“It’s a brilliant school in County Kildare,” my sister, a retired teacher, told me.
The concept of pupils crossing the border to go to school wasn’t particularly novel. My four siblings and I all went to Friends’ School in Lisburn, a grammar school run by Quakers, and a number of fellow pupils when I was there were boarders who had moved from schools run by the Religious Society of Friends elsewhere in Ireland.
Curious to find out more about Clongowes Wood College, I googled it that evening.
The school’s website showed a grand nineteenth building set in a sprawling country estate. A video captured pupils playing a variety of sports including rugby, golf, fencing and swimming, playing music, studying in classrooms, at computer suites, in their rooms, and chatting with friends in the common rooms.
Clongowes Wood College SJ in County Kildare (Image: Clongowes Wood College SJ)
Alumni of the school included the writer James Joyce, the Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, and the former Tánaiste (foreign secretary) Simon Coveney.
“Clongowes Wood College is a leading boarding school set in beautiful surroundings, 30km from Dublin in the hear of the Co.Kildare countryside,” said the website which noted Clongowes is a Catholic School in the Jesuit tradition.
“Since 1814, Clongowes graduates have become leaders in the areas of business, sports, politics and the arts.Our warm and happy school puts the care and nurturing of each individual student at the heart of everything we do.”
It looked impressive, but what to me was perhaps the most surprising was the cost.
Sending one boy to board at Clongowes Wood College for a year would cost €26,550 (£22,800) a year – not much more than sending a child as a day pupil to an independent state school in Scotland which currently costs around £20,000.
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The cost for boarding at Clongowes prompted me to research fees for domestic day pupils at independent schools in Ireland, and these turned out to be around €9,360 (around £8,040) a year.
It didn’t take long to find out that Irish schools too had noticed the disparity in fees and were now actively promoting paying no VAT and substantially lower fees in an attempt to attract UK families, including those from Scotland.
The King’s Hospital School in Dublin, which offers day and boarding places to international pupils, says on its website: “Looking for an Irish boarding school with UK-level excellence and no VAT?
King’s Hospital School in Dublin is hoping to attract more pupils from Scotland and the UK. (Image: King’s Hospital School)
“The King’s Hospital School is a co-educational community combining strong academics, sport, and pastoral care, only 25 minutes from Dublin Airport. Founded in 1669, we are one of Ireland’s oldest and most respected boarding schools … Over 350 years of tradition. Excellent Leaving Cert results and college progression.
“Modern boarding houses with live-in staff. Sport, arts, music, and enrichment programmes …. Affordable fees for UK families.”
Alexandra College, an independent girls school in Dublin, has reported increased interest from UK families after the introduction of VAT on school fees.
The comparative affordability of Irish private schools has seen their intake rise.
Figures provided by the Irish Government said that between 2015 and 2025, showed that enrolments in fee-charging secondary schools increased by 11%.
During 2025-2026 there were 27,635 pupils in fee-charging independent schools, some 6.4% of the total post-primary enrolment.
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In contrast the number of pupils attending independent schools in Scotland has fallen. A report by Biggar Economics for the Scottish Council on Independent Schools found there were almost 3,000 fewer pupils in independent schools in Scotland (both primary and secondary) since the introduction of VAT on school fees in January 2025.
The SCIS said that the annual census in 2023, before the UK Labour Government imposed the education tax, the number of pupils in primary and secondary independent schools was 28,876. It added that this number fell to 27,781 in 2024 and fell again at the start of this school year to 25,919. Currently, some 4.2% of Scottish pupils attend independent schools (both primary and secondary).
The falling school rolls has also seen independent schools close in Scotland and schools selling off assets to help boost their finances.
In an interview last week Anthony Simpson, the principal of the newly merged Erskine Stewart Melville School (ESMS), said the institutions he oversees had been forced to adapt since the introduction of VAT on pupil fees.
Three adjoining Victorian villas in the affluent Ravelston area of Edinburgh, formerly used as boarding houses, have been among sites sold to fund the building required to complete the merger of Edinburgh’s Mary Erskine and Stewart Melville schools.
“I won’t name names, but you will soon see which schools are selling off property and rationalising on to one site because their numbers have dropped or because they need the funds to be able to plug a short-term gap,” he told The Scotsman.
“If we hadn’t taken significant action, then we’d have been worried about the future of the school, and I think that’s true for all schools in Scotland and beyond. I’ve worked in lots of other schools in the UK, and they’re all having the same conversations.”
Several private schools have shut in Scotland in the past two years citing financial pressures. These include Fernhill School in Rutherglen, and Drumduan School near Forres. The latter was co-founded by the Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton.
Earlier this year Hutchesons’ Grammar School in the Southside of Glasgow put its primary school building in Kingarth Street and later its tennis courts in Darnley Gardens up for sale with both primary and secondary pupils to be located at the school’s Beaton Road campus.
