In September 2005, fifty British Independent schools

Independent school (UK)

An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...

 were found guilty of operating a fee-fixing cartel by the Office of Fair Trading

Office of Fair Trading

The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...

. The OFT found that the schools had exchanged details of their planned fee increases over three academic years between 2001-02 and 2003-04, in breach of the Competition Act 1998

Competition Act 1998

The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition policy in the UK along with Enterprise Act 2002. The act provides an updated framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse of a dominant market position....

.

The implicated Independent Schools Council

Independent Schools Council

The Independent Schools Council is a non-profit organisation that represents 1,234 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector...

 said that the investigation had been "a scandalous waste of public money". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4420822.stm

Evidence

Emails showed that the schools were routinely swapping information about their costs and intended fee changes, as often as four to six times a year as part of a Sevenoaks

Sevenoaks School

Sevenoaks School is an English coeducational independent school located in the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is the oldest lay school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432. Almost 1,000 day pupils and boarders attend, ranging in age from 11 to 18 years. There are approximately equal numbers of...

' Survey.
The investigation was prompted by the September 2003 leak of emails to The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

. Originally from Bill Organ, Winchester College's bursar at the time to the Warden of the College, they contained details of 20 schools' fees and the phrase:

Schools involved

• Ampleforth College
  Ampleforth College
  Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
  
  
• Bedford School
  Bedford School
  Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...
  
  
• Benenden School
  Benenden School
  Benenden School is an independent boarding school for girls in Kent, England. It is located in Benenden in the Kentish countryside, between Cranbrook and Tenterden....
  
  
• Bradfield College
  Bradfield College
  Bradfield College is a coeducational independent school located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire.The college was founded in 1850 by Thomas Stevens, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Bradfield...
  
  
• Bromsgrove School
  Bromsgrove School
  Bromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. The school has a long history and many notable former pupils.-History:...
  
  
• Bryanston School
  Bryanston School
  Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
  
  
• Canford School
  Canford School
  Canford School is a coeducational independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the village of Canford Magna, near to the market town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, in South West England. The school was founded in 1923. There are approximately 600 pupils at Canford, organised into houses...
  
  
• Charterhouse School
  Charterhouse School
  Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
  
  
• Cheltenham College
  Cheltenham College
  Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
  
  
• Cheltenham Ladies' College
  Cheltenham Ladies' College
  The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
  
  
• Clifton College
  Clifton College
  Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
  
  
• Cranleigh School
  Cranleigh School
  Cranleigh School is an independent English boarding school in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. It was founded in 1865 as a boys' school and started to admit girls in the early 1970s. It is now co-educational. The current headmaster is Guy de W...
  
  
• Dauntsey's School
  Dauntsey's School
  Dauntsey's School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the village of West Lavington, Wiltshire, England. The School was founded in 1542, in accordance with the will of William Dauntesey, a master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers....
  
  
• Downe House School
• Eastbourne College
  Eastbourne College
  Eastbourne College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, situated on the south coast of England, included in the Tatler list of top public schools. The College's current headmaster is Simon Davies. The College was founded by the Duke of Devonshire...
  
  
• Epsom College
  Epsom College
  Epsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...
  
  
• Eton College
  Eton College
  Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
  
  
• Gresham's School
  Gresham's School
  Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
  
  
• Haileybury School
• Harrow School
  Harrow School
  Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
  
  
• King's School, Canterbury
• Lancing College
  Lancing College
  Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
  
  
• Malvern College
  Malvern College
  Malvern College is a coeducational independent school located on a 250 acre campus near the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire in England. Founded on 25 January 1865, until 1992, the College was a secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18...
  
  
• Marlborough College
  Marlborough College
  Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
  
  
• Millfield School
• Mill Hill School
  Mill Hill School
  Mill Hill School, in Mill Hill, London, is a coeducational independent school for boarding and day pupils aged 13–18. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an organisation of public schools in the United Kingdom....
  
  
• Oakham School
  Oakham School
  Oakham School is a British co-educational independent school in the historic market town of Oakham in Rutland, accepting around 1,000 pupils, aged from 10 to 18, both male and female, as boarders and day pupils . The Good Schools Guide called the school "a privileged but unpretentious and...
  
