The Government has been accused of “vandalism” after VAT was added to private school fees. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer removed a tax exemption from private schools in a bid to help prop up Britain’s struggling public services.
Ministers estimated that scrapping the VAT exemption would raise £1.5billion per year, with the money paying for 6,500 new state school teachers and boosting spending on state schools in England by 2%. Analysis by The Times newspaper shows many private schools report a drop in pupil numbers, a reduction to the number of subjects offered, declining applications and pause to building work.
The same publication reports some private schools have benefited from the removal of the exemption because they are cheaper than others nearby or due to local school closures.
A majority of the 84 schools which responded to the poll have passed on at least 11% of VAT to parents, according to the news outlet.
Stamford School in Lincolnshire accused the Government of “vandalism” in its education policy approach. Headteacher Mark Steed has said the school was closing its German department and wouldn’t be offering Latin at A-Level.
Highgate School’s headteacher Adam Pettit said the amount his school spends on bursaries and supporting a state sixth form would likely fall as a result of the exemption removal.
Dominic Norrish, Chief executive of the Independent Association of Prep Schools, said the impact of taxing education is real.
He added: “It’s showing up in national measures of inflation; it has been cited in the announced closure of more than a dozen independent schools; and it has prompted thousands of parents to reconsider their educational options.”
Mr Norrish said parents would “rightly” wait for the least damaging time to move their child to another school, adding: “The true impact will take several years to fully surface and will see more of the smallest and affordable schools close.”
A Government spokeswoman said ending tax breaks for private schools will raise £1.8billion a year by 2029-30 to help fund public services, including supporting the 94% of children in state schools to achieve and thrive.
She added: “It will be a commercial decision for individual private schools as to how they manage their finances in the same way as any other private business.
“All charities must show public benefit and we expect charitable private schools to continue this through their partnership work with the state-funded sector and with means-tested bursaries.”
Meanwhile, a report published this week shows persistently high state school teacher leaving rates and “sluggish” recruitment in England have led to larger class sizes and a greater reliance on unqualified staff.
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, warned of “growing signs” of teacher shortages in schools having a negative impact on the quality of education for pupils in England.
Unfilled teaching vacancy numbers in state schools reached six vacancies per thousand teachers in service in 2023-24 – which is double the pre-pandemic rate, the NFER said. Meanwhile, 15% of secondary pupils were in classes of more than 30 in 2023-24, up from 10% in 2015-16.
NFER predicted the pattern of under-recruitment in primary and most secondary school subjects is “likely to continue” in 2025-26.