Hutchesons’ Grammar school in the Southside of Glasgow (Image: Colin Mearns)
In Scotland the pressure on independent schools has risen in the wake of government policies.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s private schools in the UK received state support through the assisted funding scheme brought in by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government.
Under the policy the state paid all or part of the tuition fees for academically very able children from lower-income backgrounds to attend private secondary schools.
Labour under Prime Minister Tony Blair scrapped the scheme after it won the 1997 general election.
Then, upon returning to power in 2024 the Labour Government removed the VAT exemption for private schools across the UK in January 2025, meaning they are now subject to the standard 20% VAT.
In Scotland, the move by Keir Starmer‘s new government came on top of a decision to strip most mainstream independent schools of charitable rates relief from April 2022, meaning they are now paying full business rates on often large campuses.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government brought in VAT on private school fees. (Image: Stefan Rousseau)
As well as VAT on fees, the SCIS pointed to other rising costs including a 30% increase in nationally determined teacher employment costs, higher National Insurance contributions and rising energy prices.
Meanwhile, Irish schools have managed to prevent fees from steeply soaring – helped by subsidies given to them by the Irish Government to support teaching costs.
“It is worth noting that fee-paying schools in Ireland also benefit from some state support towards teaching costs,” said Daniel Kruger, admissions and international liaison manager at Alexandra College which has seen increased interest among UK pupils to board at the school.
“Together with Alexandra College’s not-for-profit structure, this helps us direct resources back into the girls’ education, our teachers and the continued development of our facilities.”
So what is the impact of the closure of private schools and their falling rolls. And should parents, pupils and teachers in the state system be worried?
The SCIS certainly think so. It told The Herald that the falling number of people attending independent schools has been accompanied by an increase in pupils in the state system – adding to pressures that state schools were already facing.
At the same time, while both private and state secondary schools in Ireland have seen an increase in pupils (the latter by 24% in the past decade), the whole secondary school system there is performing well.
“The Irish education system is outperforming many in the world,” said a Kings Hospital School spokeswoman.
“Singapore is the gold standard but [our school] hosted a delegation from the Singapore Department of Education earlier this year so they could understand our Transition Year which they hope to introduce there.”
The latest PISA figures for 2022, compiled by the OECD, put Ireland first in reading of EU and OECD countries.England came seventh and Scotland 10th. For maths Ireland was placed fourth of the OECD countries, England 10th and Scotland 29th.
The Kings Hospital School spokeswoman noted the teaching subsidy role played by the Irish Government in keeping school fees lower than UK schools.
“The UK independent schools did have subsidies until the late 90s, which then resulted in increased fees and made the system less accessible for families,” she said.
“The VAT increase has now compounded that. There are many political arguments for and against subsidising schools, which inevitably rise up at election time, but it comes back to choice for parents and students who wish to pay more for their education and giving a wider demographic of families those options.
“All children have the right to an education and the government would have to pay all those teachers salaries anyway if fee-paying students had to enter the public system.”
For now at least the UK Government is not inclined to review its policy on charging VAT fees on schools nevermind re-instate teaching subsidies for private schools.
But private schools in Scotland warn such policies have severely backfired – not just for people involved in education but also to the wider public purse. Lisa Kerr, principal of George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, told The Herald last month that since the introduction of VAT on school fees pupil numbers in Edinburgh have fallen by 11%.
George Watson’s College in Edinburgh. (Image: Steve Cox)
“Independent schools are not immune from the significant financial pressures affecting charities, families and businesses across Scotland. Fee increases in recent years have reflected substantial cost increases beyond schools’ control, including VAT on fees, a 30 per cent increase in nationally determined teacher employment costs, higher National Insurance contributions, rising energy prices, and the removal of business rates relief,” said Lorraine Davidson, chief executive of the SCIS.
“The largest expense for any school is investing in high-quality teaching and support staff. Independent schools provide around 12,000 jobs across Scotland and spent £359 million on salaries and £216 million on employment taxes last year.
“Schools work hard to manage costs responsibly, absorb increases where possible and maintain access through fee assistance and bursary programmes.
“The suggestion that schools have simply chosen to increase fees misunderstands the scale of these external cost pressures.
“Meanwhile because of the failed VAT policy, taxpayers in Scotland will have to pay an extra £16 million this year, rising to £200 million annually by 2038 for the cost of educating more pupils at the taxpayers’ expense.”
The Scottish Conservative MSP Meghan Gallacher last week called for Holyrood‘s new education committee to examine the impact on all schools of VAT on private school fees.
Scottish Conservative MSP Meghan Gallacher. (Image: PA)
“Labour’s VAT raid on school fees is looking increasingly indefensible, yet they seem determined to plough on regardless of the mounting evidence that their policy is hurting families and schools,” she said.
“This is ideological policymaking at its worst – imposing a tax without properly considering the consequences and expecting children, parents and schools to pay the price.”
Members of the committee will decide on their work programme this week.
And if they do decide to take a look at what is happening to Scotland’s private schools, I would hope they would also examine the Irish private school model and see if there are any lessons that can be learn from the education system there.