Queen Elizabeth Grammar School

Boys school Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and Wakefield Girls’ High School, both located in the West Yorkshire city, are to merge following the government’s plan to add 20% VAT onto private school fees, The Yorkshire Post has reported,

Governors announced that the school will become known as Wakefield Grammar School in autumn 2026, with a “bespoke diamond model”, with girls and boys taught together in primary and sixth form, and single-sex lessons between 11 and 16, with mixed form groups, activities and trips.

The schools been joined under the banner of Wakefield Grammar School Foundation for some years, with some mixed teaching at sixth form.

A letter from the governors said: “It is a positive and proactive response to the challenges facing all independent schools including increased costs and the impending 20 per cent VAT on school fees. The diamond model allows us to keep fees competitive and class sizes small.”

Chair of governors Martin Shevill said: “Our schools already overlap considerably, sharing subjects, teachers and facilities. What we have works, and much of that will be retained.

“This is a carefully thought through decision which makes educational, pastoral and financial sense. We have put children’s education at the centre of all our deliberations, whilst being mindful that these are challenging times for parents and the sector.”

Wakefield Girls School (Photography – Nick Harrison)