Sunita Somvanshi
Parents of pupils at Leweston School near Sherborne in Dorset have been told that the school will not reopen after the October half-term. The announcement leaves families looking for alternative places from 2 November.
Leweston said on its website: “Leweston School will not reopen after half term, and will close. Every Leweston pupil has been offered a place from Monday 2 November at a school in the Inspired Learning Group, which includes Clayesmore School and Sunninghill Prep.”
The school added: “We are very sorry for what this means for our pupils, their families and our staff, and for how little notice we have been able to give.”
The Leweston School Dorset closure affects 577 pupils, according to reporting on the announcement. The school traces its origins to 1891, making it about 135 years old.
Staff were reported to be unpaid for October. The school’s announcement did not set out a timetable for refunds of fees already paid, and the status of those payments will depend on the legal and administrative arrangements that follow the closure.
Families should contact the school or the Inspired Learning Group using the contact details in the official announcement, and speak to their local authority’s school admissions team if they need a state-school place. Parents may also want written confirmation of what has been paid, what remains due and how any refund will be handled.
What Has Been Confirmed
The closure announcement confirms the immediate facts: the school will close, pupils have been offered ILG places from 2 November, and families and staff have been contacted directly.
Companies House records for Leweston School (Sherborne) Ltd show that a fixed and floating charge was registered over the company’s assets in favour of HSBC in March 2026. A fixed and floating charge is a form of security granted to a lender. Its registration does not by itself establish why the school has closed.
The government added 20% VAT to private school fees in January 2025. That policy has increased financial pressure across parts of the independent-school sector, but neither the school’s announcement nor the available reporting establishes that VAT caused this closure.
The school has not publicly given a detailed reason for the decision. Claims that falling pupil numbers, rising overheads, loan covenants, an equestrian-centre expansion or declining enrolment from particular countries caused the closure are not established by the official announcement and have been removed from this report.
Why did Leweston School close in Dorset?
Leweston School has announced that it will not reopen after the October half-term and will close. It has not publicly given a detailed reason. Every pupil has been offered a place at an Inspired Learning Group school, including Clayesmore School and Sunninghill Prep, from 2 November.
Related Karmactive coverage: UK school closures and admissions guidance and independent-school policy coverage.
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## How to Log Into WordPress REST API — Step by Step
### What We Used: \*\*Application Password Authentication\*\*
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### Step 1: Get the Credentials
From the Pipeline file (\`Karmactive Pipeline.md\`), the credentials are:
\- \*\*Username\*\*: \`Sunita Somvanshi\`
\- \*\*Application Password\*\*: \`Tw8Q Khc9 8KxU 5L4O 3Q0s 0w6J\` (remove spaces → \`Tw8QKhc98KxU5L4O3Q0s0w6J\`)
> Application Passwords are created in WordPress Admin → \*\*Users → Profile → Application Passwords\*\* section. They’re separate from the login password and designed for API access.
