Administrators have now been appointed at Ruthin School - which announced its sudden closure last week. Last Wednesday, Chinese company Galaxy Global Education announced the closure of Ruthin School - which was founded in 1284 - and Durham High School.

It came as a shock to staff, pupils and parents in North Wales. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox

Now Philip Watkins and Simon Farr of FRP Advisory have been appointed as Joint Administrators of Ruthin Education Limited, which operates Ruthin School and is part of the Galaxy Global Education group. They confirmed that most of the near 140 staff had already been made redundant.

A spokesperson said: "The closure follows a prolonged period of financial pressure.

"Sadly, the majority of employees have been made redundant. A small number of staff remain in post to support pupils and families and to manage the school’s closure, including the processing of examination results this summer.

"The Joint Administrators are supporting those affected with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service."

Philip Watkins, Joint Administrator of Ruthin Education Limited and partner at FRP, said: “Ruthin School’s position reflects the pressures facing independent schools across the UK. Our role now is to manage a wind-down of the school’s affairs.”

Galaxy Global said it was “profoundly sorry” and that the closure was “incredibly sad” for everyone connected with Ruthin School. A spokesperson added: “Despite every effort to secure the school’s future, it has not been possible to establish a financially viable way forward.”

Ruthin School was bought via a newly formed entity called Ruthin Education Ltd. The takeover was spearheaded by Chinese businesswoman Shangmei Gao, founder of Galaxy Global.

Following the acquisition, Galaxy Global expanded its UK private school portfolio to include Durham High School, Malvern St James and Plymouth College. In mid June, Malvern St James was the first of the quartet to discover it was shutting at the end of this academic year.

Ruthin School is a co-educational boarding and day school for pupils from the age of 11 to 18 years. In an October 2024 Estyn report, the school was reported to have 239 pupils. Just over half were boarders and around 45% received scholarships or bursaries.

Almost three-quarters of pupils were from a minority ethnic background, of whom over half were Chinese. Some 141 pupils spoke English as an additional language.

Myddelton College in Denbigh is offering to accommodate all affected Ruthin pupils from September. It will also listen to applications from Ruthin teachers – CVs can be sent to office@myddeltoncollege.com.

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