Private Education Policy Forum

It "made rich students exhibit more egalitarian preferences, and be substantially more generous towards other students"

How much relevance could this have for future reform to British private schools?

A PEPF research explainer by Prof. Francis Green 👇

www.pepf.co.uk/research/gen...

Performance Tracker 2025: Schools | Institute for Government It will be extremely difficult for the government to meet its education priorities within the budget it has set for the coming parliament.

"Rather than causing parents to pull children out of private schools midstream [...] the tax may primarily deter would-be new entrants to the sector."

@amberdellar.bsky.social in @instituteforgovernment.org.uk

How does this change the VAT debate?

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Smart money: family offers £180,000 a year for tutor to get one-year-old into Eton Family seeks tutor from ‘socially appropriate background’ who can provide infant with ‘comprehensive British cultural environment’

"It is important that [his] education, even at the early years stage, starts to prepare him for this kind of life"

@richada.bsky.social in @theguardian.com

How much does this reveal how private education is used to provide a 'kind of life', beyond education?

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

'Double disadvantage': Poorer pupils less likely to get EHCP Sutton Trust warns of 'double disadvantage' with poorer families 'less able to navigate the system'

The @suttontrust.bsky.social "has warned of a "double disadvantage" for children with SEND from poorer families, who are "less able to navigate the system than more affluent parents"."

Samantha Booth in @schoolsweek.bsky.social

How do we bridge this divide?

schoolsweek.co.uk/double-disad...

Private school singled out in debate over contentious traffic measure An Oxford City councillor has sparked a debate with a private school near Magdalen Bridge in the city.

“Parents who are driving to the private schools are going to be people who can afford to pay”

Labour councillor James Taylor labels Oxford's proposed congestion charge 'elitist' as it wouldn't limit private school traffic

Is he right?

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/2533504...

Places found for children following closure of independent Wakefield school over VAT fees State school places have been found for 88 children following the closure of a fee-paying independent school, a meeting heard.

"Those children have been found places within the district"

State school places have been found for 88 children following the closure of Wakefield Independent School after the addition of VAT to fees

Encouraging news that these places could be found?

www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/education/pl...

New 'digital divide' emerges as private schools take AI lead Private schools are three times more likely to have an AI strategy than state, research from the Sutton Trust has found

Private schools are three times more likely than state ones to have a clear strategy on AI, new @suttontrust.bsky.social research suggests

@ruthlucas.bsky.social for @schoolsweek.bsky.social

How might this new form of inequality be addressed?

schoolsweek.co.uk/new-digital-...

Row over reasons behind Bromley private school closure Bromley councillors descended into a row over the reasons behind a private school’s closure, as the borough faces making a number of classes oversubscribed to accommodate pupils into state schools.

"How does that make any sense at all?"

@1jeremyadams.bsky.social questions the blaming of VAT for the closure of a private school in Bromley, pointing to financial losses going back to 2019

Is this tax being used as a scapegoat for failing businesses?

uk.news.yahoo.com/row-over-rea...

Labour has no clear plan to recruit teachers despite VAT raid The Government plans to attract 6,500 teachers over the next five years, funded by applying 20 per cent VAT on private school fees

"Labour promised to recruit “6,500 new expert teachers in key subjects”, but the party has since dropped the commitment for these to be specialists"

Poppy Wood in @telegraphnews.bsky.social

How should the money raised from VAT be used to help this issue?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07...

Charterhouse to open Kazakhstan branch | School Management Plus Charterhouse will be following in the footsteps of trailblazers Haileybury in Kazakhstan

"The move by Charterhouse reflects a wider trend for UK independent schools to seek out less developed markets for international schooling," reports Irena Barker

Does this reveal anything about the priorities of British private schools in 2025?

www.schoolmanagementplus.com/internationa...

More questions about the integrity of articles about private school fees in the @telegraphnews.bsky.social raised by @privateeyenews.bsky.social

Are some parts of the press making sensible discussion of the issue impossible?

Bromley private school parents fundraise to stop closure Parents are hoping to raise £400,000 to keep Bishop Challoner School open.

"It's difficult because people have a perception of what Bishop Challoner might be. It's so different from an independent fee-paying school."

Cameron Blackshaw in BBC News

Should this private school be treated differently, as a third of its pupils have SEN?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Private pupils charged more than state schools to see Shakespeare Groups of state schoolchildren watching performances by the globally famous company are charged £10 a head, while their private school counterparts are charged a staggering £16.50.

The @dailymail.co.uk claim that private school pupils being charged a ‘staggering’ £16.50 for tickets to the theatre is ‘feeding into a national class war.’

Is this valid, or just a mean-spirited take on broadening access for state school pupils?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Phillipson visits zero private schools in 11 months It’s been quite the year for Bridget Phillipson. The under fire Education Secretary is now regularly tipped as one of the ministers most likely to be moved at the next reshuffle. Her Schools Bill has ...

"Yet to visit a single one in nearly a year in office"

@thespectator1828.bsky.social's Steerpike criticises @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social for not visiting private schools

Should she have done so?

Or is it right for her to prioritise state schools?

www.spectator.co.uk/article/phil...

