Eton College - Charitable Status and Fees

Charitable Status and Fees

Until 18 December 2010, Eton College was an exempt charity under English law (Charities Act 1993, Schedule 2). Under the provisions of the Charities Act 2006, it is now an excepted charity, and fully registered with the Charities Commission, and is now one of the 100 largest charities in the UK. As a charity, it benefits from substantial tax breaks. It was calculated by David Jewell, master of Haileybury, that in 1992 such tax breaks saved the school about £1,945 per pupil per year, although he has no direct connection with the school. This subsidy has declined since the 2001 abolition by the Labour Government of state-funded scholarships (formerly known as "assisted places") to independent schools. However, no child attended Eton on this scheme, meaning that the actual level of state assistance to the school has always been lower. Eton's headmaster, Tony Little, has claimed that the benefits that Eton provides to the local community free of charge (use of its facilities, etc.) have a higher value than the tax breaks it receives as a result of its charitable status. The fee for the academic year 2010-2011 is £29,862 (approximately US$48,600 or €35,100 as of March 2011), although the sum is considerably lower for those pupils on bursaries and scholarships.

Eton runs a number of courses for pupils from the maintained sector (state schools), most of them in the summer holidays (July and August). Started in 1982, the Universities Summer School is an intensive residential course open to boys and girls throughout the UK who attend maintained schools, are at the end of their first year in the Sixth Form, and are about to begin their final year of schooling. The Brent-Eton Summer School, started in 1994, offers 40-50 young people from the London Borough of Brent a one-week programme, free of charge, designed to bridge the gap between GCSE and A-level. The school also runs a number of choral courses during the summer months.