25-05-2025
Edinburgh child 'denied free education at hospital' as they attend private school
Sick children are being refused free education at an Edinburgh hospital if they go to private schools.
Outraged parents claim they have been left to pay as much as £115 an hour for one-to-one tutoring if their child is receiving treatment at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and attends private school.
However, state-school children receive free classes if they are too sick to attend school. The Daily Mail reports how one little boy who spent months at the hospital had to watch as children in neighbouring beds received daily schooling.
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The hospital uses tutors provided by Edinburgh Council and at other prominent children's hospital, including Great Ormond Street, education is provided free of charge to all patients.
When approached for comment, councillor James Dalgleish claimed the hospital was 'following Scottish Government guidance'.
However, a spokesperson for the Scottish Government said hospital education fees is a matter for the local authority and NHS board to consider with independent schools.
When one parent complained, the council's Head of Education (Inclusion), Dr Lynne Binnie allegedly told them 'unfortunately, as you have chosen to privately educate your son, he cannot be supported by this team – you have effectively opted out of state-funded education and supports'.
Parents have since criticised the policy, saying it denies their children 'a basic human right'.
The mother of one child in Edinburgh explained how her son became seriously ill in August 2024 and was hospitalised within days.
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"He faced months on a hospital ward in tightly controlled conditions, unable to go home or go to school," she told The Mail on Sunday.
"We immediately thought, 'What are we going to do about school?', but we were told there was an amazing tutor on the ward.
"When they realised he went to a private school, they told us there was a problem. We challenged it but... it was, 'You have decided to go private so you're not getting any of the benefits now".'
The mother, a lawyer, said she and her husband were in no doubt that "very sick children were the victims of a divisive and ideological policy."
Unable to afford the charges, the family resorted to teaching their son, now eight, who normally attends George Watson's College, themselves.
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Craig Hoy MSP, vowed to raise the issue at Holyrood and added: "Councils should not be levying these punitive charges on sick children."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Decisions around fees for Hospital Education Services are a matter for local authorities and NHS Boards to consider with Independent Schools as appropriate."
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