  
• Oundle School
  Oundle School
  Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
  
  
• Radley College
  Radley College
  Radley College , founded in 1847, is a British independent school for boys on the edge of the English village of Radley, near to the market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and has become a well-established boarding school...
  
  
• Repton School
  Repton School
  Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
  
  
• Royal Hospital School
  Royal Hospital School
  The Royal Hospital School, , is a British co-educational independent boarding school with naval traditions. It admits pupils from age 11 to 18 through Common Entrance or the school's own exam...
  
  
• Rugby School
  Rugby School
  Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
  
  
• St Edward's School, Oxford
• St Leonards-Mayfield School
  St Leonards-Mayfield School
  St Leonards-Mayfield School is an independent Roman Catholic boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18. It is situated in the village of Mayfield in East Sussex. The current headmistress is Miss Antonia Beary...
  
  
• Sedbergh School
  Sedbergh School
  Sedbergh School is a boarding school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, for boys and girls aged 13 to 18. Nestled in the Howgill Fells, it is known for sporting sides, such as its Rugby Union 1st XV.-Background:...
  
  
• Sevenoaks School
  Sevenoaks School
  Sevenoaks School is an English coeducational independent school located in the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is the oldest lay school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432. Almost 1,000 day pupils and boarders attend, ranging in age from 11 to 18 years. There are approximately equal numbers of...
  
  
• Sherborne School
  Sherborne School
  Sherborne School is a British independent school for boys, located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. It is one of the original member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
  
  
• Shrewsbury School
  Shrewsbury School
  Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
  
  
• Stowe School
  Stowe School
  Stowe School is an independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. It was founded on 11 May 1923 by J. F. Roxburgh, initially with 99 male pupils. It is a member of the Rugby Group and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group...
  
  
• Strathallan School
  Strathallan School
  Strathallan School is an independent boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 9–18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. It typically takes 50 minutes to travel to the school from Edinburgh and 1:15 hours from Glasgow.The school has 99 full time...
  
  
• Tonbridge School
  Tonbridge School
  Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
  
  
• Truro School
  Truro School
  Truro School is a mixed independent school located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, UK. The current Headmaster is Paul Smith. Deputy Headteachers are Nick Fisher and Anita Firth . Phil Brewer is Assistant Head and Head of Sixth Form...
  
  
• Uppingham School
  Uppingham School
  Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
  
  
• Wellington College
  Wellington College, Berkshire
  -Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
  
  
• Wells Cathedral School
  Wells Cathedral School
  Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Purcell School and St....
  
  
• Westminster School
  Westminster School
  The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
  
  
• Winchester College
  Winchester College
  Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
  
  
• Woldingham School
  Woldingham School
  Woldingham School is an all-girls, independent, Roman Catholic, boarding and day school in Woldingham, Surrey, England.-History:The school was founded as the Convent of the Sacred Heart in 1842 in Berrymead, London by the Society of the Sacred Heart...
  
  
• Worth School
  Worth School
  Worth School, near the village of Turners Hill, Crawley, West Sussex, England, is a co-educational Roman Catholic boarding and day independent school for pupils aged between 11–18 years. The school is located with Worth Abbey, a Benedictine monastery, in of Sussex countryside...
  
  
• Wycombe Abbey School

In the case of Truro and Sedbergh, the OFT's preliminary conclusion is that they participated in the Sevenoaks Survey in only two of the three relevant years.

Arguments in support of the Schools

The Independent Schools Council

Independent Schools Council

The Independent Schools Council is a non-profit organisation that represents 1,234 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector...

felt that the action was disproportionate. It was argued that sharing information was common amongst charities (as the schools are classified) and that the aim was to keep fees as low as practicably possible. It should also be noted that until 2000, when the 1998 Competition Act displaced the 1976 Restrictive Trade Practices Act , the practice was legal as the schools were exempt from the anti-cartel laws that apply to businesses.

Resolution

The OFT released a 500-page statement which was summed up thus:

All the schools involved were given fines of only £10,000 each for their infringement (out of a possible 10% of total income) but together agreed to pay £3 million into a trust fund aimed to benefit the pupils attending the schools during the period involved ; it has been stressed that the trust fund is not a fine. The schools will pay equal instalments, finishing in 2010, totalling around £70,000 each. Eton and Winchester obtained 50% cuts in fines in return for co-operation in the investigation of other schools.