to suggest that every single parent with a child at private school apply for a state school place asap?

[sarjd]

let's see how that works.

Bull. Shit.

Why would everyone with a child in a private school do this?

Sure if you are going to struggle with the higher fees then it makes sense, but for most of the parents will just be paying the higher fees.

The state will be as constrained as it is now. There’s hardly any more going in via these low benefit taxes.

In fact the state could well be in a more difficult position after a few years

Can I point out a couple of things?
There is not VAT tax on education in this country. Young people who go to state schools will not find a VAT tax added to higher education. The reason being is unlike other things people choose to spend their money on Education is seen as a ‘social good.’ Something that unlike buying a posh car, an expensive holiday or a larger house adds and benefits society.
To that previous poster who think that money will be found by those with kids in private schools - I wouldn’t be so sure.
Yes, you are right private fees do go up year on year. Many private schools have incredibly generous pension schemes for their teachers that the school opts into.
But with a 20% Vat increase and then on average a 5% yearly increase that is nearly 30% in a year. This is unprecedented and unlike any of the slow trajectory hikes that private school parents cope with.
I worry for that for those kids without an EHCP who have SEN and whose parents may have sent them to private school as a way of coping - they and their schools will be at risk. As I understand it those kids with an EHCP will be exempt from the VAT but they are a small minority (only 4.3%) of the nearly 1.5 million kids with SEN some of whom will be in private schools. Their VAT exemption will not protect those small and specialist schools from closing.

Hope the councils are ready for the influx of EHCP applications that will be coming their way if they say these children are excluded from the VAT. There’s probably 100 in our school alone who haven’t bothered getting one as there was no benefit before now. More cost to the state!

Posters saying it would be chaos 😂
It would be unnoticeable, only about 6% of students are in private school and the majority of those would probably not do what the op is saying and they'd just pay more. Leaving maybe 1% at a push which would easily be absorbed in most areas

At the school I work at plenty of parents are asking to to pay school fees in advance because they have the cash and can afford to. They won't be changing schools even if paying 4 years upfront still results in VAT retrospectively charged on it. These are people with homes in multiple countries it's pocket money to them. I realise not all private schools have such uber rich clientele but I don't think there's such a huge proportion that can't afford an extra 20%.

It’s not batshit, it is a point of view and an opinion that doesn’t align with yours.
It’s not just annoyance with Keir Starmer, it’s actually more with the number of people who seem to think this policy will fix anything in the state system. It’s a cheap vote winner.

I can see now that as a parent with DCs in private school, I am very clearly held in some sort of weird contempt, regardless of why I chose to use private schools. I’m state educated.
I’m done with being the super-squeezed middle….done helping with Sure Start, volunteer reading in the local primary, joining big fundraising efforts for schools my children don’t even go to, providing free services to local schools, providing and collecting raffle gifts, running school choirs for free….i could go on and on. I’ve been doing this for years and years.
I’m honestly just ‘done’.
I’ll up my working hours and therefore won’t be volunteering at the local stroke charity either. And yes, I’ll be making up the extra 20% by trimming costs like subscriptions to animal charities.

Who wants to be the GE fodder and way to win votes for little gain? In fact probable damage.

No one here.

You however will be paying for the headline grabber

I know a sample of private school parents with kids in junior in Kent - what every one of them has said to me is that they’re now going to start targeting the grammar schools through heavy tutoring for year 7 and onwards.

We’ll look at the grammar path too. something I’d not considered before. I’m actually quite excited about the idea of saving £70k+ per year on fees. The holidays would be magnificent, instead of nice 😂

I see CCHQ is still desperately searching for ways to scare people.

What’s CCHQ?

My private school alma mater has been telling us all about the spiffy new swimming pool it's built. I think if I had children there now I might be suggesting that they hold back on the next capital project and reduce their fees instead to compensate for the VAT charge.

I agree with @Sunhatweather, this policy has very little to do with education. It’s a ploy to cement a few votes and there is no possible way that it relates to improving state education. Labour presumably has separate plans for that, but it will no doubt remain inadequate.

Conservative Central HQ, I think.

There's quite a hefty proportion of foreign pupils in private schools, OP. Somehow I don't think they're going to get state school places here.

Thanks @Saschka

This doesn’t read like political lobbying, it’s more like a daft idea!!

Epic flounce.

But I don’t think people are judged at all. People may say you should cut your cloth but the retort is ‘you don’t have the right to tell me how many children I can have’. Which is true of course and ultimately the children are the ones who suffer. But this is a slight diversion off the topic.

I stand by the fact that I hate the assumption by a lot of people on this thread that private school parents are rich, stuck up and detached from reality which actually the majority have made difficult choices about the size of the family vs the education they wish to provide. I dislike the fact they think that well, if you are paying x you can drop a holiday and pay the x plus 20%. A parent’s choice of education is not necessarily about people wanting to get their children in with rich people, or better jobs or just because they are sneering on other people. It is often driven by their child and trying, as all parents do, to make the right choice, a choice that could be driven by love of sport (sport is one of the last things to get prioritised by cash strapped schools) , SEN, a child who wouldn’t thrive in a large school etc, - . This is a choice all parents have btw- private school is available to every single child in this country via bursaries if needed. I have sent my children to private and state and I was the same parent to the them at both and have met similar parents and children at both. I just feel if you have had more than 2 children you have no right to judge someone who has chosen a different path than you by having less children and choosing to spend that extra money on their education. I think the policy is flawed and will end up causing more elitism and disadvantage those it wishes to benefit.

Never made a difference?
Right. Jog on. You’re just confirming my opinion.

I don't understand this comment. It's a Labour policy.

It’s what Labour mners talk about a lot

I’m in Australia and it doesn’t apply to me, but if our fees went up 20% I would increase my working days from 3 to 5. On my two days off at the moment I spend one volunteering at a school for newly arrived refugee children and the other day attending an open centre where adults are learning conversational English. I would have to stop those. I also attend a local woman’s exercise class in the day, which I would also have to stop. I assume the $40 a week I pay her wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it’s all money and help that was once there and now isn’t.