The Big State School Survey — The 93% Club The results are in. Here’s what state schoolers across the country really think.

The survey was conducted by @the93percentclub.bsky.social, who asked over 10,000 state school students for their thoughts on social mobility, regional inequality, and the tensions between local communities and having high career aspirations.

See below:

www.93percent.club/thebigstates...

If you went to state school, do you ever feel British life is rigged against you? Welcome to the 93% Club | Alastair Campbell The civil service, judiciary and media are still dominated by the privately educated 7%. Lasting change is not a pipe dream – but it’s up to us, says writer and podcaster Alastair Campbell

"To fit in, people say they start to change. Accent. Clothes. Hobbies. These are [..] survival tactics in environments that reward polish over potential"

@alastaircampbell2.bsky.social in @theguardian.com

How do we overcome this cultural divide?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Private schools lose High Court challenge over VAT changes Three high court judges have rejected a judicial review into the government's VAT policy on school fees.

"Made by Parliament, in primary legislation, after full debate and was a manifesto commitment"

The legal challenge to the government's addition of VAT to private school fees has been dismissed by the High Court

Should the debate now shift in tone?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Starmer accused of using private school VAT raid to ‘house illegal migrants’ ‘Worst-case scenario’ for schools as money promised to education funnelled into affordable housing

"Today, because of that choice [adding VAT to private schools], we have announced the largest investment in affordable housing in a generation," proclaimed Keir Starmer.

Pieter Snepvangers in @telegraphnews.bsky.social [PAYWALL]

Has this story been overblown?

www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/ke...

💰 Our new research, covered by @theipaper.com, looks at the private schools making millions in tax-free profits from overseas campuses 🌎

Are these schools' charitable statuses justified?

Check it out 👉 pepf.co.uk/publications...

A report in @privateeyenews.bsky.social suggests that a @telegraphnews.bsky.social story outlining the woes of a family of wealthy bankers regarding VAT on school fees may not add up.

Do the press have a greater responsibility to contribute to the debate in a transparent fashion?

A report in @privateeyenews.bsky.social suggests that a @telegraphnews.bsky.social story outlining the woes of a family of wealthy bankers regarding VAT on school fees may not add up.

Do the press have a greater responsibility to contribute to the debate in a transparent fashion?

Spiralling school fees have made the blow from VAT much worse By raising fees imprudently in recent years, the independent sector has deprived a tier of parents of financial wriggle room

"By raising fees imprudently in recent years, the independent sector has deprived a tier of parents of financial wriggle room. This could have helped them cope with the imposition of VAT."

Jonathan Guthrie in @financialtimes.com [PAYWALL]

Do you find this convincing?

www.ft.com/content/be7e...

Reform UK’s income tax plans ‘to cost up to £80bn’ warns IFS – as it happened Research institute says costs of plan to exclude those earning less than £20k from the tax will dwarf those of party’s winter fuel and two-child benefit changes

"We’ve heard a lot from the private schools over an extended period, scaremongering about the impact. It’s never come to pass," claimed @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social yesterday morning.

Tom Ambrose and Martin Belam in
@theguardian.com

Is this a fair comment?

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Harrow and Dulwich among top private schools making millions in tax-free profits Elite schools, where fees have rocketed, use their charitable status to avoid paying tax on millions of pounds from overseas campuses

"If corporation tax had been paid on the profits – at the 19% rate used at the time – it would have amounted to enough to pay for 12 million free school meals"

New PEPF research reported by
@conniedimsdale.bsky.social in @theipaper.com

What do you make of it?

inews.co.uk/news/educati...

Number of Hong Kong students attending British independent schools drops by 6% Annual census conducted by UK’s Independent School Council cites introduction of 20 per cent VAT as contributing factor.

This article points to a drop in private school numbers and cites VAT, but also points out that last year was the second consecutive fall in numbers, which ‘peaked in 2023’

Is VAT the only reason?

amp.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

'Private schools price for their market. They've raised fees well above inflation and can cut them back to ensure demand holds fairly steady.'

Thoughts?

Do these figures suggest the impact of the addition of VAT to private school fees is being overstated?

VAT on UK private school fees hits primaries more than secondaries Pupil numbers drop 3.5% for early education compared with 1.7% for older pupils, data shows

"Education experts said rising costs had forced some parents to sacrifice early private education so they could afford school fees later on"

Amy Borrett and Laura Hughes in @financialtimes.com

Why do parents value secondary education ahead of primary education?

www.ft.com/content/be9a...

This article in @privateeyenews.bsky.social points to issues for choir schools and cathedrals related to VAT on fees.

Is this an example of where exceptions could be made?

Private school exodus of 13,000 dwarfs ministers’ predictions The drop in pupil numbers, being blamed on VAT being added to fees, is the biggest since the Independent Schools Council began tracking the figures in 2012

A @thetimes.com article links an ‘exodus’ from private schools to VAT. @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social accused them of crying wolf - ‘They have whacked up their fees, year on year, and priced themselves out of the reach even of many middle-class families’.

Is she right?

www.thetimes.com/uk/education...