Azbuka, the Russian-English bilingual school in Studland Street, has closed after 25 years and its charity is being wound up. Creditors meet on 3 September. Its founder blames VAT on school fees.
Azbuka, the Russian-English bilingual school at Studland Hall in Hammersmith, has closed from this September after 25 years. The charity that ran it, Azbuka Foundation, is now being wound up, and creditors are being called to a virtual meeting on Thursday 3 September at 11am.
The school taught children aged 2 to 11 at Studland Street, W6, off King Street. It is about two miles north of Fulham. Its last recorded roll was 38 pupils against a capacity of 70, in a figure the Department for Education’s register last confirmed on 23 July 2026.
The founder blames VAT on school fees
The closure was announced by the school itself on 25 July, in a letter from Maria Gavrilova, its head teacher and founder, written on behalf of the governors. The statement is published in English and Russian.
It sets out what Azbuka had been. It began as a nursery, then a Saturday language school and a club, and finally a full-time bilingual primary school. The 25 years covers that whole run. The registered independent school is younger: the DfE record dates it from 14 October 2016, and the charity behind it was incorporated in June 2013.
The letter then names the cause the governors settled on:
We have lived through many, often very serious, challenges. But none has been as devastating to the life of Azbuka, and to all independent schools, as the introduction of VAT by the current government.
The letter lists other pressures alongside it: higher business rates, additional employer costs, the removal of charitable status from many schools, and what it calls “an almost weekly stream of new legislation”. It also points to families leaving London or the country, or no longer able to pay fees.
The governors say they considered the options over many months. The conclusion is stated without hedging: Azbuka in its current form “has no choice but to join the growing number of schools and nurseries that will be forced to shut their doors from this September”.
The letter ends by saying the foundation hopes to return with a new multilingual school for the city. No date or location is given for that.
The accounts show a charity that had just climbed back into the black
Azbuka Foundation filed its accounts for the year to 31 August 2025 at Companies House on 4 June 2026. They record a year that went well.
| Year to 31 August | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £761,357 | £830,876 |
| Total expenditure | £703,187 | £740,146 |
| Net income | £58,170 | £82,730 |
| Total funds at year end | (£49,562) | £33,168 |
Income came mostly from families. School fees brought in £472,039 and nursery fees £251,622. The accounts also record a grant from Hammersmith and Fulham Council of £54,692, donations of £7,861, and £23,308 from hall and space hire and bank interest.
On the spending side, staff costs were £485,441 and rent and rates £105,835. The charity paid out £20,500 in bursaries and scholarships.
The reserves line is the one that matters. Azbuka started the 2024 financial year £107,732 in deficit, cut that to £49,562, and ended August 2025 with £33,168 in positive funds. Cash at bank had risen from £121,413 to £214,480. Set against that, creditors falling due within a year had more than doubled, from £112,600 to £264,054.
The examiner recorded the collapse before the public heard about it
The accounts carry a warning that predates the public announcement by two months. Harry Nicolaou FCA, the independent examiner, signed his report on 23 May 2026 and added a material post balance sheet event:
Since the year end the trustees have determined that the financial position of the charity has deteriorated to such an extent (together with other adverse factors) that the charity is not able to continue to operate as a going concern and they have decided the only option available was the closure of the school in September 2026.
The accounts were still prepared on a going concern basis, which the examiner says was appropriate in the circumstances.
What the creditors’ meeting is for
The notice was published in The London Gazette on 25 August. It convenes a virtual meeting of creditors under section 100 of the Insolvency Act 1986, the stage in a creditors’ voluntary liquidation at which creditors decide who liquidates the company. The meeting will also consider a resolution on how the appointed liquidator is paid.
The practical points for anyone owed money:
- Proof of debt must reach the office by 4pm on the business day before the meeting, so 4pm on Wednesday 2 September.
- Proxies must be delivered by the time the meeting starts.
- Creditors who miss those deadlines will have their votes disregarded.
- The chair of the meeting will be a director of the company.
- Secured creditors must give particulars of their security to vote, unless they surrender it.
- The list of creditors can be inspected free of charge, 10am to 4pm, on the two business days before the decision date.
Proofs and proxies go to Kallis Insolvency Practitioners, Mountview Court, 1148 High Road, Whetstone, London N20 0RA, on 020 8446 6699 or chloe@kallis.co.uk. The notice was given by Maria Gavrilova as a director on 21 August.
The company’s registered office is 1 Copthall Gardens, Twickenham, which is in Richmond, not Hammersmith. The school itself operated from Studland Hall.
Two public registers still say the school is open
Anyone checking Azbuka today will get a confusing answer. Companies House still lists Azbuka Foundation, company number 08586329, as Active. The Department for Education’s Get Information About Schools still shows the school as open. Both lag the Gazette, which is where an insolvency appears first.
Ofsted last inspected Azbuka in November 2017 and judged it Good, with further visits in 2018 and 2019. It later moved to the Independent Schools Inspectorate, which lists a routine inspection in 2025.
What it means for you
If you are owed money by the school. Submit a proof of debt to Kallis Insolvency Practitioners. The deadline to vote at Thursday’s meeting is 4pm on Wednesday 2 September, but a claim can still be lodged after that for the purposes of a distribution.
If you paid fees in advance. Fees paid ahead of a term that will not now be taught make you an unsecured creditor of the company, alongside suppliers and any unpaid staff claims. Lodge the claim rather than assume it will be handled automatically.
If you are looking for a school place. Hammersmith and Fulham Council handles in-year admissions to its maintained schools, and the DfE register above lists the alternatives in the borough by age range.
If you work in the sector locally. Staff costs at Azbuka were £485,441 in its last full year. Independent school closures feed through to local employment, which we track in our reporting on the borough’s claimant count.
Nothing here is a finding against any individual. A creditors’ voluntary liquidation is a process begun by the company itself, and the figures above are those the charity and its examiner published.
Sources: Azbuka Foundation, school closure statement, 25 July 2026; The London Gazette, notice 5197509, 25 August 2026; Companies House, Azbuka Foundation 08586329 accounts to 31 August 2025; Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, URN 143048.
Have your say