Prep school once named ‘best in Britain' by Tatler to close over VAT raid
A 137-year-old prep school once hailed as the 'best in Britain' by Tatler has been forced to close as a result of Labour's VAT raid.
St Anselm's School in Bakewell, Derbyshire, told parents this week it would shut at the end of the academic year because of the 'unrelenting headwinds we face' under the Labour Government.
As well as the controversial 20pc levy on school fees introduced in January, the school cited the upcoming increases to National Insurance contributions next month as well as the loss of business rates relief.
Paul Houghton, chair of the board of governors, said: 'We have simply been left with no alternative.
'Despite our best efforts it has proved difficult to secure a viable future given the headwinds we face.
'We are deeply upset to have reached the point where there are no viable options for St Anselm's as an independent prep school.'
The day and boarding school, founded in 1888, and situated in the heart of the Peak District, has struggled in recent years to attract new pupils.
There are currently 125 pupils at the school, a decrease from 150 last year. As recently as 2020 it had more than 200 pupils.
The difficulty in attracting new pupils came as it was forced to increase its fees by almost £4,000, a rise of 16pc, in January as a result of Labour's decision to levy VAT on education for the first time.
Sarah Dines, the former MP for Derbyshire Dales, described the school's closure as a 'real loss'.
She said: 'I am not only sad, but angry, that this socialist government seems intent on destroying the independent school sector, part of their ideological attack on the freedom of choice of parents. This is a real loss to Bakewell and Derbyshire Dales.'
The sharp turnaround in the school's fortunes comes after it was crowned Prep School of the Year at the Tatler Schools Awards in 2021.
The prestigious title was awarded in recognition of the school's commitment to make sure children were not left behind during the Covid pandemic and work it had completed to expand its boarding house.
St Anselm's closure comes in the same week as Buxlow Preparatory School in Wembley announced it was closing its school to focus on solely providing nursery provision.
The school has framed the decision as an 'exciting new chapter' that will allow its current pupils to join its nearby sister school.
Ministers have admitted the VAT levy will force an additional 100 private schools to close over the next three years.
A government spokesman said: 'Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise £1.8bn a year by 2029/30 to help fund public services, including supporting the 94pc of children in state schools to achieve and thrive.
'On average, around 50 mainstream private schools typically close each year. This is due to a range of reasons, including financial struggles and school standards issues.
'Local authorities and schools commonly support children and parents in these circumstances. We are confident in local state schools' ability to accommodate new pupils.'
St Anselm's school was approached for comment.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bessent says US may 'roll the date forward' for some after 90-day tariff pause ends
(Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the Trump administration is prepared to "roll the date forward" with trading partners negotiating in good faith if the deadline marking the end of the 90-day pause on President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs is reached with no deal. "It is highly likely that those countries - or trading blocs as is the case with the EU - who are negotiating in good faith, we will roll the date forward to continue the good-faith negotiations," Bessent told the House Ways and Means Committee. "If someone is not negotiating, then we will not." Bessent's remarks, in response to a question from a Democratic lawmaker, marked the first time a Trump administration official has indicated some flexibility around the expiration date for the pause. That date - July 8 - is now just four weeks away, and so far the White House has struck only one preliminary deal with a major foreign trading partner affected by the pause, Britain. A deal struck on Tuesday in London with China to de-escalate that bilateral trade war is proceeding on a separate track and timeline. The White House did not immediately respond to a question about whether Trump shared Bessent's view. Trump announced the pause on April 9, a week after unveiling "Liberation Day" tariffs against nearly all U.S. trading partners that proved to be so unexpectedly large and sweeping that it sent global financial markets into near panic. The S&P 500 Index plunged more than 12% in four days for its heftiest run of losses since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Investors were so rattled they bailed out of safe-haven U.S. Treasury securities, sending bond yields rocketing higher. The dollar sank. Markets started their recovery on April 9 when Trump unexpectedly announced the pause. A further leg up in the recovery followed in early May when the Trump team reached a preliminary deal to dial back the triple-digit tariff rates it had imposed on goods from China. The events have given rise to what some on Wall Street have parodied as the "TACO" trade - an acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out. "The only time the market has reacted positively is when the administration is in retreat from key policy areas," Democratic Representative Don Beyer of Virginia told Bessent before pressing him on what should be expected at the end of the next deadline next month. "As I have said repeatedly there are 18 important trading partners. We are working toward deals with those," Bessent said before going on to signal a willingness to offer extensions to those negotiating in good faith. (Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Chris Reese and Daniel Wallis)
