One of UK’s oldest private schools once attended by John Lennon’s son is put up for sale for £5million after shock closure
Ruthin School, one of the UK's oldest private schools with origins dating back to 1284, has been put up for sale for £5million after closing in July following Labour's VAT changes on school fees and mounting financial pressures. The Denbighshire school, which had 201 pupils and counted John Lennon's son Julian among its former students, entered administration despite new owners injecting £6.4million into the institution as recently as March 2023.
The 13.7-acre estate includes 12 buildings, a sports field, woodland and more than 24 acres of agricultural land, with administrators saying buyers could continue its educational use or pursue alternative development. The school had posted losses of up to £955,000 in recent years, and boarding fees rose sharply from £45,690 to £54,828 in the past year alone. It is among more than 100 private schools to have closed as pupil numbers nationally fall, with 526,611 pupils now enrolled in private education, down from 556,551 two years ago, a decline officials say may exceed Labour's original forecasts.
- 742-year-old Ruthin School closes, put up for sale for £5million
- Closure blamed on Labour's VAT raid and years of financial losses
- Part of wider trend: over 100 UK private schools have shut
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Ruthin School has stood in Denbighshire, north Wales, since 1284, making it one of Britain's oldest private schools. Its former pupils include Julian Lennon, son of Beatle John Lennon. The school closed in July 2026 and went into administration, meaning its finances are now being handled by insolvency specialists tasked with settling debts and selling off assets, including the school's buildings and land.
The closure comes as private schools across the UK face financial strain, partly linked to the Labour government's decision to remove the VAT exemption on private school fees, which pushed up costs for parents. Ruthin had already taken a fresh injection of investment in 2023, but this was not enough to keep it afloat, and it had been posting significant annual losses. Boarding fees had also risen sharply in its final year.
The case is one example of a wider trend, with over a hundred private schools in the UK having closed recently and overall pupil numbers in the sector falling. This matters because it reflects ongoing debate about the financial health of independent education, the impact of government tax policy on schools, and the future of historic institutions and the land and buildings they occupy.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the VAT change argue that ending the tax exemption on private school fees is a matter of basic fairness, closing a loophole that let wealthier families avoid VAT other consumers pay on comparable services, and that the revenue raised is needed to fund state education, including thousands of additional teachers. They contend that a sector serving a small minority of pupils should not receive preferential tax treatment, and that any consolidation among smaller or financially fragile private schools reflects market realities rather than a policy failure, particularly as schools like Ruthin had already been struggling with losses and had required emergency investment before the VAT change took effect.
The case against
Critics of the policy argue that removing the VAT exemption imposes an ideologically driven tax rise that falls hardest on smaller, less well-endowed schools with thin margins, tipping already vulnerable institutions like Ruthin into closure and threatening jobs, heritage buildings and rural communities that depend on them. They point out that pupils displaced from closing schools add pressure to state schools and local authorities, undermining the policy's stated aim of strengthening state education, and that the decline in private school enrolment exceeding official forecasts suggests the financial impact on families and institutions was underestimated, with historic schools dating back centuries being lost as a result.