AN INQUIRY is under way at a Hampshire state school after a foreign pupil was wrongly charged tuition fees of £1,000 a term.

It follows an admission by its headmaster that there had been a breach of regulations because he was unaware that state schools were not allowed to charge for lessons.

Hampshire County Council - the local education authority - said it will be seeking to interview head Peter Jenner about the "genuine misunderstanding''.

The parents of Lilyana Ivanova, 16, from the Ukraine, had been told they would have to pay £8,000 a year for her schooling at the Westgate in Winchester.

The youngster is a one-year visitor to the school and studying for nine GCSE exams and boarding at Rotherly House.

Westgate school is one of the three state secondary schools in the city and in an unusual position of having boarding facilities for 19 out of 790 pupils.

Lilyana's parents heard about the school through information listed at the British Embassy in Kiev.

The other two Winchester schools with a capacity to take boarders are Lankhills special school and Kings' School.

The error came to light when a well-wisher contacted the Daily Echo after Lilyana's father was made redundant, meaning that her family could not afford the annual fee.

Under existing Department of Education and Employment regulations, foreign students at state schools have to pay for boarding fees only. Mr Jenner told the Daily Echo that he believed that discussions were on-going to bring equality between all types of schools accepting foreign pupils.

He added: "It seems that, through communications difficulties relating to those discussions, we have breached a regulation.

"And at worst through a communications problem we have breached a bad regulation which does not allow for equal opportunities.

"The Westgate School is concerned that, in spite of previous discussions, it does appear that equality of opportunity for state boarding schools still does not exist.''

He added: "Foreign nationals are able to take full cost places at independent boarding schools.

"We believe that a similar situation should prevail for the small number of state schools in the country offering boarding, of which the Westgate is one."

A spokeswoman from Hampshire County Council said: "State schools are not allowed to charge tuition fees.

"We are looking into it. It seems there has been a genuine misunderstanding."

She added: "Bearing in mind that no Hampshire children have been denied a place at Westgate School we will be investigating with the girl's best interests at heart."

Places at the school are available in Lilyana's year and in the boarding house, meaning that no Hampshire pupils have been deprived of a place.

Don Allen, the county's education committee chairman, said he was not surprised about the misunderstanding, given that foreign students of further education are charged for their tuition He said: "There is a misunderstanding, but from my own standpoint, I'm not surprised about it."

He said he expected that the money would be refunded to Mr and Mrs Ivanova or taken off the boarding fee. Lilyana, who has been described as an exceptional student, still has to find £825 to cover her costs.

Mr Jenner said: "We hope that sponsorship or support can somehow enable her to complete her courses."

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