Instruments

The instruments we teach

These include:

Even if your instrument is not on the list we may still teach it, so please ask.

Hiring an instrument

We have a stock of instruments that we hire to parents for a charge of £15.00 a term. This includes the cost of insurance.

Priority is given to families who would otherwise find it hard to afford to buy or hire commercially. We aim to buy the more expensive and rare instruments which would otherwise be unattractive for pupils to learn.

Please use the attached form below to hire an instrument. This also contains terms of hire and insurance cover information.

If you would like to discuss instrumental provision, please contact your school first. But if you still need to contact us, please do so.

Supporting documents

• Hire agreement form 2011 (PDF, 3 pages, 81KB)
• Covering letter 2011 (PDF, 1 page, 169KB)

Buying an instrument

Instruments that are purchased for use in schools may, in certain circumstances, fall outside the scope of VAT . Customs and Excise regulations permit sales of musical instruments to pupils in certain circumstances without liability for payment of VAT. The Assisted Purchase Scheme applies solely to equipment which is required for regular classroom use for a subject forming part of the school curriculum and not merely serving as a useful adjunct to home study.

The following extracts are taken from a document on VAT produced jointly by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and Customs and Excise. The regulations must be followed precisely in order not to contravene taxation law.

• The musical instrument is supplied for use in lessons comprising part of the normal school curriculum and is required for regular classroom use. The instrument can be taken home but needs to be brought to school at least on a weekly basis.
  
  
• The sale is made 'in class' to local authority pupil(s) by the school itself and not by a separate entity such as the school shop. 'In class' means by way of the teacher or headteacher and not supplied directly to the pupil by an outside trader.
  
  
• Any charge to the pupil for the instrument must not exceed its cost to the school. No administration or other similar charge may be added.

The standard procedure would be for the parent to make payment to the school for the cost of the instrument excluding VAT at the time the school orders the instrument. The school would pay the invoice in the usual way.

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