Industry News
Eton head rejects Charities Act clause
Posted on 29th May 2007
The head of Eton College has rejected a clause in the new Charities Act stipulating that fee-paying schools will have to prove their charitable status by involving themselves with state schools.
Tony Little told the Financial Times newspaper that his school has a responsibility first and foremost to its own pupils and parents - and not those of other schools.
However, he revealed that Eton College is discussing the possibility of creating a local Berkshire academy with a sponsor that could benefit from areas of expertise that Eton is associated with, like sport and science.
"Ultimately private schools have to look after their own pupils and their own parents before they get enmeshed in a vast bureaucratic exercise that will suck in huge amounts of management time," he remarked.
Mr Little also noted that Eton College does not have the infrastructure for running a co-ed academy, with the school being a traditional boys-only boarding school.
Eton College was founded in 1440 and is now a secondary school of 1,300 boys.