Shakespeare's Globe accused of 'discriminating' with higher school trip fees for private pupils

Cultural centres and museums in London are charging private schools more for visits in a policy that campaigners argue amounts to “two-tier” pricing.

Organisations across London, including Shakespeare’s Globe on the South Bank, have been accused of discriminating against pupils at fee-paying establishments when it comes to school trips.

Others in the capital with a similar policy include the Horniman Museum and Gardens in Forest Hill, the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow and the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell.

The Bank of England, based in the City of London, only accommodates state schools for its in-house museum presentations.

Campaigners at the Education Not Taxation group, set-up in protest against the Labour government’s decision to scrap the 20% VAT relief on private school fees, urged cultural institutions to end what it called a “divisive approach” to pricing school trips.

Chairman Tony Perry accused certain organisations of “discriminating against, or outright excluding, children simply because they attend independent schools”.

The Bank of England Museum only permits state schools access to its 45-minute presentations

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In a statement to the Telegraph, Mr Perry said: “This two-tier approach does nothing to reduce inequality and fails to recognise the complex reality of families and education.

“It can penalise children from lower-income families who attend independent schools on bursaries, while allowing children from wealthier families in state schools to participate.”

Mr Perry suggested that a fairer and “more targeted” approach would be to offer concessionary rates to children on free school meals or living in areas of high deprivation.

The William Morris Gallery in north-east London charges £95 for tours given to local authority schools and £135 independent schools before VAT. Schools in the borough of Waltham Forest are exempt from VAT charges.

It has a funding arrangement that allows it to offer 24 free workshop sessions each year for schools with 30% or more pupils on free school meals.

The Globe charges £2 more per head for school workshops when it comes to fee-paying pupils. State schools are charged at £12 per pupil, with “other UK schools” billed at £14 per student.

At the north London Quentin Blake Centre, which opened in June, state schools are charged £200 per 90 minute workshop when visiting. Independent schools pay £87.50 more for the same experience.

The William Morris Gallery, visited by the King in 2024, offers free sessions each year to schools with high numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals

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For taught sessions and access to paid-for exhibitions, the Horniman in south-east London costs £100 with VAT for a group of pupils from a state school, while private schools pay £140.

The Bank of England defended its policy of only permitting state school pupils access to its 45-minute presentations when visiting its museum.

It said all schools are “very welcome” at the museum but that it prioritises its “limited resources” by aiming them at pupils with less access to economics education.

“Economics as an academic subject is less widely taught in non-selective state schools than independent schools,” the Threadneedle Street institution said.

“To put this into context, about half of comprehensive schools offer economics at A Level, compared to about three-quarters of independent schools.

“The statistics at degree level are more striking: over 7% of independently educated male undergraduates are studying economics, compared to 1% for female undergraduates from state schools.

“Our objective here is not to deny access to any particular group to our educational resources.

“By providing short additional introductory presentations to state-school students, our aim is to help encourage a similar interest in economics amongst them as we already see in their independently-educated counterparts.”

Education resources are available for all schools on its website free of charge, it added.