There have been a few more Steiner Waldorf school closures since I was last regularly blogging – the Brighton Steiner, Waldorf School of South West London and North London Steiner School have closed. The Alder Bridge and Canterbury Steiners too. Other schools in the Waldorf UK* fold are looking a bit shaky; Bristol Waldorf School had gone into receivership but managed to stave off closure by mortgaging its property (see accounts 2024). With their finances on a more secure footing they felt confident the school would survive over the longer term. Optimism must have turned to despair, though, when an Ofsted inspection in June 2025 adjudged the school ‘inadequate” – the worst a school can get. The main concerns were child safety and poor leadership.

Elsewhere in the country, a tad west of Birmingham, things are looking bleak for Elmfield Steiner school – it has had to resort to redundancies, cost-cutting and other measures to stabilise its finances (accounts 2024). To add to their woes, thanks to a change in government policy all Steiner schools now face the loss of the 80% business rates relief they previously enjoyed as registered charities. As if that wasn’t enough, Elmfield’s reputation has taken a hit  – their new Head Teacher Paul Merrell was charged with pirating Sky Sports streaming packages and  jailed for a year in February 2024. No redundancy money for you then, Paul.

*Waldorf UK is the new trading name for SWSF (Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship), the national umbrella group for UK Steiner Waldorf schools.