Issue 5: A Briefing on the Business of Education and Creative Thinking
Latest independent school sector analysis, highlights for your planner, and Bridget Riley on Learning to See.
ANALYSIS / Sector Update
💭 Jonathan Lloyd
What’s happening in UK independent education? That was the question I asked last week on LinkedIn, and one worth building on again.
1. Market activity
From 2024 through to 2025, activity across the independent education sector has blown up. Activity covers acquisitions, mergers, investment, closures, and strategic partnerships. Appointments in the sector are a recent addition to the tracking, so please do send any relevant announcements my way.
The scale of movement has been fascinating, arguably unprecedented. Yet, this is a resilient sector. Historically, it has adapted in moments of disruption - during World War Two, for example - though the current pressures in 2025 are of a different kind: economic, political, structural, demographic, technological, and cultural.
Teaching in the sector, I’m still struck by how little open discussion or reflection there is about the impact of these shifts. How do schools adapt? I expect further activity before the end of 2025*.
2. Type of market activity
The chart below breaks down activity by type: closures account for 31%, while acquisitions make up 37%. When combined with mergers, these represent more than half of all movements tracked.
It’s been a highly active period, reshaping the sector in visible ways. For example, the acquisition of Shrewsbury High School by Inspired Learning Group will see the school move to co-education. Elsewhere, St Paul’s School Group has consolidated its position by forming a new Research Centre for the Education of Boys - a strategic, forward-looking move that other school leadership teams might study. It is positioning itself as “leaders in educating boys”. Meanwhile, down the river, Westminster School continues its move to co-education and pre-prep for 2026.
Overall, the picture is one of flux - uncertain, unsettled, but revealing all the same.
Summary
To summarise, my aims in tracking this are threefold:
To build relationships with colleagues working in and around the sector.
To understand how the sector is changing and what that creates for the future.
To share how independent schools are adapting, creatively and strategically.
In his recent piece, Neil Roskilly (former CEO of the Independent Schools Association, 2009–2020) offers a valuable overview of the sector. He references a BBC Radio 4 discussion between David Yelland and Simon Lewis, on When It Hits the Fan, which explores the PR communication challenges facing independent schools.
Having worked in PR at Citigate Dewe Rogerson, I recognise many of the same challenges. As Yelland highlights, the sector needs to know its numbers. Data is vital to the long-term sustainability of independent schools. It enables management teams to demonstrate impact, plan strategically, and communicate clearly on message.
That’s the opportunity here - to understand the data, and to use it not just defensively, but to tell a stronger story about what independent education can look like.
* Data gathered from sources at time of writing and subject to changes.
I also publish previews of the Class Futures Briefings using LinkedIn newsletters. If you’ve subscribed there too, thank you. Your support is genuinely appreciated. The newsletter series looks at how education, technology, and business are changing, and how creative thinking helps us make sense of it.
You can reply to this email with news and events, or connect with me on LinkedIn.
PLANNER
✏️ Pencil it in
DEBATE / Leave Private Schools Alone!
On 19 November, The Spectator hosts a live debate on the future of private education. Toby Young and David Starkey defend independent schools against David Aaronovitch and Stella Tsantekidou. With VAT on fees and school closures looming, expect a lively discussion. Tickets here.
CONFERENCE / Jason Bradbury headlines Berkhamsted’s IT Shindig
Former Gadget Show presenter Jason Bradbury headlines Berkhamsted School’s IT Conference, 26–27 November at the Crowne Plaza Gerrards Cross. Now in its fourth year, the event explores AI and edtech best practice. Tickets from £120 + VAT. Register here.
SOCIAL / Partnerships Week 2025
Does your school work in partnership with other schools or community groups? ISC wants to hear about it. Share your work on social media from 10–16 November, tag Independent Schools Council and use #PowerOfPartnerships and #SchoolsTogether. Make sure you tell your colleagues.
RESOURCES / ISC Partnerships Booklet
The ISC’s new Celebrating Partnerships booklet is live! Read how state and independent schools are working together to support education policy, with an introduction by Julie Robinson. My favourite story? Page 8 with Year 11 pupils learning Greek thanks to Winchester College. Read it here.
CULTURE / Bridget Riley: Learning to See
In her Lunch with the FT, artist Bridget Riley called her schooling “patchy”, but credited “the healing power of looking” for calm and creativity. Experience that power at her exhibition Learning to See at Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent.
‘Bridget Riley: Learning to See’, turnercontemporary.org, November 22 to May 4, free.
“The more constraint one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit.”
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