Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the charitable status of independent schools.

The Department has made no recent estimate of the cost to the public purse of the charitable status of independent schools.

In May 2018, the Department for Education and the Independent Schools Council (ISC) agreed a joint understanding designed to expand the participation of independent schools across the system through cross-sector partnerships and initiatives such as targeted bursaries. The Government continues to work constructively with the independent schools’ sector, in line with the joint understanding, to maximise the social benefits that can be generated for their communities.