Miami Herald
41 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
AMC makes major theater change that will frustrate customers
AMC Theaters (AMC) had a rough start to 2025. The theater chain suffered a major loss as it struggled to attract moviegoers, despite major releases such as "Captain America: Brave New World," "Snow White," "Wolf Man," and "Dog Man." In its first-quarter earnings report for 2025, AMC revealed that its total revenues fell by about 9% year-over-year, while movie theater attendance in the U.S. dropped by 11%. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter AMC also reported a net loss of $202.1 million during the quarter, which is higher than the $163.5 million net loss it suffered during the same quarter last year. Related: AMC announces generous offer to win back customers "Setting aside those first quarters directly impacted by Covid and its aftermath, the January to March industry box office in 2025 was the lowest it has been since 1996," said AMC CEO Adam Aron in the report. The dip in attendance comes after AMC's average movie ticket price in the U.S. reached $12.31 during the first quarter of this year, which is higher than the $12.19 average it reported for the same quarter in 2024. Movie ticket prices have been rising over the past few years amid inflation. According to recent data from The Numbers, the average movie ticket price in the U.S. was $11.31 in 2024, which is 3% higher than the $10.94 average in 2023. As prices increase, some consumers have been avoiding movie theaters like the flu. A recent survey from the Wall Street Journal found that 65% of consumers said they prefer to watch movies at home, while 35% said they prefer to watch films in theaters. Amid this trend, AMC has made a bold move to dodge further price increases; however, customers may not be thrilled about the decision. The theater chain has reportedly landed a deal with cinema advertising company National CineMedia to run more commercials before movie screenings begin, according to a recent report from The New York Times. AMC claims this deal will allow it to rely less on increasing movie ticket prices to boost its revenue. Related: Paramount makes drastic decision amid shift in customer behavior "For the past five years, AMC has sought out crucial revenue that is not reliant on the increase of base ticket prices," said AMC in a statement to the Times, adding "while AMC was initially reluctant to bring this to our theaters, our competitors have fully participated for more than five years without any direct impact to their attendance." The move from AMC comes after its top rivals, Regal and Cinemark, signed the same deal with National CineMedia in 2019. AMC was also offered the deal that same year; however, it "flatly rejected" it due to its concerns that "U.S. moviegoers would react quite negatively to the concept," according to a press release. The deal is expected to make pre-show advertisements last, on average, 20 to 30 minutes long. It is no surprise that AMC is continuing to dodge increasing its ticket prices as it has recently made several attempts to make moviegoing more affordable for consumers, who are battling inflation and higher costs of living. A few months ago, the theater chain added a new A-List Classic tier subscription to its flagship subscription service AMC Stubs A-List. The new tier offers a lower-price plan for guests who prefer to watch a maximum of one movie per week at AMC Classic locations. It also made several tweaks to AMC Stubs A-List to attract more frugal customers, such as expanding A-List weekly movie access from three titles a week to four, and lowering the age eligibility from 16 to 13 to attract more teens and families into theaters. During an earnings call in May, Aron said these changes are "designed to ease the pain of a healthy price increase." Related: Disney CEO offers unexpected response to tariff concerns The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
History Shows the Danger of Trump's Health Policies
U.S. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attend an event in the East Room of the White House on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit - Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images On May 11, 2023, President Joseph Biden ended the COVID-19 public health emergency, calling an finish to the pandemic. By the end of 2023, COVID-19 claimed the lives of over 20 million people around the world. But through international cooperation and evidence-based science, vaccines were developed and the world moved on. Indeed, perhaps the biggest success of the period was the quick production of a COVID-19 vaccine. The research behind the mRNA vaccine had been ongoing since the 1970s, but the emergency of the pandemic and international sharing of knowledge helped bring the vaccine to fruition. Today, the COVID-19 vaccine has been credited with saving 2.4 million lives around the world. But now, the U.S. is choosing competition over cooperation. With President Donald Trump's day one executive order to leave the World Health Organization (WHO)—blaming their COVID-19 response—and the shuttering of USAID, the country is taking steps towards further dividing health efforts across the globe. Here in the U.S., a sudden end to $11.4 billion of covid-related grants is stifling national pandemic preparedness efforts on the local and state levels. And most recently, Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. purged experts from the CDC Advisory Committee, putting lives at risk. Historical lessons demonstrate the need for global health infrastructure that works together, shares knowledge, and remembers that