The Royal School in Haslemere is set to close this summer after nearly two centuries, leaving parents, pupils, and alumni heartbroken.

The private school, founded in 1840, announced it would shut its doors on August 31, 2025. United Learning (UL), which took over in 2019, said that despite investing £16 million to clear debt and boost enrolment, pupil numbers had continued to decline. With fewer than 100 students projected for September, the school’s losses became unsustainable.

Parents, especially those of children with special educational needs, have been left devastated by the news.

Lucy Angeline, a former pupil and mother of a current student, said the school had been life-changing for her son, who struggled in mainstream education.

“The Royal gave him the support and opportunity he desperately needed,” she said. “It was the only independent school that would consider him with an EHCP.”

Head boy Hugo Kennedy said: “The staff truly cared for each pupil, and the school gave me the resilience to believe I could achieve anything.”

Former parent and teacher Rev James Hanson described The Royal as “a bastion of nurturing education, where children were accepted for who they are, encouraged to find their gifts, and where wellbeing sat hand-in-hand with academic success.”

Greg Stafford, MP for Farnham and Bordon, called the closure “devastating” and blamed Labour’s taxation on private schools.

"This closure is yet more proof that Labour’s reckless policies are wreaking havoc on our education system,” he said.

But former parent James Woodgate dismissed this, saying he saw a “mass exodus of teachers” after UL took over and questioned whether investment was ever the priority.

“Most pupils in my sons’ class moved to other private schools. This isn’t about VAT,” he said.

Whatever the reasons behind its closure, parents, staff, and former students now mourn not just the loss of a school, but a community.