Overview
- St Lawrence College, which went into administration Wednesday, closed at once for the vast majority of its roughly 500 pupils.
- About 166 staff lost their jobs, with around 44 kept on to support Year 11 and Year 13 students through GCSE, BTEC and A‑level exams.
- FRP partners Philip Watkins and Philip Armstrong were appointed joint administrators and are guiding staff through Redundancy Payments Service claims.
- Leaders cited falling enrolment, rising running costs and the new 20% VAT on private school fees as the key pressures behind the failure.
- A proposed merger with Dover College was dropped after parent protests, and the school is now working with Kent County Council, the Department for Education and nearby schools to secure places for displaced pupils.