Five independent schools are to be investigated by the Charity Commission to see if they meet the Government's tough new charity requirement to offer a “public benefit” by helping poor as well as rich people.

Those that fail could be required to replace their trustee boards and ordered to make changes such as allotting more cash for bursaries and sharing facilities with state school pupils.

The five include Manchester Grammar School (fees £9,000 a year), which is one of the top ten performing private boys' schools in the country at GCSE and which volunteered to be among the first fee-paying charities to undergo a public benefit test.

Charitable status brings independent schools tax breaks worth around £100 million a year and adds considerably to their fundraising credibility.

New charity laws require organisations that charge fees to “earn” these benefits by offering some kind of benefit in kind to the wider community.

The other school charities being investigated are Manor House School Trust, operating in Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire; Pangbourne College in Berkshire; St Anselm's School Trust in Derbyshire; and Highfield Priory School in Lancashire. The results of the review will published in the spring.

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