Four private schools 'to lose charity status'

FOUR of Scotland's leading independent schools will be stripped of their charitable status unless they make major changes to the way they operate, The Scotsman has learned.

The country's independent schools are anxiously waiting to find out whether they can keep their status, as the charity regulator prepares to report on its investigations today.

It is understood four schools under inspection will today be told that they have failed to meet the criteria of charitable status.

The schools subject to reports today include Merchiston Castle in Edinburgh; Hutchesons' in Glasgow; Lomond in Helensburgh; and St Leonards in St Andrews.

Across Scotland, 11 private schools have undergone a thorough inspection by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) to see whether they benefit the public enough to be classed as charities, giving them thousands of pounds of tax breaks each year.