Every week, one of our reporters will take a look at one of their specialist topics and offer their unique insight. This week, Caroline Henshaw explores the effect that leaving the European Union might have on the UK’s independent schools when it comes to international student admissions
In yet another week dominated by Brexit, education has been taking more of a backseat in the national news.
But there is one section of the schools system that might have a lot to lose from the chaos and confusion over the future of the UK’s international trade.
Our country’s top independent schools have been huge winners from globalisation, using their brands to attract pupils from across different continents and increase their fees in the process. So, with Brexit threatening the current free trading and movement regime, could the likes of Eton and Wellington be about to come down to Earth with bump?
This is, after all, already a sector under pressure. Many smaller private schools are facing a squeeze on their budgets, which is set to be compounded by a pensions hike next year. A plan by Millfield to cut its fees has raised questions about whether others should do the same.
Only last week the HMC’s executive director defended the work of his member schools as “socialism in action”. Now, will Brexit add to their burden? The head of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools thinks it could, arguing that Germany and Spain are among the main sources of pupils for his member schools.
But at a conference in London this month, leading figures from the independent school sector seemed fairly sanguine about the potential impact of the UK leaving the EU.
As MPs debated the UK’s withdrawal deal in Parliament just a mile away, experts agreed they had seen little evidence that Brexit is putting off international students. More dangerous for private schools, they argued, were shifts in the international financial system like the recent slump in oil prices - or a Labour government.
A recent survey of the independent sector by Keystone Tutors backs this up: only 16 per cent of more than 150 senior figures surveyed said that the spectre of Brexit had made the UK less attractive for international families.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that, while most international students in UK private schools hail from Europe, China and Hong Kong combined already come a close second and look set to increase their share.
Brexit may be dominating headlines and scaring off European teachers, but as long as the reputation of British private schools remains sterling, it looks unlikely to persuade many to cut their fees.
