To think that those private school parents banging on about their fees

[Thegreatergoodgerald]

Seriously have misjudged how little anyone else gives a stuff??? NHS, social care, state education, public transport, bloody potholes everywhere - that’s what matters to everyone I know.
Not whether or not VAT is added to a business.

YANBU - it’s hardly the end of the world if Clemmie or Charles end up going to a state school. We have bigger things to worry about in the U.K. right now

YABU - of course everyone cares private school parents might have to pay more

I'd also like to see the figures for how much VAT Labour expect private schools to reclaim (backdated by several years) from VAT they've paid and not been able to reclaim in the past.

Well，the government spends nearly £8k per state-funded student each year - many MC parents (who were using or plan to use private school) will use state options from the natural transition year (4+, 11+, 16+) and spend money out of school (tuition, extra-curricular)

The government (taxpayers) will need to spend more - and may have to reduce/freeze funding per student to fund the extra places.
The VAT police is for attracting votes rather than real benefits

Like I just said on another thread, I don't get why people seem to think the private schools VAT plan will help address inequality especially in education.

The real educational inequality is between different state schools.

It won't - the will still be only one good rated school in this city with houses outside our price range in it's catchment. Also the area will still be one of the lowest funded per pupil. My kids school will still have same issues including lack of teachers.

It's merely a distraction - but it's proponents will never admit that.

It will I think it will affect a small minority of families and the wider adverse affects won't show up for a while and will get dismissed or explained away - in mean time state sector inequalities will still be there and may get worse.

(My DC are entirely state educated as were DH and I and in fact our entire extended families)

I have no kids, but I care. Parents make a lot of sacrifices to give their children a good education, so it's ridiculous that some politicians think they're an easy target.

We bought our house to secure access to an excellent state school. it was a smarter play than years and years of tuition.

Other parents make a different decision for a myriad of reasons, but many are just at the tipping point. Dramatically hike tuition and children will be moved to a state system not currently prepared with seats.

Dc have SEN and are thriving in state schools. Perhaps it's geographical but I certainly don't buy into the argument that private is always best for SEN.

It's the same posters on all the threads moaning to each other accompanied by their tiny violins. They genuinely don't seem to realise their own privilege. If you can afford private school fees, even if it's a stretch, then you are amongst the very wealthiest in the country. Trying to pass themselves off as average hard-working parents who just want the best for their kids is insulting to the vast majority of hard working parents who also want the best for their kids but would never be within reach of private school fees.

It also gives a good insight into the demographic of Mumsnet. Only 6% of kids in private education and all of their parents must be on here.

100 totally agree op.
Entitled idiots!

A majority also wanted Brexit. 🙄That worked out well...

In fact, the added VAT is another issue resulting from Brexit as under EU law no VAT is payable on education

Close them down!
Make state schools better! 🙌🙌🙌

Over 500,000 kids go to private so yeh chances are parents are on this site

Lol

If people on this thread really cared about state education they would want Labour to focus on that. Private school is not the reason hundreds of state schools are shit. Why not improve from the bottom up rather than worsen from the top down? It's the least aspirational policy going.

The money just won't be there, it's a fool's errand to think it will be.

No middle class parent with a bit of spare cash is going to send their child to a shit or dangerous school and then spend their time and resources ‘improving the school for everyone’ like some people seem to think - they will move house to within a tiny catchment of an outstanding school and bump an existing local child out.

yep

yabu for two reasons

1, Because if this goes through, there will be even less money for potholes and the nhs, and

2, because the thousands of SEN, and gifted & talented children whose parents currently scrape together the money for the education they need, will be denied that education.

The very rich will carry on being even more elitist than ever, and everyone else will be reduced to the lowest common denominator. So as a policy, it achieves nothing.

If you closed private schools over night that would mean over 500,000 kids needing immediate state school places at a cost of billions to the tax payer.
Even if 5% leave private schools then that costs the state £200 million extra per year. Where is that money coming from?
Where are all the state places coming from bearing in mind Oxford, Cambridgeshire and Ealing have all confirmed they have 0 places available at secondary.

And bunging 6500 new teachers (if they can find them) into the current state system is like filling a bucket with holes. It's headlines, not intelligent policy making.

That’s exactly what we will do.

It’s not about rubbing shoulders with posh children or wearing a hat, it’s about keeping them away from schools where violence is the norm and half the kids barely give a shit about learning. Sad for them but they’re not my problem. My own children are my problem.

...is the mature response.

My parents have gone off their local Lib Dem MP (LD and Tories only in their area so lord knows who they'll vote for), because of his stance on second home ownership... Because they can't afford to keep their second home now.

It's very immature to expect a political party to cover all your needs and principles IMO.

Not all private teachers will want to move to state because many have already left state to teach in private

JustAnotherPoster00 · Today 11:40
The ridiculousness of the private school MN users is the way they try and frame their participation in inequality as altruism.

Justanotherposter have a look at a thread running at the moment started by a poster who feels it’s unfair that she can’t send her dc to private school.
Virtually every post (and there are lots) say that state schools are better than private schools, their dc went to state schools and are now doctors/lawyers/millionaires etc.
Since apparently state schools are better why are private schools unfair?

Overall I think school rolls are falling - however you get places where I am where families have been prices out of nearby cities and the schools are all full.

However if the private school near DC old state primary closed I think it would have zero affect on schools close by because school aren't good enough - they'd move to other areas and actually even out of this small city to nearby cities. In fact suspect only affect would be a local reduction in traffic. I can't say they are a huge local employer either even in immediate area so meh really all round.

Absolutely right. The socialist worker types on here have absolutely no idea how independent schools work. More than 60% of the kids at the independent secondary my son goes to are supported by bursaries. Approaching 40% don't pay any fees. The only people this policy will really hurt is the very bright kids from disadvantaged backgounds who will no longer be able to access those places as there will be a lot less of them - either because of school closures or due to massive reduction in the bursary pots. Schools like Eton etc have bursary schemes that benefit from endowments, sure, and that won't change. But the school I am talking about is entirely funded (apart from one place) by donations to the bursary fund from current and alumni parents. The first thing virtually all current parents are doing (and I have seen the data) is stop contributing to the bursary fund in case VAT comes in.

Still waiting to see a single argument that persuades me to care or change my mind.

None of the arguments being put forward hold water. Catastrophising scaremongering the lot of them.

PS I do have sympathy on an individual level but not on a public policy level.

It totally depends on the type of SEN and the options available. Here a calm environment with small class sizes and a dedicated dyslexia team made a massive difference. None of this was available in our local state options. It ought to be but it isn’t.

From what I have heard there is talk that those with a specific EHCP that states private school is the best option will be exempt. Not sure if that will come to pass.