To think if you can no longer afford school fees...

These schools are not financially viable then and has little to do with the proposed VAT. They will either have to close or work in different ways such as joining up with other schools in a similar way to the MAT (multi academy trust) system in state schools.

What's that got to do with anything? People who work long hours in hospitals don't have a lot of spare time for their children's education. This is how they make it work.

And yet 75 - 80% of medical school students went to state school, they’re more likely to perform well, and they’re more interested in becoming GPs.

OP have you looked at Labour’s manifesto?

They intend to use the money they think they’ll raise from VAT on private school fees to create 3000+ new nurseries, providing roughly 100,000 places for children from 9 months to 4 years old. These nurseries will be located in spare classrooms within existing schools. (Best Start In Life)

If there’s an influx of previously privately educated children moving into the state sector, I’m not sure why Labour thinks there will be classrooms going spare. Anyway, I’m sure they have a plan for that.

The VAT rise will also fund 6,500 new teachers, who, despite there being a recruitment crisis, are apparently waiting in the wings to take up posts as soon as Labour is elected.

These teachers will be targeted at failing schools. Interestingly, the number of schools classed as inadequate is likely to rise under Labour, not fall. Not because the schools will somehow magically become bad, but because Labour have stated in their manifesto that they think the current situation of 90% of schools being Good or Outstanding is ridiculous. They intend to bring in robust (translation: punitive) inspections with annual reviews for each school. This will only increase teacher stress, so I can’t see their 6,500 new recruits staying long. But I’m sure they have a plan for that. (Raising School Standards)

The VAT money will also fund a free breakfast for every child in primary school too. Apparently this is to improve the health of the under 5s by feeding them cereal and white bread. Highly unlikely the funding will stretch to something that costs a bit more like fresh fruit given that Labour have decided funding free lunches for every primary child is too expensive. Breakfast clubs are stated as being useful because they ‘improve behaviour, attendance and learning’.

Which brings us back to those 100,000 new nursery places for babies from 9 months.

Labour have said that this new provision will enable parents to enter the workplace by ending the issue of unavailable or unaffordable nursery care.

Labour’s manifesto also says they will reform employment support so it drives growth and opportunity. Our system will be underpinned by rights and responsibilities - people who can work, should work - and there will be consequences for those who do not fulfil their obligations. (Supporting People Into Work)

Have you joined the dots yet?

Wealthy parents will be able to stay home, bringing up their children, and forming closed bonds. Poor parents, who may rely on state benefits, will be expected to farm out their very young children from the age of 9 months in order to re-enter the workforce. If they refuse, they will face sanctions. Good Work will be the foundation of our approach to tackling poverty and inequality. We will create more good jobs, reform employment support, and make work pay so that many more people benefit from the dignity and purpose of work. Labour is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty. (Family Security)

In January, Labour also stated that they wanted to bring in a register of homeschooled children, and that checks would be made on their welfare. In principle, this isn’t a bad idea, given what some people pass off as ‘home educating’, but as the focus of Making Work Pay is also clearly to bring down the benefits bill, it isn’t too ridiculous to think that some of those home ed parents will be found wanting, their children compulsorily put into schools with breakfast clubs (remember Labour also want this provision to exist throughout the school holidays) and those parents forced back into work otherwise their benefits would be withdrawn. (The Guardian, 9 January 2024)

It won’t be too hard for Labour to do the checks either, or at least to build up a picture of a child’s home situation. They intend to bring in a single, unique identifier for each child, shared across all public services. Not too different from Scotland’s Named Person scheme, in many ways. Someone has to be responsible for the data, after all. (Best Start In Life)

If this is what you want, fine, crow about VAT being imposed on education in the private sector.

But if you haven’t yet read Labour’s full manifesto, now might be a good time to start.

Labour Manifesto 2024

Again, what's that got to do with the price of fish? Parents choose private because they find the demands of their job and the offering in the State sector just don't work.

Duly noted @Blarneytalk

You said that your medic friends have to pay thousands of pounds extra tax to get their children educated to a similar standard they needed to get into healthcare.

That’s clearly not true when the vast majority of medical students are state educated, is it?

Since only 7% of kids go to PS it's only logical that 80% of medical students come from state schools. If the numbers were different, you wouldn't be happy either.

"Our private school has 70% on bursaries because we have been very invested in supporting the brightest in the community. It is such a short sighted and ill informed, politically driven policy"

MN seems to have a huge number of parents whose private schools give way over the average level of bursaries.

The average bursary btw only covers 35% of the fee, so for an average day school secondary a parent is going to need to come up with 975 a month for fees, this is rather a lot, however a if the IFS estimate is correct, they'd have to find just under 150 quid extra to pay for the VAT.

70 per cent bursary - that's really high.

People who succeed academically in state schools, it's generally down to the parents putting in a lot of time and effort at home - at least, at primary level.

Not every child needs a lot of time and effort to achieve. Once you've taught them to read they can then learn independently.

I recognise my privilege in living in an area with outstanding state schools on the doorstep, not just one btw, they all are.

But please don't imply that I don't care or am not aware of areas that aren't so lucky as I said nothing of the sort.

All outstanding - London?

You think people working 12 hour shifts have time to teach their kids to read?

There's 12 hours left. We managed it.

And excellent teaching and a supportive environment at school too.

Innate intelligence also.

Yeah! I do! It takes 10 mins a night reading with them in bed 🤯

My daughter works at a private school as a TA. From September her hours have been reduced to an amount that isn't financially viable. She will have to leave and find something else. Being ND this is very upsetting for her.
The classes at the school she works at are also being cut. Several children will be leaving and are all upset.
I feel sorry for her, the children and all the other staff. Don't agree with this at all.

I am really sorry about that.

How many hours does she do? If it's 18 could she not claim universal credit?

Maybe you should read that posters original comment to understand the context?

It’s also a much higher proportion of pupils that do A levels at private school - more like 18% - so it depends how the BMJ defines private school educated in its figures.

I’m not disputing that.

My issue was with the claim of having to send children to private school to achieve the level of education required to enter healthcare professions.

@Behappyandbehave have her appl;y for UC. Worst they can say is no
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