More than 1,000 victims of the private school fee-fixing scandal have been denied compensation despite money being available, The TES has learnt.
Fifty schools, including Eton College and Harrow, were told to pay pound;3 million into a fund for families of former students after it was found they unfairly shared information about their fees. The schools agreed to make five annual payments of pound;600,000. However, 1,250 applicants for the first wave of handouts have been turned down, even though more than a fifth of the funds have not been distributed.
The revelation comes at a sensitive time for some of Britain’s best-known public schools, which are under pressure to show they deserve to retain charitable status, worth a total of pound;100 million a year.
The Schools Competition Act Settlement Trust, the charity set up to deal with fee-fixing claims, said it had not given out pound;125,000, a fifth of the total, because it wanted to be “cautious” in its first year. The money is meant to help former pupils of the elite schools pay for their continuing education. The decision to hold some of it back has met with an angry response.
Nancy Bilderbeck, a teacher in London, was refused money for her son Ray, a former pupil of Westminster School, which was one of those implicated. “My son is now at Harvard Law School, which is costing over $50,000 (pound;25,000) a year, but he did not get any money towards that,” said Mrs Bilderbeck.
“Anyone in my son’s year at school could already have finished a three- year degree. Delays in giving the money out mean some people will stop being eligible. This all seems very unfair. There must be an easier way to sort this out.”
Thomas Mitchell, secretary to the trust, said it was not obliged to spend a specific amount of money in any year and that the balance had been carried forward.
Leading private schools were implicated in the fee-fixing scandal following a lengthy investigation by the Office of Fair Trading in 2005.
The schools were accused of acting as a cartel to artificially increase their fees, although this claim was dropped from the final settlement. But they insisted they did not know that their long-standing practice of sharing information on fees had been made illegal.
They finally admitted a technical breach and agreed to pay a penalty of pound;10,000 each. The schools are paying a further pound;600,000 a year to the charity.
It is estimated that 40,000 former pupils could be eligible for bursaries from the trust. In December, having received 1,700 applications, it decided to give out 250 bursaries of pound;1,500 and 200 grants of pound;500.
Apart from ensuring that at least one former pupil from each school received money, the bursaries were selected randomly, the trust said.
To be eligible, applicants had to be a pupil at one of the schools after September 15, 2001, be between the ages of 18 and 30 and still be in education. They must also have started at the school at least six years before being given a bursary.
Jonathan Shephard, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, has criticised the trust’s remit, saying it would have been better to put the money into initiatives for poor children, rather than those at the schools concerned.
Fee-charging schools’ finances will come under increasing scrutiny this year as the Charity Commission develops tests of whether they contribute to the public benefit. Guidance for all charities was published last week, with specific consultation with independent schools due to start next month.
Peter Wilby, page 27
ANNUAL COSTS AT FEE-SCANDAL SCHOOLS
Ampleforth College: pound;24,270
Bedford School: 21,675
Benenden School: 24,675
Bradfield College: 24,375
Bromsgrove School: 23,640
Bryanston School: 25,485
Canford School: 24,570
Charterhouse School: 26,100
Cheltenham College: 25,845
Cheltenham Ladies’ College: 24,528
Clifton College: 24,075
Cranleigh School: 24,990
Dauntsey’s School: 22,605
Downe House School: 25,968
Eastbourne College: 23,025
Epsom College: 25,398
Eton College: 26,490
Gresham’s School: 22,785
Haileybury:: 24,120
Harrow School: 26,445
King’s School, Canterbury: 26,310
Lancing College: 24,600
Malvern College: 26,193
Marlborough College: 26,190
Millfield School: 25,095
Mill Hill School: 22,983
Oakham School: 23,850
Oundle School: 23,960
Radley College: 24,990
Repton School: 23,760
Royal Hospital School: 18,642
Rugby School: 24,915
St Edward’s School, Oxford: 25,485
St Leonards-Mayfield School: 21,270
Sedbergh School: 22,665
Sevenoaks School: 26,325
Sherborne School: 25,245
Shrewsbury School: 25,110
Stowe School: 25,575
Strathallan School: 22,605
Tonbridge School: 26,826
Truro School: 18,450
Uppingham School: 24,900
Wellington College: 17,658
Wells Cathedral School: 21,306
Westminster School: 25,956
Winchester College: 26,481
Woldingham School: 23,745
Worth School: 23,112
Wycombe Abbey: 25,800.
