Calls for inquiry after historic UK private school shuts with no warning

Ministers are being urged to investigate how a historic UK private school was allowed to collapse suddenly, just months after being taken over by a new owner.

Leweston School, a Catholic boarding and day school near Sherborne, Dorset, told parents and pupils it would not reopen its doors after the October half term, giving them no warning of the closure. The school, which charges up to £14,990 per term, was originally founded in 1891 as St Anthony’s, but was sold to a subsidiary of Concept Education in December 2025.

MPs in Dorset are now calling on the department for education (DfE) to launch an inquiry into the institution’s closure after nearly 600 pupils were thrown into uncertainty, parents left out of pocket, and staff left without pay.

Edward Morello, the Liberal Democrat MP for West Dorset, and Simon Hoare, the Conservative MP for North Dorset, both told The Times that neither elected representatives nor the local authority were alerted about plans to close the school.

“I am outraged that Concept made the decision to close the school with no advance warning to staff or parents,” Mr Morello told the newspaper.

In a statement on its website the school said: “We are very sorry what this means for our pupils, their families and our staff, and for how little notice we have been able to give.

“Families and staff have been contacted directly.”

In a letter to parents reported by the BBC, Concept chief executive Hugh Dickinson said: "Leweston was already in serious financial difficulty before Concept became involved.

"It was losing money, and there was a real risk that it would close and that its land would be sold.

"While a due diligence exercise had been undertaken prior to acquisition, issues in the school's operations subsequently emerged that were far beyond anything we could have anticipated."

Parents, pupils, and staff members have formed a working group to protest its closure and call for it to be reopened.