MALVERN College is among 50 leading independent schools which have been fined a combined total of £3.5m after being found guilty of fee-fixing by the Office of Fair Trading.

It comes after the school, in Malvern's College Road, admitted it exchanged detailed information with others about boarding and day fees it was intending to charge over a three-year period.

The OFT said this had the effect of distorting competition in breach of the Competition Act. The list of those accused includes Bromsgrove School as well as big names such as Eton and Cheltenham Ladies' College.

They will each be required to pay a penalty of £10,000 plus a collective £3m contribution to a charitable educational fund, with 49 of the 50 expected to accept the term.

But Malvern College spokesman David Gunn said schools had shared information for many years without a problem until the Competition Act came into force, preventing organisations from discussing charges.

However, he said there was no warning this would apply to the schools, all of which have charitable status, and there was a possibility they would appeal against the ruling.

He added: "If the schools are fined then that will have to be borne by parents ultimately and therefore doesn't do them a great deal of good. I'd emphasise that as a result of discussions with the other schools, prices have often been lowered.

"It's not all over until the fat lady sings as it were but, compared with the costs of litigation, most of the schools, I think, will consider it right to end the matter and pay up the fine."

The OFT had claimed the information exchange had resulted in parents being charged higher than normal fees, but withdrew the allegation.

Independent Sschools' Council general secretary Jonathan Shephard said: "The settlement represents a sizeable cost for an inadvertent failure by the schools to recognise the law had changed and for continuing to share information in a manner which was previously perfectly legal. It does though, enable the schools to bring to an end a matter that has occupied them for nearly three years."