I wasn’t aware that independent private schools even had charity status until Ian Bone highlighted this issue with Eton but it baffles me as to why it is allowed. I have been researching how to get an organisation registered for charity status, as People for Portland Road (the collective I work with to make South Norwood a better place!) would benefit from this, and you have to evidence the benefits that you give to the element of society that you claim to be supporting, monetary as well as physical.

I’m not sure how this applies to private schools. Perhaps it’s becaus ethey give bursaries to the poor to allow them the privelidge of going to their school? Perhaps it’s because all their pupils will benefit society in the long run? Or perhaps they have exploited some slack definition by the charity commission, and utilising to benefit nobody but there own benefactors? May I even go further to suggest that affluent people may be able to use the charity status of the school in order to make their own accounts efficient from a tax perspective.

Any institution that promotes and practices elitism, and has an admission policy that only favours those who are deemed desirable to attend, should be taxed more not less. At the least they should be only given charity status if they have there own nuclear bunker!