Daily summary of the latest news and opinions from the world of independent education bought to you by Education Advisers...

Private schools to save £522m in tax thanks to charitable status

Private schools are set to get tax rebates totalling £522m over the next five years as a result of their controversial status as charities, according to a study of local council records.

Charitable organisations in England and Wales are entitled to relief of 80% on the business rates payable on the buildings they use, and some of the country’s best-known private schools qualify under the rules.

Business rates firm CVS sent freedom of information requests to councils, and responses from 132 showed that 586 out 1,038 private schools, including Eton College and Dulwich College, held charitable status and were granted the mandatory relief.

Its analysis of government data suggested that on 2,707 properties classified as private schools there would be a business rates bill of around £1.16bn over the next five years. Extrapolating from the data received from councils, it forecast that £634m would be paid, with £522m saved through the schools’ charitable status.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jun/11/private-schools-tax-charitable-status-eton-dulwich-college

See also: Private schools will be forced to sponsor state sector or lose charitable status

Rise of the 'live-in' tutor as families move teachers in for the summer holidays

Parents hoping to give their children an academic edge over their peers once confined extra tuition to a few hours after school or on weekends. But now the competition to get children into their school or university of choice has fuelled a rise in live-in tutors, which has become the latest tactic in the tutoring arms race.

A growing number of companies already offer holiday tutors who will travel abroad with affluent families abroad for one or two weeks so that their children can study on ski slopes or at the beach.

But the London based company Tutor House this week unveiled a package for a “residential tutor” who would live in the family homes for up to ten weeks - the entire duration of the summer holidays.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/10/rise-live-in-tutor-families-move-teachers-summer-holidays/

See also: Best Summer Schools