'No plans' for closed private school site

There are currently "no plans" for the site of a private school that closed last month due to financial difficulties.

Our Lady's Abingdon (OLA), in Oxfordshire, closed in August after a drop in pupil numbers, with its leadership partly blaming the introduction of VAT on school fees.

Its owners, the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, a catholic order based in Leeds, said it hoped to find a "charitable" use for the land and buildings.

In a statement the order said it was informed of the school's financial problems just "days" before its closure was announced.

The school was founded by the order in the 19th Century before being entered into a 99-year lease to a charity run by its governors, Our Lady's Abingdon Trustees Ltd, in 2007.

The order had no oversight of the school after this time, other than having a single governor on its board until 2022. It will now take back control of the site.

The Institute of Our Lady of Mercy said the school's leadership had "recently" asked for a reduction to its lease arrangement to safeguard the school's future.

"While we were sympathetic to their needs, we simply couldn't reduce their favourable terms further without potentially destabilising other areas of our charitable work," it said.

The order said it only became aware of the school's dire financial position "days" before its closure was announced.

"We are only now finding out about the real extent of the problem at the same time as other creditors," it said.

It said the closure would have a "significant" impact on its operations and it believed it would be "unlikely to recover any rent arrears and costs".

It emerged this week that parents of children at the school were also unlikely to be paid back for any money lost through deposits or pre-paid fees due to the extent of the school's debts.

Former staff, however, are likely to be paid a single sum through the government's Redundancy Payment Service.

Security measures are now being put in place to protect the school's buildings and playing fields while they lie empty.

Following the school's closure, parents and families criticised the school's leadership for "dropping off the face of the earth".

The order said the "human cost" of the school's closure should not be forgotten.

"Education has been disrupted, jobs lost and a school community disbanded. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all those most impacted by this news," it added.