Sixty leading schools accused of fee fixing

At least 60 of the UK's most famous independent schools are under investigation by a government watchdog over allegations of fee-fixing, it emerged last night.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued formal "Section 26" notices to a "significant number" of private schools demanding that they disclose all information relating to the setting of fees and other sensitive price information.

E-mails, computer spreadsheets, minutes from meetings, letters and telephone records are all covered by the notices, according to The Times.

Schools found guilty of price fixing face huge fines of up to 10 per cent of three years' turnover and parents fear having ultimately to foot the bill through raised fees.

It is a dramatic escalation of the OFT's inquiry into possible breaches of competition law after it initially began focusing inquiries on Eton College, Winchester College, Westminster School and William Hulme's Grammar School in Manchester.

The new notices have been sent to two informal associations of schools, the Eton group and the Rugby group, whose members include Charterhouse, Harrow, Marlborough, Wellington, Radley, Rugby, Dulwich College, Millfield, Haileybury, Uppingham, Sevenoaks, Cheltenham, Malvern, Shrewsbury and Clifton College.

The Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents the fee-paying sector, reacted furiously to the decision to extend the investigation.

An ISC spokesman said: "This investigation seems to be going further and taking longer than it needs to. Our understanding is that the OFT is supposed to be swift and proportionate in its work. In our view, this investigation is neither swift nor proportionate."

In September, details were disclosed of correspondence between bursars at dozens of schools, which showed that they regularly kept each other informed about proposed fee alterations. Independent schools denied that they are guilty of price-fixing saying that only general exchanges of information about fees took place.