Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

School dilemma - is the 20% increase going to happen?

201 replies

FredandAmy · 07/02/2023 15:10

We have one Y7 DC at private school and a younger DC due to start school later this year. Both DC are dyslexic (youngest not yet officially diagnosed but obvious to me and nursery staff have raised it) and the private school has excellent learning support. It has been amazing for DC1.

Planned to send both private but now worried about the potential huge rise in fees when Labour wins the election next year. We can currently afford fees for both by making sacrifices but if two sets immediately rise by 20+% it would mean one would have to leave.

We have a good state school close by, and hopefully she’ll get a place there but I’m worried that the DC will resent not being treated equally. Also worried that DC will not receive the support they need.

Am I worrying unnecessarily? I don’t want to start her at the private school and have to pull her out when she’s settled, and then find the state school doesn’t have any places. Not sure what to do for the best.

OP posts:
Hobbi · 07/02/2023 19:41

@Blessedwithsunshine

Why are you continuing to lie?

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:42

Hobbi anyone can go on goggle and fact check now, why not try it yourself!!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General education Secondary education
YukoandHiro · 07/02/2023 19:44

Whatever you do you should send both to the same.

I really hope I'm not reading what I think I am: that you're planning to leave a DS in private but move your DD out?

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:44

I have saved you the trouble Hobbi

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:45

Reigate has been an independent school since 1976

Hobbi · 07/02/2023 19:46

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:43

You're lying, continually, about Starmer. His parents sent him to a state school. You also implied he went from there to Oxford, another lie.

jtaeapa · 07/02/2023 19:46

If labour win, and if they put VAT on it, the likelihood will be that it will be phased in. Because if they don't phase it in, they will suddenly have thousands of kids needing state places overnight. Not just because many are priced out, but also because some schools won't be able to stay open with a major drop in pupil numbers. Plus, if they have any sense at all, they will realise that a significant chunk of private school kids are there because of SEN. SEN that was letting them slip through the cracks in the state sector. So it will be more than a numbers crisis. It'll be an SEN crisis as well. Which is why I think they'd phase anything like this in.

Notonthestairs · 07/02/2023 19:49

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:45

Reigate has been an independent school since 1976

Existing pupils (like Starmer) were not required pay to continue for their education when the school became private.

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:53

Notonthestairs · 07/02/2023 19:49

Existing pupils (like Starmer) were not required pay to continue for their education when the school became private.

Show quote history

Starmer benefitted from a private school education from the age of 13/14 when Reigate became independent in 1976 and indeed he now has a net worth of £7.7 million, are we really expected to buy his newly found status as working class hero? Seriously?

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/02/2023 19:55

Starmer's parents chose to send him to a state school. The fact that it converted to a private school while he was there and that he got a bursary to stay put is neither here nor there.

I don't understand why it matters. Are you suggesting that private schools should not teach people to think for themselves to the extent that they may conclude private education is unfair? Even if his parents had chosen to send him private, how would it be hypocritical for him to have objections to an unfair system that he may have benefitted from as a child?

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:59

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/02/2023 19:55

Starmer's parents chose to send him to a state school. The fact that it converted to a private school while he was there and that he got a bursary to stay put is neither here nor there.

I don't understand why it matters. Are you suggesting that private schools should not teach people to think for themselves to the extent that they may conclude private education is unfair? Even if his parents had chosen to send him private, how would it be hypocritical for him to have objections to an unfair system that he may have benefitted from as a child?

But Starmer DID benefit from a private education, it doesn’t much matter how he acquired it. The result is the same. It must have been in the pipeline for years, he only started at the school a few years before it turned private. Savvy choice. Private advantage without the fees.

It’s hypocritical, that is why people object. I look at Starmer and see no difference between him and the conservatives. All rich. All privileged.

Hobbi · 07/02/2023 20:03

@Blessedwithsunshine
It would be different (although not hypocritical) if he was proposing abolishing private education. He's not. He's proposing changing their tax status if they don't have partnerships with state schools. And you're continuing to lie through omission and carefully selected fragments of the truth. Do you work for the Daily Mail?

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 20:04

What I will say op, if Labour win - then the pressure is on him to activate these kinds of policies because he is so rich and privileged, he won’t want to be accused of letting the true working class down. Even whilst he sits on millions.

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 20:05

Hobbi · 07/02/2023 20:03

@Blessedwithsunshine
It would be different (although not hypocritical) if he was proposing abolishing private education. He's not. He's proposing changing their tax status if they don't have partnerships with state schools. And you're continuing to lie through omission and carefully selected fragments of the truth. Do you work for the Daily Mail?

Abolishing??! We are not China or North Korea.

Runrabbitrunn · 07/02/2023 20:08

jtaeapa · 07/02/2023 19:46

If labour win, and if they put VAT on it, the likelihood will be that it will be phased in. Because if they don't phase it in, they will suddenly have thousands of kids needing state places overnight. Not just because many are priced out, but also because some schools won't be able to stay open with a major drop in pupil numbers. Plus, if they have any sense at all, they will realise that a significant chunk of private school kids are there because of SEN. SEN that was letting them slip through the cracks in the state sector. So it will be more than a numbers crisis. It'll be an SEN crisis as well. Which is why I think they'd phase anything like this in.

