Kings, which has other places in Bournemouth, Brighton, and Oxford, will cease operations at its London (Beckenham) campus at the end of the current academic term on March 20, it revealed recently.
It has cited “external pressures” such as a VAT tax being added to private school charges impacting trainee enrolments as a factor for the choice.
A continuity plan is helping all impacted trainees transition to other Kings colleges or to its brand-new area in London, which will primarily be utilized for English language progams.
Andrew Hutchinson, CEO of Kings Education, stated that the international education sector in the UK and the United States continues to battle “considerable macro challenges”– but stressed that the “important strategic reconfiguration” the group had made to its UK operations would only prime it for growth.
“In spite of the sadness we feel in requiring to make the really hard choice to stop operations at our Beckenham website, we believe the future stays brilliant for operators like Kings with adequate versatility to adjust to new market standards and opportunities,” he stated. “We anticipate a successful future with purpose and enjoyment.”
However regardless of the decision to close the Beckenham campus, the Kings group is broadening its portfolio in London with a new place for its ELT programs, which will be helped with by INTO.
And the group is looking to expand its reach in the United States through new collaborations with Tenenssee Tech University and California State University Stanislaus, it stated.
The news of the Beckenham school closure comes at an unstable time for the K-12 sector in the UK, as rising operating expense and policy flux come home to roost.
“The decision to stop operations at our Beckenham school has been taken purely due to external pressures beyond our control,” checked out a declaration on the Kings Education website. “In particular, the intro of 20% tax on independent school costs by the UK government has triggered a substantial decline in student enrolments throughout Kings and the larger sector.”
In particular, the introduction of 20% tax on independent school charges by the UK government has triggered a significant decline in student enrolments throughout Kings and the wider sector
Kings Education
A policy requiring private schools to pay barrel on their costs was presented by the Labour government at the beginning of 2025, leading to widespread fears that parents would turn to other options once schools were required to pass on the expenses by method of higher charges. A legal case fighting for the policy to be reversed has been dismissed.
The VAT policy has actually caused consternation throughout the sector. Speaking with The PIE News previously this year– one year on from when the policy was first implemented– Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA) CEO and founder Hugh Viney predicted that its “ripple effects” would continue to be felt as parents turned away from the private sector and schools were required to close.
Viney told The PIE that lots of moms and dads were being “evaluated” of traditional private schools due to rising fees, leading them to take a look at alternative arrangement such as MVA, whose expenses as an online operator were always inclusive of barrel, even before the policy entered effect.
“But then the pattern you’ll see, ideally, to conserve those schools will be more [of them] joining groups,” he recommended.
Framlingham School in Suffolk announced previously this month that it will sign up with the Mill Hill Education Group, although it worried that the choice has actually not been made with a “profit-driven deal” in mind.
Charles Packshaw, chair of guvs at the school said it was a “purposeful and forward-looking choice, taken from a strong position”.
“We are securing what defines the college while opening new chances for our students and personnel,” he stated.
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