Immanuel College in Bushey is offering additional bursaries in order to alleviate the pressure on places at Jewish secondary schools in London for the new academic year.
Fees at the private school are now at £28,630 a year following the government’s imposition of VAT on private school fees but bursaries on offer can cover all of the costs.
Immanuel said it was working with Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS) to try to ensure children had a school to go to and had made extra funding and places available.
Immanuel chairman Daniel Levy said it “was important that Immanuel College recognises the situation affecting many families in our community and responds accordingly.
“Our commitment is to ensure that no child who would thrive in our environment feels unable to be part of the Immanuel family due to financial constraints.”
PaJeS said there had been an “exceptionally high volume” of applications to Jewish secondary schools for year 7 in September which appeared to have “been driven by several factors, including growing concerns about antisemitism in mainstream educational settings and the recent implementation of VAT on independent school fees”.
Jewish state schools in the capital had offered 130 additional places beyond their official maximum.
The JC understands that JFS has offered around 340 places – compared to its official maximum of 300.
PaJeS said, “We anticipate that more places will become available in the coming weeks. A number of families are currently holding places at Jewish secondary schools while also considering independent school options. As these families finalise their decisions and release their places, schools will offer these spots to children on waiting lists according to their established admissions policies.”
Appealing to parents, PaJeS said that if their child now had a place at a Jewish school, “please tell us so we can take you off our list for communications. Additionally, if you receive a place in future weeks, please let us know. “
It advised parents that if their children had been offered a place in a Jewish school “which is not your preferred option, do not expect that you will receive a place in a different Jewish school”.
