News

It has been announced today, that Maidwell Hall, the independent school for 4–13-year-old boys and girls, based in the Northamptonshire countryside, intends to close at the end of the summer term 2025. The school has entered a period of statutory consultation on the planned closure with staff, with findings expected by spring at the latest.

The proposed decision to close the school has been taken with profound regret. The school has for many years been operating at a financial loss and although there has been some growth in pupil numbers, the school has been adversely affected by external factors that have made it impossible for the school to continue.

The announcement today has been made early, at the start of the spring term, to allow the pupils and their families, as well as the staff to plan for the future.

Barbara Matthews, Chair of Trustees, said:

“We are deeply sorry to announce our intention to close Maidwell Hall at the end of the summer term 2025. We know how difficult this will be for parents, pupils and our loyal staff and apologise to the very many people who will be affected and for whom Maidwell Hall holds a special place in their lives. We feel especially for the pupils. The school is blessed with wonderfully gifted and well-rounded young people and the delight they take in school has made this decision doubly difficult.

On behalf of the Trustees, I would like to place on record our sincere gratitude to Anthony Rendall, the leadership team and all the staff at Maidwell Hall that have made such impressive progress on all fronts.” 

In 2022, Maidwell Hall faced almost certain insolvency and was rescued by the merger with Uppingham School, which repaid the six-figure bank loan for which the bank was seeking repayment. Since the merger, Uppingham has invested in the school, financially and educationally to improve the teaching environment, the buildings and the systems. Despite the very many positives, including an impressive improvement in the school under the new leadership team, the negative macro-economic forces have become unrelenting.

Within the independent sector, post Covid, there has been a marked trend towards parents choosing to send their children to school as day pupils rather than boarders which has reduced the income per child and thus increased the number of pupils necessary for the school to break even.

Further blows came in the Budget last November when the announcement of VAT on school fees and the elimination of business rates relief was confirmed, and the unexpected increase in National Insurance was announced. This forced the Trustees to recognise that the economic consequence was unavoidable - the school would need to close.

To put this in context; at the close of 2024, Maidwell Hall had 160 pupils. In 2021, the breakeven number was forecast at 200, by 2023 it was 225; now the forecasts show the school needs 250 fee-paying pupils to break even. With inflation, soaring energy costs and interest on loans this number will only increase.

The impact on the pupils, their families and the staff has been a major consideration and has made the decision much harder. Sadly though, the school must live within its economic means and despite its best efforts, the external factors that the school, and the wider independent sector face, have proven too strong.

Maidwell Hall will continue to be led by Anthony Rendall, until its proposed closure in July 2025, to ensure that there is continuity of the educational provision at the school. Additionally, the leadership team will act as the go-to ‘hub’ for information and independent guidance to support the Maidwell families in seeking alternative schools for their children. The staff at Maidwell know the character and strengths of each pupil and have a working knowledge of the local Prep School market which means they are expertly placed to provide guidance to match each child with the most appropriate, new school.

With all staff affected, the school will begin a statutory consultation period and will ensure that it follows all the processes required to support the Maidwell Hall staff. A pastoral support package will be put in place to help all affected by the news.

Barbara Matthews, Chair of Trustees, continued:

“The proposal to close Maidwell was made only after extensive consideration of other possibilities but there really was no evident solution to stemming the continuing financial losses and the need to increase from 160 to 250 fee-paying pupils. The Trustees are bound by charity law to ensure responsible governance and, regrettably, this sometimes involves making tough decisions – there is absolutely no doubt, that the Trustees have had to take a decision that none of us wanted to make.”

 

For parent queries, relating to the announcement, please contact: trustees@maidwellhall.co.uk

For parent queries, relating to your child, please contact: headmaster@maidwellhall.co.uk

For media enquiries, please contact: communications@maidwellhall.co.uk