Struggling single-sex schools could be forced to choose between closure and co-education if Labour's VAT raid on fees cripples them financially, it has been suggested.
Competition, rising costs, and parental demands have seen dozens of single-sex institutions close, merge, or decide to admit both sexes since 2014.
There were 115 single-sex boy schools and 186 single-sex girl schools in the UK in 2014, Independent Schools Council (ISC) figures show. However this has dropped to 106 and 159 respectively in 2023.
At least twelve have gone co-educational in the past two years, a Times study revealed.
Independent schools can register as charities in return for acts that benefit the community.
But Labour plans to charge schools 20 per cent VAT and scrap the 80 per cent relief they receive on business rates.
The move could force bursars to hit families with higher charges from as early as next September, potentially pushing 90,000 priced-out youngsters into the state sector and piling pressure on the finances of any single-sex schools already teetering on the brink of insolvency.
