Oxford private school blames VAT for administration as deal struck

Touchload Limited, the company trading as Kings Oxford, was placed into administration by the High Court earlier this month.

Joint administrators Stephen Katz and Mr David Lawrence Birne of BTG Begbies Traynor (London) LLP were appointed on Thursday, April 9.

Public filings show Touchload remains listed as an active private limited company, with its most recent accounts covering the year to December 31, 2024 and its next set of accounts still due by October 1, 2026.

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Kings Oxford. (Image: Kings Oxford)

The administration order allows insolvency practitioners to take control of the business while options are explored, including a potential rescue, sale or managed wind‑down.

Kings Oxford, which operates from its St Joseph’s Campus in Temple Road, Cowley, and a city centre site in St Michael’s Street, offers GCSEs, A‑levels, foundation programmes and English language courses for UK and international day and boarding students.

Its current fee table shows A‑level programmes priced at more than £33,000 per year and GCSE courses in the low‑to‑mid £30,000s.

An Ofsted boarding inspection in May 2023 rated the overall experiences, progress, safeguarding and leadership at Kings Oxford as good.

In a detailed statement, a spokesperson for Kings Oxford linked the college’s financial pressures to the Government’s policy of imposing VAT on private school fees.

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Kings Oxford. (Image: Kings Oxford)

The spokesperson said: “Since the Government’s imposition of VAT on private school fees Kings Oxford, along with many private schools in the UK, has experienced a significant drop in student enrolments over the past 18 months.

“The impact among international schools such as ours has been even more severe because parents of international students have multiple English‑speaking options for their children’s education abroad.

“It became clear that the most viable way of ensuring educational continuity for our students would be by being part of a larger, more stable educational group.

“We are therefore delighted that Kings Oxford is now part of the INTO University Partnerships group, a very well‑respected and successful operator within the international education sector.

“This will provide security for students currently studying in Oxford, as well as long‑term stability for Kings Oxford, which we are confident will continue to operate successfully in the city for many more years to come.”

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Kings Oxford. (Image: Kings Oxford)

Kings Oxford sits within Kings Education, which runs UK and US colleges and will now operate as a distinct brand inside the INTO University Partnerships group under a strategic deal announced this month.

INTO, which works with universities in the UK, US, Australia and elsewhere, said the tie‑up would create a “more resilient, more capable, and more globally connected organisation”, with plans to widen the range of programmes and locations open to students and expand Kings’ offer using INTO’s London facilities.

Mr Andrew Hutchinson, chief executive of Kings Education, said joining INTO marked “an exciting new chapter” and would “create new opportunities and outcomes for our students and partners”, while INTO chief executive Mr John Sykes described the agreement as an “important milestone” that would broaden study and progression routes for international students.

Insolvency notices advise anyone seeking further information about the administration of Touchload Limited to contact BTG Begbies Traynor in London.