wished to remain anonymous.
Marlborough College (pictured) has been forced to turn off the heating during the holidays to save money, according to one staff member who wished to remain anonymous
The Wiltshire school is the alma mater of the Princess of Wales (right) and her sister Pippa Middleton (left)
The Wiltshire school, also mooted as a possible destination for Prince George, charges up to £61,800 a year. But it has already closed its annual summer school after 50 years, citing financial pressures including VAT on fees.
The figures make a mockery of Labour’s initial forecasts that they did not expect any schools to close. It was only in March last year, after a dozen schools had shut, that a Minister admitted the policy would have casualties.
Treasury Minister Torsten Bell then suggested 100 schools ‘could close over three years’.
The government originally estimated as few as 3 per cent of private school pupils would leave the sector in total – 18,000 pupils.
And while many schools in the North and the Midlands have been forced to shut their doors, 19 – nearly one in five – of the closures have come in London and the surrounding area.
Park Hill School in Kingston and Falcons School in Putney both said Labour’s introduction of VAT on fees meant they no longer had the means to stay open.
The Old Palace of John Whitgift School in Croydon, South London, Ursuline Prep in Ilford, East London, and London Acorn in Morden, South West London closed last year too. More recent casualties include The Cedars School in Croydon, an all-boys senior school, which shut in September and Oak Heights, a co-ed senior school in Hounslow, West London, which closed in October.
Other high-profile closures include Queen Margaret’s School for Girls in York last summer. Governors at the prestigious school, founded in 1901, said they had been ‘unable to withstand mounting financial pressures’.
Treasury Minister Torsten Bell (pictured) suggested 100 schools ‘could close over three years’.
Queen Margaret’s School for Girls, founded in 1901, closed its doors last year as it was ‘unable to withstand mounting financial pressures’
Other closures have included Carrdus School in Banbury, owned by leading girls’ school Tudor Hall, and Maidwell Hall in Northamptonshire, whose alumni include Earl Spencer.
In December, The Meadows Montessori in Ipswich, a school for three to 16-year-olds, shut, with its head Sam Sims blaming ‘financial pressures’ including ‘targeted measures towards independent schools’ such as VAT on school fees.
A government spokesman said: ‘This manufactured crisis of pupils leaving the private sector and putting pressure on the state system has failed to materialise.
‘Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise £1.8 billion a year by 2029/30 to help fund public services, including supporting the 94 per cent of children in state schools, to help ensure excellence everywhere for every child.’