Credit: This story was first seen on The Telegraph
One of Britain’s leading private schools has been exposed for being prepared to accept vast donations to secure places for the children of overseas parents, The Telegraph reports.
David Fletcher, the registrar at Stowe until last week, was filmed saying a six-figure payment would be helpful when there was a ‘marginal decision’ over whether a pupil should be admitted.
Mr Fletcher, 60, told an undercover reporter that one overseas family had recently given £100,000 towards a project at the school, to help secure a place for their child.
Stowe, whose alumni include Sir Richard Branson, David Niven and two of Prince Harry’s former girlfriends, said that Mr Fletcher had now resigned, having made ‘inaccurate and inappropriate statements’.
The disclosure will raise questions about whether some public schools are willing to bend admissions rules for wealthy foreign parents, as well as the potential for other pupils to be denied places in favour of families who can afford to make generous donations.
Almost one in 10 public school pupils is from overseas, with the number from China trebling in the past decade amid rising fees.
The Telegraph investigation also found that educational consultants were prepared to facilitate payments of up to £5m to high-profile public schools on behalf of families hoping to win places for overseas children.
Two agents in London said donations would help to secure places.
One suggested that any link between a payment and an offer of a school place could be downplayed by ensuring that the money was not donated until after the child had started.
He named one high-profile school where ‘if there is an opening to be exploited I know those guys, they’re ruthless and they will push for five [million pounds]’.
After receiving information that specific schools and agencies were taking money from wealthy foreign parents to secure places for their children, Telegraph reporters posed as representatives of a Russian businessman who wanted his son to study in England.
Over a number of months, reporters met several education consultants and school representatives, including Mr Fletcher.
The female reporter asked whether her firm’s clients could ‘guarantee’ places.
Mr Fletcher said they had to be “very careful” and that children always “have to be able to pass [the entrance exams]”, but payments would be looked upon favourably.
Separately, William Petty, a director of Bonas MacFarlane consultants, said it might be difficult to find a place because many schools were full. When the reporter asked whether there were other “avenues”, Mr Petty said that while London schools would not let admissions be affected by donations, other institutions could be open to payments.
Mr Petty, whose consultancy charges £10,000 for each child who is found a place at a school, said that although there were rules, it might be possible for them to be “seriously bent”.