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New impact review reveals economic benefit of £20m to the local economy and wider impact on society.
Read our full Impact Report 2022
There can be no more important time for Independent Schools to talk about their impact, the contribution they make to their local communities and to society more broadly. Lancing College has recently published its first Impact Review for 2022 in which it lays out for the first time its impact on communities both inside the College and beyond.
Recent research commissioned by The Independent Schools Council, ISC (which represents 1371 of the country’s largest independent schools) and undertaken by Oxford Economics, has for the first time calculated our collective and individual economic impact. Across the nation, this includes £14.1 billion contribution to the UK economy*, £5.1 billion in annual tax revenues, £4.4 billion in annual savings to the taxpayer and 282,000 jobs. Using the College’s financial data and a modeller, we calculate that Lancing College contributes £20.1 million in GDP within the Adur Local Authority area and makes savings of £6.3 million to the UK taxpayer because of pupils attending Lancing who would otherwise take up a free UK state school place.
Our Impact aims are broad and touch many different aspects beyond the purely financial contribution to the local economy. The College also has an important role to play in widening opportunities for children to attend Lancing and to benefit from the extraordinary education we provide; 30% of students at the College are on scholarships and bursaries. Our students go out into the world with a drive to contribute to society and to be a force for good. This is integral to our ethos, and is, indeed, part of our foundation. Public benefit is central to our vision: we aim to educate young people to develop a love of learning and to reach their full potential. We are keen to share our resources and to partner with local maintained sector junior and secondary schools.
Located as we are in hundreds of acres of the South Downs, we take seriously our obligation to protect, preserve and share our well-known buildings and environment for the future, whether through sustainability initiatives or through opening up our facilities and world-famous Chapel.
Commenting on the review, Head Master Dominic Oliver said:
Lancing has 175 years of history in which the College community has been engaging with the local, regional, national and – more recently – international community. However, like many schools, we have focussed on our central mission of excellence in education rather than talking more openly about our wider activities. If our contribution is to be judged fairly, we need to do both. Thus, in publishing our first Impact Report we are making a commitment to all those who are connected to us to be visible and accountable for our contributions in their broadest sense.
Dominic Oliver
*The Impact of Independent Schools on the UK Economy 2022, Oxford Economics