Date 18 October 2011
Independent schools breathed a collective sigh of relief on 14 October 2011 as their charitable status (and the associated tax advantages that this confers) was preserved.
The ruling of the Charities Tribunal decided that it was for the trustees of independent schools to decide how they justify their charitable status and not the Charity Commission. The ruling means that independent schools are not required to offer bursaries to children from less affluent backgrounds in order to retain their charitable status. Instead they must continue to provide a public benefit and the trustees of each school have a discretion as to how they do this. Simply providing education in a private setting is not enough. Independent schools must reach out in a way that is not “minimal or tokenistic” to families who would otherwise be unable to afford to educate their children privately. Exactly what they need to do to demonstrate such a public benefit is an open ended question and is likely to be open to further challenge.
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