Charterhouse, a British independent school located in the Lekki area of Lagos State, has once again sparked controversy over its fees, drawing criticism from Nigerians on social media.
According to its website, the Charterhouse Family of Schools has been a leading name in British education for over 400 years. The Lagos campus, the first African branch of Charterhouse UK, admitted its first set of students in September 2024, catering to Year 1 through Year 6 pupils.
The school previously faced criticism in April 2024 for its tuition fees, which were reportedly as high as N42 million per year, alongside a N2 million non-refundable registration fee. This sparked widespread backlash, with many questioning the affordability of the institution for the average Nigerian family.
The debate resurfaced on Thursday following a video shared on X.com by user #itzbasito, captioned, “This is what the inside of the most expensive school in Lagos looks like. It costs N42 million per year.”
The video, attributed to Charterhouse, however, claimed that tuition and accommodation cost less than N30 million. The post has since garnered over 9,200 interactions on X.com, with many Nigerians criticising the costs, stating that even N30 million is excessively high.
Charterhouse’s website details its tiered fee structure for founding students, with tuition ranging from N16.1 million for Years 1–2 to N24 million for Year 9. Weekly boarding costs an additional N5 million, while full boarding is N7 million per year.
PUNCH reported in August 2024 that the Founding Head and Director of Education at Charterhouse, John Todd, clarified misinformation regarding the school’s fees.
He said, “In April, there was an online reaction to our school fees, which sparked a lot of discussion, with some people reacting to the figure of N42m. I want to set the record straight: our fees are currently N26m, not N42m. We’ve never charged N42m.”
