Do you think labour will actually implement 20% vat on school fees?

[labpit]

We have two in Year 7 and year 10 and I am not sure what we will do if this happens. It is a certainty do you think?

For example, I have a very high flying colleague who is a single mother and has 2 kids in private school in London and a nanny. She has done the Maths and it is cheaper for her now to go out to Dubai for the next 5 years (she won’t pay income tax there) and send the kids to board (plus VAT) then to stay and deal with a 20 per cent rise on top of rising school fees and nanny etc, because she will save so much in income tax. She can’t put much in her pension either to mitigate taxes. So she is going ahead with that decision now. On the back of this policy. So there will be some in that bracket and it will be a case by case basis.

I don't think people forget this at all. All this means is that paying for private school absolutely is a luxury.

I'm not asking you to feel sorry for me.
I also won't send my child to a dire state school with poor outcomes, aspirations and behaviour.
It is easy to have morals when you have access to good state schools. Not all of us have the same access. Since when is doing the best for your child such a sin.

It’s not. It’s a shame people applaud this policy

There is a better way to improve state over this poor policy

It isn’t. I send my DC to state school because I don’t have the cash for private. Or I would send her in a heartbeat. I could throw a strop, adopt views like @ArseInTheCoOpWindow but it wouldn’t help DD.

All that would happen is good catchments would become staggeringly expensive and unaffordable to all but the wealthiest families, those schools would become private in all but name due to generous ‘donations’, and the rest would continue to limp along as they do at the moment.

“@MumMRM · I work for a private school and our opinion is it is a done thing if Labour get in! Sorry.”

But are you not more worried about it than the private school parents on the board? Surely it is you lot who are likely to be the most affected by all of this and what are you doing about it? Or do you just expect the parent group to keep paying regardless? Or are you ready and looking for jobs in the state sector?

It seems some find it hard to believe but I am not envious. I don't like private schools. The DC I meet who attend actively put both my DC and I off considering it.

I and my siblings all attended private schools and none of us want our children to do the same. We all prioritise being able to go to your nearest school, have local friends and being part of your local community.

As I said earlier in the thread I have no idea why this 10-15% rise is considered to be the one that will prompt an exodus. Fees rise every year and some private school cost 2-3 times others. The people I know who pay fees will be annoyed but otherwise largely unaffected. They have various sources of income including from property rentals, go on multiple holidays, work part time or are sahm and the DC all do v expensive extra curriculars on top of attending private school. They're not going to switch to state schools in a million months of Sundays.

I just can't feel sorry for anyone choosing to send their child to private school and moaning about having to pay a bit more money.

Choosing to live in a small house and not go on fancy holidays is still a hugely privileged choice that the majority of hard working people in this country cannot even contemplate.

I prioritise education too. I cannot afford to send my children to private school but I wouldn't anyway. My experience of private schools and people who went to them are not positive. Luckily as a teacher I can help my dc every step of the way with their education.

Many don’t have the privilege of a teacher parent. It’s just another form of unfair advantage, isn’t it? A tutor on tap?

@Naptrappedmummy Many don’t have the privilege of a teacher parent. It’s just another form of unfair advantage, isn’t it? A tutor on tap?

Exactly 😂😂

So your DC are privileged to have a teacher at home to support them. Most kids don't have that. The fundamental issue is that taxing education of any form isn't right.

My experience of state comprehensive and the people who went to them was not good so I guess that makes us quits…although of course we’re both talking about anecdotal evidence. I actually have one DC in state and one in private because that’s what suits them best. All schools are different (even within the same sector). As a teacher I would have expected you to understand that and not make such sweeping generalisations.

It's not £12k a year school fees it's more likely £12k a term.

I think Rachel Reeves is pretty set on it. She has been saying it for years now. If she doesn't implement it once in power it will make her look flakey.

No it's not! It depends on whereabouts in the country you are. This is the issue, assuming every private school is Eton

As a teacher I should have known better than to make a sweeping generalisation? Yawn. Sharing my experiences isn't making a sweeping generalisation, it's sharing my experience.

My children are lucky to have a teacher parent. I recognise that privilege.

I don't agree that paying for education is right. I believe that all children should have the opportunity to access the best education they can. That's what I work for.

I support my own children as a teacher and a parent, that's my right and my privilege as an educated and healthy person.

You have just showed that you have zero idea about private school. My DC’s private school is £16000 per year. That’s pretty much standard in this area for the type of school. There are some cheaper schools but they tend to be smaller with less facilities.

@Yesnosorryplease do you by any chance live in a lovely house in a lovely area with a lovely state school?

@Trappedandunhappy 'one less holiday a year, a one step down model of car, cancel the tennis club membership, fewer meals out, etc. we are talking about finding an extra couple of thousand a year. Just not having that weekend shopping trip to New York pays for that immediately.'

You may be trapped&unhappy, but taking it out on others won't make you feel any better.

My ds is on an academic scholarship, which means I 'only' pay £9k a year. To afford that, we haven't been on a foreign holiday since 2017, I don't have any sports memberships. I don't have any meals out unless they are company-business and I've never been to New York, shopping or otherwise.

You really haven't got a clue have you?

I'll put the £1,800 extra for his last year on a credit card, or get an overdraft and pay it off over a few years. I won't let people like you wreck my ds' chance of decent a'levels, no matter how hard you try.

And if your local schools aren't good and you aren't a teacher then what do you do? Oh yes, you send your child to private school.
In some ways your DC are more privileged than mine but yet you don't get hammered for it!
Of course all schools should be good but the teuru is that they aren't and I won't sacrifice my DDs education. We can't afford to move house to an area with better schools, 75K on school fees is cheaper than 150k to move house. If VAT is applied I will give up working FT in order to home school which means I won't be paying tax towards the state system.

And I’m sharing my experience but of course yours is far superior. I wonder why there are so many state school teacher parents at my DC’s school?!

Yes, it’s not as if house prices don’t impact state schools

There are other ways to improve state than this. This just makes people feel good for spite reasons, sadly

We could go for smaller class sizes as rolls fall I’d be happier with that

Funny that our next door neighbour is HoY in outstanding state school and sends his DC private. All because the state schools around here are dreadful

I don't think it will be gradual. They've allocated the money it will raise to fund services. And it would apply to all ages surely. A school will have charitable status or not.