Independent schools are offering payments or higher salaries to teaching staff in return for their agreement to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

Law firms have warned that independent schools are “being forced” to plan for potential redundancies because of the Labour Party’s tax plans should it win the general election.

The former Ursuline Preparatory School in Wimbledon, Southwest London, has been put on the market, with a guide price of offers in excess of £7 million.