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.

This poster is like a pantomime villain! Agree reckon a labour bot to garner support for this policy - which worked pretty well to be fair!

But likewise according to the child poverty action group it costs £166 to 220k to raise a child to the age of 18. this more than the cost per year of 7 years of private education for a child .

Why is it embarrassing for people who have deliberately kept their families small (the majority of children who go private are from 1 or 2 child families) to be able to pay for the private fees to be vocal that their increase will hit them hard (and is ‘poor financial management’) but not embarrassing for people who have large families (ie over 2 children) who have to spend more than the school fees over the course of that extra child’s life to be vocal that the cost of living has hit them hard?

Comprehensive schools already stream children, this won't be a new feature cooked up by a new cohort of parents.

Please do. Let's see how long you keep voting Tory once your kids are in the state school system.

@Drfosters its embarrassing to watch the very well off plead poverty and make appeals to their own financial acumen/moral high ground to try maintain the privilege of tax free discretionary spending.

And assuming they’ve stuck their fingers in their ears about this being a Labour policy for ages and the huge likelihood Labour would be the next government. This isn’t unexpected.

I don't think pantomime villain does full justice to the venom dished out, you'd be forgiven for thinking the final post was crafted while the head was pivoting 360°

People arguing with political bots and as someone said a few pantomime villains..

@Drfosters - because of the falling birth rate they actually want educated successful people to have more than 2 children and not stick at 1/2 and pay private. They want you to use state schools and produce the next generation of good little workers. Your parenting is more important. No school can make up for bad parenting.

@Aladdinzane Likewise It is embarrassing to watch people who are not well off have children that they cannot afford. Having a child is 100% a discretionary spend. A person who has 1 child and sends them private will spend far less in their lifetime than a person who has 3 children and sends them to state school, hardly the very well off.

The way that cost of living/utilities etc has gone, who knows if the tories got in the school fees would end up increasing anyway.
Or you end up losing money elsewhere

I can’t believe people who struggle to pay for school fees would be financially better off under Tory rule, only the super rich where it won’t matter to them anyway.

@Drfosters

"Likewise It is embarrassing to watch people who are not well off have children that they cannot afford. Having a child is 100% a discretionary spend."

It is embarrassing to watch you make these statements, cringe worthy in fact. You develop no support for your cause by doing so.

You'll pay the tax, just keep making statements like the one above and people will laugh at you for it.

Wow.

Wow.

Labour said it will clamp down on tax avoidance, so good luck with that.

I don't believe your kids go to private school for one second 😂

Yes, that's the same for any application for anyone.

Wow, this shows something I said years ago.

In a previous job, i worked with clients who had a lot of money... generally. I found that people who aren't really wealthy and scrimp to look as if they are or have just come into money recently (Harry Enfield "considerably richer than you") have stinking attitudes like this, whereas the genuinely wealthy esp those from old money or who came from nothing and had built a fortune, were very lovely people, at times some could be a little detached from what life was like for those struggling, but very nice and respectful nonetheless.

OP has showed which category they're in!

The amount of posts on this topic are insane. If you think about what VAT is, it’s a tax on buying items/transactions by registered businesses based on the value of that item/transaction. Private Schools are registered businesses (not charities as they have been allowed to masquerade as) and you are receiving a service for the fee you pay. We already have a state school option so private education isn’t a necessity.

Politicians have been too afraid to touch it because of the vote. Look at the demographic of politicians too and you can also see why. We have only just had the VAT removed on children’s clothes and sanitary products! You may be outraged at paying extra (which many private schools may actually absorb anyway - especially the bigger more lucrative ones) but it is difficult to feel sympathy.

Lots of the posts are almost suggesting by sending their children to private school they are helping the poor children receive a state education and therefore VAT is unfair. This is not how it works and it is also disingenuous to suggest that is the reason why private schools exist.

The nouveau riche do tend to be a little crass! 🤭

What alternative ways could we better fund schools in the uk ? What do parents at private schools think ? I never see any other solutions being offered ..or even acknowledgement of state schools funding crisis.

Private Schools don't have to keep their current fee level and simply add VAT to it.

I would offer a consideration that a private school levy is charged ...then it's up to the actual school on how much to pass on the costs to parents.

How can private schools maintain charitable status? Is there space for some to maintain with evidence of charitable collaboration with local schools ?

These are all things that should be considered not some knee jerk reaction to apply for a school place and put public services in disarray out of spite.

This. State schools have had their budgets squeezed in all sorts of ways for the last decade or more and had to deal with it. I’m sure private schools could cope with a nip and tuck here and there. Why is it we pay VAT on everything else but an education that most of us can’t afford in the first place is exempt? It’s a loophole in favour of the rich which disadvantages everyone else and needs correcting.

“Comprehensive schools already stream children, this won't be a new feature cooked up by a new cohort of parents.”

The way it is currently done is not at all consistent across different schools. It really varies according to subject and many other things. Some have full grammar streams, others do not even set for Maths until Year 9. It really depends on the school and some change whilst a child is there.

The top rich private schools with rich parents tend to do a lot for the local communities, because they can. They will also easily be able to pass on the costs. This will survive and remain unchanged. The poorer ones will fold, neither the school nor the parent groups have the cash. So that is the reality on the ground.

There are a lot more male teachers in the private school sector. Many of these will be absorbed into management position in academy trusts, in true labour style. That is what will happen.

Most parents will swallow the VAT, but it won’t be the money spinner Labour are touting.

Our prep school is just opening a new £17m building before the end of term. It seems they will reclaim the VAT they’ve paid on the expenditure (£3.4m).

A good thing that’s come out of this policy is that a lot of the parents have come together more than before. The school is getting a wealth of legal and financial advice from interested parents for free. They’re looking at the accounts (it isn’t a registered charity) and will be removing new bursaries, so all places are paid in full. Amongst my immediate friends there, we’d be supportive of increasing the class size by 2 per class too (current waiting list), so I expect that topic to be tabled soon.

It won’t be a case of current fees plus 20%. They will reduce the underlying fees. I don’t think many will move to state.