​Wellington School in Ayr passes the charity test after being told to widen access

A private school in Ayr will remain a charity after satisfying Scotland’s charity regulator that it has widened access.

Wellington School, which had been issued with a direction to widen its access to more pupils in May last year, has now satisfied the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) that it provides sufficient means-tested support to address the level of its fees.

With this decision we are nearing completion of our assessment of all the fee-charging schools

Last year OSCR said the school, where Scot’s violinist Nicola Benedetti studied, had to do more to encourage applications from pupils from lower-income families.

Martin Tyson, OSCR's head of registration, said that the process was intended to maintain public confidence in charitable status, by ensuring that Scottish charities meet the required standard.

He added: “With this decision we are nearing completion of our assessment of all the fee-charging schools that we announced in September 2012.

“We will continue to work with the schools that remain under the terms of our directions and will encourage them to take the necessary steps to remain on the register.

Two schools remain under directions to widen access: St Columba's School in Kilmacolm and Loretto School in Musselburgh and must comply to OSCR's recommendations by 31 July 2014 and 31 March 2015 respectively.