Family & Education
Charedi grammar school warns of closure after funding shortfall
Parents told £250,000 needed before Pesach to keep Pardes House Grammar open
March 27, 2025 10:12
Parents told £250,000 needed before Pesach to keep Pardes House Grammar open
March 27, 2025 10:12An independent strictly Orthodox secondary London in north-west London is at risk of closing next month owing to a decline in parental contributions.
Parents of boys at Pardes House Grammar School in Finchley were informed this week that the school urgently required £250,000 before Pesach to remain open.
In a letter sent on Tuesday, chair of governors Moishe Lisser and governor Boruch Chaim Joseph warned: “As things stand at the moment, we require £250,000 before Pesach. We have huge liabilities, including HMRC, staff and suppliers. We are reluctant to say this, but if we cannot settle our debts imminently, our school will not be operable anymore and will not be opening after Pesach.”
In their letter, they stressed that Pardes House relied on parental support to remain viable: “We have previously mentioned that our school can only survive financially because of your regular contributions. However, there has been a significant decline in contributions received, and we are not able to function as a school in an orderly way.”
A spokesman for the school told the JC: “The school issued this letter to set the scene for our upcoming fundraising campaign, launching in the next few weeks, to ensure parents understand the seriousness of our financial situation and the consequences of not being able to meet our liabilities.
“In recent years, our parent body’s generosity and the wider community’s support have been crucial to maintaining the school’s operations, and we are confident this campaign will receive the same response.”
Pardes had been charging annual fees of £7,710, according to an Ofsted report three years ago. The following year another Ofsted report described the requested fee as “voluntary”. And in its most recent inspection in July last year, the school’s details referred instead to a "voluntary contribution" without giving a figure.
When asked if its switch from fees to voluntary contributions had been influenced by Labour tax plans, the school responded: “The voluntary contribution model aligns with the school’s ethos that no pupil is turned away due to financial constraints.”
In January this year, the Labour government implemented its manifesto pledge to impose VAT on private school fees. Donations, the Treasury has said, were "not subject to VAT".
Independent schools are also facing a second hit from the removal of the 80 per cent discount on business rates – which was due to come into effect shortly but which was voted down by the House of the Lords last week.
After first warning parents before Purim to pay their voluntary contributions, this week’s letter asked families to “give this matter your urgent attention”.
The Charedi school, which currently has 292 pupils aged from 11 to 16 on its roll, has faced financial crises before. In 2016, a funding shortfall led to the cancellation of secular lessons from lunchtime until staff salaries were paid, prompting some parents to settle outstanding fees and allowing classes to resume.
Its then deputy head David Vincent told the JC at the time: “It’s a problem for any independent school if parents don’t pay their fees on time.”
At last year’s inspection, Ofsted upgraded Pardes House’s rating from “inadequate” to “requires improvement.” Inspectors found the school “ambitious” for its pupils, offering a broad secular curriculum including GCSEs in English and maths. However, Ofsted noted that this ambition was “not consistently realised”.
While school leaders were praised for improvements in pupil behaviour, inspectors criticised its relationships and sex education (RSE) provision, stating that it did not fully meet requirements regarding teaching about different types of relationships.
