A third of schools snap up free portrait of the King (at cost of £1m)

A third of England’s schools ordered a free portrait of King Charles III, new figures show, at a cost of just over £1 million to the taxpayer. 

Cabinet Office statistics, published today, show 8,067 of 23,739 eligible schools – 34 per cent – took up the government’s offer to receive an A3 framed picture of the king in full regalia.  

The average price of a portrait, including delivery was £131.81, meaning school orders alone cost more than £1 million. 

Across all public institutions, 20,565 orders were made costing the government £2.7 million. 

Many in the sector were critical of the scheme as it came as budgets were cut in departments, including the Department for Education. 

Cut included governor recruitment and teacher top-up training and national professional qualification courses.

When schools were invited to apply last year, the National Education Union leader Daniel Kebede said: “Out of glue sticks? Leaky roof? Damp entering through that cracked window frame?

“What your school needs is a picture of King Charles printed on ‘high-quality’ paper.” 

But then deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said the new portraits “will serve as a visible reminder in buildings up and down the country of the nation’s ultimate public servant”.

The scheme was first opened in November last year, and was extended twice until August.  

When launching the scheme to schools last year, the Department for Education said the photo (pictured right) would be printed on “high-quality paper” and double mounted in a “glazed frame” made of oak.  

The DfE said the portraits were an “exciting opportunity to commemorate the historic occasion, strengthen civic pride, and reflect the new era in our history”.  

In Northern Ireland, just 2.3 per cent of schools ordered a portrait. This rose to 6.3 per cent in Wales and 8 per cent in Scotland. 

Across government departments, arm’s length bodies and councils in England, 82.7 per cent have received the picture.

Just 7.3 per cent of universities ordered a copy, whereas all of England’s coroners’ courts and coastguards did.  

The government handed a £4.4 million contract to Cubiquity Limited to oversee the contract.

In 2021 the DfE commissioned a commemorative book to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee. A copy was sent for every child in a state-funded primary school at a cost of £12 million.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said the scheme was the “first-of-its-kind”. Those that made fewer requests “typically had less of a tradition of displaying portraits of monarchs”.