pathogens do not stop at borders. White House's Pandemic Office, Busy With Bird Flu, May Shrink Under Trump One of the greatest global health achievements of all time—smallpox eradication—provides a perfect example of what can be done with independent scientific research and international cooperation. During the Cold War between the U.S. and USSR, decades of tension brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Yet, incredibly, the nations managed to find common ground to support the efforts of smallpox eradication. Indeed, they understood the strategic benefits that came from letting public health practitioners and scientists work outside of political divides. The WHO was founded after World War II in 1948. Its formation marked a move from international health, that focused on nations, to global health, that would serve humanity first. The WHO's first eradication effort was the failed, U.S.-backed, Malaria Eradication Program from 1955 to 1969. The Smallpox Eradication Program, with intensive efforts beginning in 1967, provided a chance for redemption for the U.S. and WHO. For the United States, investing in disease eradication and poverty helped to mitigate growing backlash against the Vietnam War. In June of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson stated, 'I propose to dedicate this year to finding new techniques for making man's knowledge serve man's welfare.' He called for 1965—the same year he ordered ground troops to Vietnam to stop the spread of communism —to be a year of international cooperation that could bypass the politics of the Cold War. Previously, the USSR did not participate in the U.S. and WHO's first, failed global eradication plan for malaria. But upon rejoining the WHO in 1956, it was the Soviets who made the first call and investment into global eradication of smallpox in 1958. The WHO functioning as a mediator was crucial to allowing the USSR and the U.S. to work together. It allowed both nations to avoid giving credit to each other; rather success went to science itself. President Johnson called this 'a turning point' away from 'man against man' towards 'man against nature.' The limited role of politicians in the program proved to be key to its success. Scientists made decisions and worked together—no matter what country they came from—by focusing on disease and vaccination, not international tensions. The Soviet-initiated program was lead by Donald A. Henderson, a U.S. epidemiologist, who worked alongside the Russians until the last case of smallpox occurred in Somalia on October 26, 1977. During the 20th century, smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300 to 500 million deaths. Smallpox was officially declared eradicated by the WHO in October 1980, and is today still the only human disease to achieve this distinction. Less than a year after the declaration of smallpox eradication, the emergence of another pandemic, the HIV/AIDS crisis, reinforced the importance of science-first cooperation over politically-driven decision making. In June 1981, the first cases of a new unknown disease were reported in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In short order, gay men were stigmatized and blamed in what would become one of the biggest public health disasters of all time. It took years of grassroots science-based activism to move beyond HIV/AIDS victim-blaming and find medical solutions. The Poster Child for AIDS Obscured as Much About the Crisis as He Revealed Too often, governments across the globe placed blame on the gay community for their 'sins' and did not provide needed support, leaving the sick to suffer and die. The pharmaceutical companies profited from the limited medications they had available and did not pursue sufficient development. The FDA process for new drugs was scheduled to take nine years, at a time when life expectancy after receiving an HIV/AIDS diagnosis was one year. These issues sparked activism, spawning the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in 1987. ACT UP organizers took science into their own hands and began educating themselves. Members began reading scientific journals religiously, learning the chemistry and epidemiology of drug manufacturing and clinical trials. Members learned how to translate these dense scientific messages to educate the community members on what was—and what was not—being done to help. Because of this work, the FDA changed policies to allow for new treatments to be tested at accelerated rates in times of emergency. ACT UP was able to shift the cultural blame showing that the issue was a result of politics getting in the way of scientific advancements. By 1990, ACT UP influenced the largest federal HIV program to pass Congress, the Ryan White CARE Act. This program was a vital precursor to the 2003 PEPFAR (The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) global initiative. Both of these histories offer a powerful lesson: global health is national health, and national health is local health. With the recent funding cuts from the U.S. government, the future of global health is going in an unknown direction. And yet, the occurrence of pandemics is expected to increase in frequency due to climate change, mass migration, urbanization, and ecosystem destruction. It has been estimated that there is about a 25% chance we will have another COVID-sized pandemic within the next 10 years. No matter how secure the world makes borders, history shows that it can not protect us from disease if we do not have a strong, interconnected public health infrastructure. Luke Jorgensen is a Master of Public Health student at Purdue University where his epidemiology research examines human migration and infectious disease. Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors. Write to Made by History at madebyhistory@
