Brexit’s impact on UK and Europe’s private schools

Britain’s latest deadline to exit the European Union is set for October 31. Until then, private schools are stuck in a fog of uncertainty arising from the political impasse.A report by the New York Times recently detailed how private schools in Britain and overseas are struggling to prepare for Brexit, with many parents contemplating transferring their children to places like Frankfurt or Amsterdam. Christoph Kexel, managing partner at Accadis, an international school in Bad Homburg, said: “There’s a lot of interest from families, consultancies, banks calling up and asking whether we have some opportunities for some spots, reserving some spots, asking how quickly we can react.” While there are some parties reserving spots, these parents are not confirming. And while schools know figures like the number of big offices relocating to European outposts, or the number of workers transferring, they do not have information on the number of children and what ages they are, making things like hiring teachers and preparing space to accommodate this potential influx of new recruits increasingly difficult. Despite Brexit-induced uncertainty, data from the Independent Schools Council (ISC) show many independent schools have recorded an increase in the number of pupils from European Economic Area (EEA) countries in the current academic year. Across the 1,364 ISC member schools, there are now a record 536,109 pupils, up from 529,164 in 2018.