TWO Worcester private schools have "strenuously denied" claims that they are linked to a Government investigation into fee fixing.

The Royal Grammar School and The Alice Ottley School were reported in the Press yesterday as being linked to an on-going Office of Fair Trading inquiry into whether school bursars have met

illegally.

The report claims The Royal Grammar would face a £1.6m fine while Alice Ottley would have to stump up £1.1m if the investigation finds they have breached the 1998 Competition Act, which bans businesses from fixing their charges.

However, both city schools this morning denied being part of the OFT investigation into 70 schools.

"We are aware the OFT is in discussions with the Independent Schools Bursars Association about a group of approximately 70 schools," said Walter Jones, headteacher at The RGS, in The Tything.

"RGS Worcester is not one of the schools under investigation.

"We continue to offer one of the lowest fees, and this year had the lowest increase, of any of the schools in Worcester.

"If price fixing was in operation we doubt that other schools would allow this situation to continue."

Denied

Julia McCreath, speaking for The Alice Ottley, also in The Tything, said she also "strenuously denied" any connection to the investigation.

The Independent Schools Council said schools had been exempt from the law before it changed in 1998 and were not notified that the changed would affect them.

Dick Davison, a spokesman for the ISC, also said bursars met frequently before 1998 and there was no evidence that school fees were hiked up.

"There has never been any intention on the part of our member schools to act against the interests of their customers," he said.

Unawares

"Schools had been exempt from competition law before 1998 and no one in the sector was consulted about the change of law. It's no excuse, but it explains why schools may have been caught unawares.

"Even if it turns out there was a breach, there is no evidence that it was against the interests of fee-paying parents."

Mr Davison added that if schools were fined, they "would have to put fees up" because they did not have access to other funds.

The OFT has requested e-mails, spreadsheets, letters, minutes of meetings and telephone records from Malvern College as part of another inquiry into fee fixing, according to Sunday's reports.

Malvern College was unavailable for comment when the Evening News went to press.