ACS International Schools celebrate charitable status

Students, parents and staff at ACS International Schools celebrated becoming a fully registered charity on Wednesday 19 September, following confirmation from the Charity Commission that the organisation has now been entered onto the Register of Charities.

This significant milestone is the culmination of the wishes of the organisation’s founder who decreed that ACS be owned in perpetuity by a charitable entity, with a key aim of advancing education. Amongst other initiatives, ACS’s charitable status includes the provision of means-tested, financially assisted places for students who would otherwise be unable to attend ACS schools.

This bursary programme is already well underway – with twenty qualifying students having started across the three UK schools at the start of the current academic year, their bursaries collectively representing a financial commitment by ACS of £2.2 million over the next seven years. Looking twelve months hence to the 2019/20 academic year, applications are now open for bursaries ranging from 10 – 100% of school fees for children aged 11+, 13+ and 16+.

The closing date for applications is 13 December, 2018. The 13 December deadline also applies to applications for non-means-tested ACS scholarships – with awards for 10% of full fees offered to students who will most benefit from an ACS education, and who can also demonstrate a high level of endeavour and participation in extra-curricular activities.

Speaking at the celebration, Simon Leyshon, head teacher at ACS Cobham, told attendees: “Our transition to a charity is just the start of our journey and I am thrilled to have such good news to share so early in the new school year. It gives ACS a wonderful opportunity to make a wider impact in our communities as we seek to provide the high-quality education, within an internationally diverse community, the highest standards of teaching, pastoral care, and support for students, and secure those benefits for future generations.”

In addition to bursaries and scholarships, other initiatives currently being developed as part of the new charitable status include increasing the partnership programme designed to forge even closer relationships with local schools and communities; plus the development of fundraising initiatives over and above those solely funded by ACS, and involving ACS Alumni and Friends and the organisation’s wider global community.