Trinity School, a small private institution known for its affordable fees and commitment to providing quality education, announced its closure due to unsustainable costs. In 2024, the school doubled its enrollment and relocated to a larger facility. It has been hampered by the financial consequences of new business rates and the recent imposition of VAT on its fees.
Although this is an extreme example, in 2023, Trinity School’s annual business rates leapt up from around £5,000 a year to £35,000. This sudden jump made running the school “financially impossible,” as headteacher Naomi Moorcroft put it. And she noticed a downturn in the anticipated number of students who would be enrolled this year. She said she expected this decrease because the newly introduced VAL had been set on fees.
Jake Amram, a parent of two sons who graduated from Trinity School, told the Independent that parents are upset about the promised closure. One of his sons, who had done poorly in a public school where class sizes were extensive, said, “In the [Trinity] Christian school he was happy, lots of friends, blossomed and was getting very good at school and he came out of his shell,” Amram remarked.
Ruth-Abigail Williams, a board member at Trinity School, put the challenge in context of her institution’s mission to be accessible. “We offer very low fees and bursaries on those fees so almost everyone who wants to come can come,” she stated. The true sustainability of what the school was offering became harder and harder to sustain as costs continued to increase.
Even with all of these challenges, Williams expressed real disappointment at the impending closure. “The school had tried to keep costs down by staff working sacrificially on very low salaries,” she mentioned. The plant’s closure means that Amram’s sons will adapt to attending a public school.
The transformation of this policy has worried many education advocates. The Department for Education announced last year that repealing tax breaks for private schools would raise £1.8 billion annually by 2029/30. This funding would be a huge step towards ensuring children in public state schools receive a fantastic education.
Amram articulated his family’s sentiments regarding the school’s closure: “It is not our preferred option – we wanted a Christian school.”
Trinity School has shut down. Today, students find the future of their degree uncertain and have to investigate new paths to their education.
