Boarding schools

Since January, at least five boarding schools have announced their closure – including Thetford Grammar in Norfolk, which traces its origins to ad 631, and Rendcomb College in Gloucestershire, the alumni of which includes Kojo Annan, the businessman son of Kofi, and retired champion jockey Richard Dunwoody. These closures are nothing compared with 2025 which saw a bonfire of private schools. Some 51 ‘mainstream’ establishments announced their demise (in addition to more than a dozen special schools). Such schools could help children break free from patterns of behaviour in places where hope has gone The cause, as you’ll know, is Rachel Reeves’s decision to slap 20 per cent VAT on private education in the 2024 Budget, as well as the end of business rates relief.