INDEPENDENT schools are anxiously waiting to find out whether they can keep their charitable status, as the regulator prepares to report on its investigations.
Across Scotland, 11 private schools have undergone a thorough inspection by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) to see whether they are of enough public benefit to be classed as a charity, which gives them thousands of pounds of tax c
uts each year.
If the OSCR decides a school's fees are too restrictive or its facilities are not open to the public, the school could face being struck off the charity register.
OSCR has said it will publish its report this month, and education insiders have said they expect the findings to emerge within the next few days.
The schools include the country's most expensive, Gordonstoun in Elgin, where Prince Charles was educated, Hutchesons' in Glasgow, St Leonard's in St Andrews and Merchiston Castle and George Heriot's schools in Edinburgh.
The inspections have taken place as part of a rolling review of all charities in Scotland by OSCR, which is also inspecting 19 other "priority" charities, including membership organisations and care providers.
The regulator was due to report on the schools' charitable status in May after beginning the review in September last year, but it extended the inspection period until this month.
Each school will receive an individual report on its performance, which is based on an examination of paperwork from its founding documents to current financial assistance packages for parents, as well as how much the community can use its facilities.
If OSCR deems the school unfit for charitable status, it will be given a deadline by which to improve the situation, or it will lose its right to call itself a charity. Although OSCR cannot remove the school's lucrative tax cuts, HM Revenue and Customs are likely to strip the organisation of that right if it falls off the charities list.
Head teachers are expected to be given 24 hours notice before the reports are made public.
The full article contains 343 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
