By Abbie Wightwick

Copyright walesonline

Parents fighting to save their children’s school have formally submitted a bid to run it themselves after raising millions of pounds. St Clare’s School in Porthcawl will shut at the end of this term but a trust set up by parents would see it re-open it from September 2026 if their bid for the lease is successful. The St Clare’s Independent School Trust (SCIST) has raised around £3m to keep the fee-paying independent school open. It has now formally lodged a bid to take over the lease from education company Cognita UK, which announced the closure in May. Staff, pupils and parents were left in tears when Cognita announced proposals to close the 190-pupil school at the end of the Christmas term l ater this year. The company, which runs schools across the UK and beyond, blamed “economic volatility”, a falling birth rate and factors it said were beyond its control. The school then went on to post a 100% GCSE pass rate in August with 50% of grades at A* to A, 80% at A*to B and 96% at A* to C. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here . Parents bidding to run St Clare’s say they are confident they could make it viable to stay open and that there is a market for an independent, non-selective school between Cardiff and Swansea. New VAT payments on school fees which came in to force last January would not make it unafforable, they believe. In a statement they said: “SCIST is pleased to confirm that we have submitted a formal expression of interest in the lease of the St Clare’s site, to open a new, independent, academic provision from September 2026. “The SCIST proposal was detailed, considered, and independently reviewed by both sector experts and professionals from multiple disciplines. “We have clearly supported our request for Cognita to assign the lease, subject to legal formalities and due diligence, with evidence of our expertise, operational support, and implementation plan, market analysis, financial modelling, and funding, and our vision for the school. “We thank everyone for their continued support, and are excited about what the next chapter could hold for the St Clare’s site. Multiple owners of the site over more than a century have indicated a preference that the site remains dedicated to community and education, a legacy that we are proud to support.” The trust is made up of four directors. Trust member and parent of two Helen Hopkins said the trust has detailed plans to re-open as a smaller school at first before expanding as the children grow. “We feel there is a market because of the geography of where the school is between Cardiff and Swansea ,” Helen said. “Some children do not thrive in a mainstream school class of 30. All the independent schools in Cardiff are over subscribed or selective. St Clare’s is non-selective.” The lease and ownership of the school, on a site of prime land in Porthcawl, are complex. The lease requires that the land is used for educational purposes. The building and land is owned by a local family while the lease is owned by Cognita and still has nearly 100 years to run, Helen said. The land and school was gifted to the nuns of St Clare in the late 1930s with the stipulation that it was used for educational purposes. In May 2006 the Sisters of St Clare retired and the lease to run the school was sold to Cognita Schools , while the land around it was sold to a local family, who could also, in theory, bid to take over the lease, said Helen. “We don’t know yet whether our bid has been successful or if we were the only people to bid,” she said. “We were told there had been two or three other inquiries but not whether that had gone through to submitting bids formally. We don’t know when we will hear whether our bid has been successful. “The trust raised £1.5m to put in a bid and (a further) £1.5m to run it. If we are successful the land and building would still be owned by the family but the lease would be transferred from Cognita to the trust as long as we keep the school open. If we shut the school the lease would return to Cognita. “We would not give money to Cognita but are taking on the obligation and liability of running the school (under the terms of the lease) from them. Cognita would be freed from their liability to run the school as the trust would be running it.” “If we are successful we would get the lease as soon as possible and re-open in September 2026, so St Clare’s would still be shut for a bit. We might have to re-open as a smaller school at first. It would be the early stages, nursery and infants and prep.” If the parents are successful St Clare’s would be run as a non-profit business and admission would be non-selective. Cognita confirmed it has invited bids for the lease to run the school but said it would be inappropriate for them to comment further during the process.