Ahead of this week’s planned States showdown on the future level of grants paid to Guernsey’s three private schools, the colleges have shared a detailed breakdown of the situation from their shared point of view.
The States’ committee has shared its plans and explained why it wants to phase out the grant, and what it will do with the money saved, in a web page on the States website HERE.
The colleges have already laid out a proposal to keep the grants system in place until 2040, with closer partnership working with the States sector.
The colleges have also now laid out their own FAQs ahead of the States debate on their States’ grants – which can be read in full HERE.
The colleges have previously said they’ve “always advocated fostering a genuinely collaborative education ecosystem that offers children and the island the benefits of choice, diversity, and a variety of approaches”.
Now, Blanchelande, Elizabeth, and Ladies’ College are also saying that ESC is unfairly labelling them as ‘private businesses’, and that they’ve each individually shared with the States committee their finances and cash flow positions, “demonstrating the need for funding”.
The colleges have also said that ESC was wrong when it said that the grants paid have gone up.
“This is misleading and only true if a small section of the overall grant is considered,” said the colleges.
“In 2017, the States agreed to phase down the Colleges’ funding by 50% in real terms. To do that, as the funding from Special Place Holders reduced, a smaller subset of funding increased. By the 2025/2026 school year, the overall grant will have reduced by 50% of its original level in real terms. This will result in a cumulative saving of over £10 million for the States during this current funding period.”
Blanchelande, Elizabeth, and Ladies’ College have been jointly negotiating with the States regarding their grants and they said that ESC has not provided any feedback on the information provided to it by them.
The IoD, GIBA and other organisations have backed the States maintaining some funding for the colleges, with the IoD specifically arguing that the schools are important to Guernsey’s economic growth.
Alternative proposals to the ESC plan have also been laid out, with Deputies St Pier, Roffey, and Inder among those aiming to reduce but not phase out the grants.
ESC’s ultimate aim is to save the States £3m a year by 2031/32 by completely phasing out the current grants paid to the three schools.
ESC has said that money will then be funnelled back in to the public sector via the States schools.
However, the colleges warn that decreasing their grants will have a “detrimental effect on the whole educational landscape”.
With up to 30% of the island’s children educated at Blanchelande, Elizabeth, or Ladies’ College, the private schools have warned that around a third of those families are lower earners who make sacrifices or rely on family or other financial support to pay the fees.
The colleges also claim that around a third of their pupils are on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) register, meaning the financial and resourcing impact on the tax payer is likely to increase further if they are moved in to the States sector.
“ESC claims that few parents will leave the independent sector if the College fees increase because of the removal of the grant. This is unsubstantiated,” said the colleges.
“Between c. 30% to 37% of households with children in the independent Colleges (at primary and secondary age) are in the bottom three quintiles of equivalised gross annual income, based on a recent report (i.e., with upper-income boundaries of £31,167 for the lowest quintile and £64,006 for the third quintile). We know many parents take on additional work, receive help from other family members and make other savings to pay school fees, which is why a decrease in funding, resulting in an increase in fees, will have a detrimental effect on the whole educational landscape.”
In 2019, the total combined grant to Blanchelande, Elizabeth, and Ladies College was £4.218m. This has fallen to £3.048m. for 2025.
Reductions were also made prior to 2019.
One of the conditions agreed when the grant funding was negotiated then was that the three private schools “shall not expand any schemes or introduce new schemes which will involve academic selection for any students”.
Other conditions included Key Performance Indicators the colleges must meet, including the number of children with social, emotional, and behaviour disorders who need assistance and those who don’t.
This funding agreement is in place until 31 August 2026.
This week’s States debate could confirm what happens next, with ESC likely to present its case for phasing out the grants entirely on Wednesday afternoon.