Industry News
Independent schools must 'demonstrate public benefit'
Posted on 16th January 2008
Independent schools with charitable status will from March be required to show they are offering public benefit, under new guidelines published by the Charity Commission.
The guidelines, which affect all charities, are designed to ensure organisations with charitable status can justify the tax breaks they receive.
Dame Suzi Leather, the commission's chair, said registered charities "enjoy considerable benefits in terms of their reputation and the tax advantages".
"In return, they should publicly account for what they do to benefit society, including people in poverty," she added.
No firm rules have been devised for what steps independent schools will have to take to demonstrate public benefit, but the commission said charging fees would not be a barrier to them retaining charitable status.
Among the things some private schools already do which may be considered to show a level of public benefit are sharing sports facilities with the local community, providing specialist teachers to take lessons in state schools and offering bursaries to children from deprived backgrounds.
Chris Woodhead of the Cognita chain of private schools recently suggested independent schools should consider dropping charitable status in order to focus efforts on their fee-paying pupils.