Two Scottish independent schools are to merge, saying that the new set-up will be “far more efficient” and help to “limit substantial fee rises”.
From January, the UK government plans to put VAT on school fees, but the sector in Scotland has warned that it has no financial capacity to absorb this and that it will lead to school closures and job cuts, as well as an influx of pupils into the state sector.
Now Stewart’s Melville College and The Mary Erskine School, both in Edinburgh, have announced a plan to merge and become a single, co-educational 3-18 school - Erskine Stewart Melville (ESM) - from 2026-27.
Asked by Tes Scotland whether the merger would result in compulsory redundancies, ESM principal Anthony Simpson said: “As we change the structure of the schools, the number of staff required will also change.”
Private schools’ merger plan
Mr Simpson added, however, that reductions in staffing would likely have been greater without the merger. The new set-up will ”make the school more attractive to families, allowing us to mitigate reductions in the school roll and therefore maintain teacher numbers to a greater extent than would otherwise be possible”, he said.
He explained that a ”key part of this process” will be consultation with “staff whose roles may be affected by the development of new staffing structures”, which has already begun.
Mr Simpson added: “We have deliberately given ourselves two years to implement the new structure and would expect there to be an element of natural turnover which enables us to mitigate compulsory reductions to roles.”
The Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), in its official response to the UK government’s plans to put VAT on school fees from January, warned that schools have “little to no ability” to absorb VAT on fees because of the removal of business rates relief in 2022 and “significant increases in the cost of employing teachers”.
If the VAT policy goes ahead, it said, “the only financial lever open to most schools in Scotland” would be “to reduce staffing levels of both teaching and non-teaching staff”.
‘Several factors’ behind recent school closures
The SCIS said VAT on fees was “one of several factors” that led to the recent decisions to close Kilgraston School in Perthshire and Cedars School in Greenock.
Stewart’s Melville College and The Mary Erskine School already operate in part as co-educational schools, with the junior school and sixth forms delivering the curriculum in this way. As the merger takes place, every year group will become co-educational.
After the merger there will be just three single-sex independent schools in Scotland: St George’s in Edinburgh and St Margaret’s in Aberdeen, which are both girls’ schools, and Merchiston Castle in Edinburgh, a boys’ school.
Scotland’s last remaining single-sex state school - Notre Dame High in Glasgow - began admitting boys in August 2021.
Mr Simpson said the “new simplified structure” created by the merger will help the schools to “broaden the curriculum and create a more inclusive environment that reflects the modern world”.
He said the decision followed a comprehensive review of the schools’ operations, including a thorough assessment of the curriculum, co-curricular opportunities, wellbeing provision and operational efficiency.
Mr Simpson added: “The new structure is far more efficient, and beyond unavoidable VAT increases, it will help us to limit substantial fee rises. Crucially, it will also enable us to continue investing in innovative teaching and learning.”
Erskine Stewart Melville Senior School will be located at the Stewart’s Melville site on Queensferry Road, whilst Erskine Stewart Melville Junior School will be on the Ravelston site.
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