I agree there will be a SEN problem ( even worse than now if that’s possible to imagine).

My DS goes to an independent school that specialises in children with SEN who can access mainstream curriculum but have predominantly ADHD or ASD and can’t cope in large mainstream secondaries. It is funded by the LA via his EHCP ( in recognition there is no local state offering at secondary that meets his needs).

I actually wrote to my Labour MP about this ( who did actually reply and said she written to the shadow education secretary about it to be fair).

I support imposing VAT on private schools but Labour will need to ensure they make provision if these types of schools can’t continue as a result ( which is quite likely, they have low fees and a lot of the children there are fully or partly funded by the LA). Somehow I suspect as ever there won’t be the investment for the children with SEN…

Mia85 · 07/02/2023 20:12

@Hobbi would you mind linking to this He's proposing changing their tax status if they don't have partnerships with state schools. Everything I can find on the policy is extremely broad brush and seems to just assume that they will stick 20% VAT on all independent schools straight away. You seem to have a much more detailed understanding of the policy.

It's important for people like to OP who are trying to make decisions but it's also important for how seriously Labour are taken as a prospective government. If they have a thought through and costed policy with careful consideration to how it will be brought in to limit the impact on children currently in the sector then that instills some confidence. Everything I have seen just makes very broad claims with no numbers, nuance or consideration to the disruption to children's education. That is worrying for a long standing policy that has been in multiple manifestos.

CurrentHun · 07/02/2023 20:13

I agree with you jtaeapa
I honestly think it would take years for Labour to make such a change if it ever happened at all. I think school fees are much more likely to go up unaffordably due to rampant inflation. Lots of Labour people use private schools for all sorts of reasons, they’re not going to rock the boat or will only do so very gently and tokenistically if they get into power.

FenghuangHoyan · 07/02/2023 20:14

If they do try and bring this in, then it will take a couple of years before it's actually done as there will be a lot of legal challenges.

I think it would be an overall negative for the UK if they did it, because the private schools attract a lot of foreign students and their money. I don't think it would provide that much money for the chancellor either and what they did get back, a large sum would have to be spent on extra schools, as there isn't the capacity in state schools to take the influx of people who could no longer afford it.

NoOtherShadeOfBlue · 07/02/2023 20:15

I hope they phase it in over a few years alongside some solid policies of how they will resurrect state schools from the years of brutal damage inflicted by the Tories.

I worry it's just an attention grabbing policy that they'll rush through, causing yet more harm - and, of course, leaving the truly elite schools where a 20% rise is nothing to the super-wealthy completely untouched.

It's not enough to say the money will fund more teachers, they have to find a way to retain teachers and support students and families. Sinking small independents and training a few extra teachers isn't going to solve the major issues in education, or fix social inequality. I really want to see a clear, detailed policy that will actually improve education and keep teachers in the job. At the moment, Labour are doing nothing to show this - all they have going for them is that they aren't the Tories. That's better than nothing! But it isn't enough. I want some positive change and some real hope. This isn't it.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/02/2023 20:18

Blessedwithsunshine · 07/02/2023 19:59

But Starmer DID benefit from a private education, it doesn’t much matter how he acquired it. The result is the same. It must have been in the pipeline for years, he only started at the school a few years before it turned private. Savvy choice. Private advantage without the fees.

It’s hypocritical, that is why people object. I look at Starmer and see no difference between him and the conservatives. All rich. All privileged.

Show quote history

It isn't in the slightest bit hypocritical, even if he did benefit.

As a white person, I have benefitted from white privilege over the years. It doesn't mean that I must forever be a cheerleader for racism!Confused

Hobbi · 07/02/2023 20:19

Mia85 · 07/02/2023 20:12

@Hobbi would you mind linking to this He's proposing changing their tax status if they don't have partnerships with state schools. Everything I can find on the policy is extremely broad brush and seems to just assume that they will stick 20% VAT on all independent schools straight away. You seem to have a much more detailed understanding of the policy.

It's important for people like to OP who are trying to make decisions but it's also important for how seriously Labour are taken as a prospective government. If they have a thought through and costed policy with careful consideration to how it will be brought in to limit the impact on children currently in the sector then that instills some confidence. Everything I have seen just makes very broad claims with no numbers, nuance or consideration to the disruption to children's education. That is worrying for a long standing policy that has been in multiple manifestos.

It was in the manifesto: "We will keep open the option of changing the tax status of independent schools unless their partnership work increases.” I'm not aware of a change in stance.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 07/02/2023 20:21

SheilaFentiman · 07/02/2023 18:41

I don’t think it’s that straightforward to become a free school. Also, teachers might have TUPE rights to carry on with current private school salaries!

I'm not sure it's a give that Labour would allow the creation of new free schools. It's a very economically expensive policy for little wider benefit.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 07/02/2023 20:23

Oh, and Labour genuinely can't damage state education more than the current Tory government will just by continuing with their current policies.