VAT on school fees not applied retroactively- ultra wealthy are safe

[Kitkat189]

VAT on school fees won’t be applied retroactively to school fees paid before 29 July meaning if you paid your child’s entire education upfront, you escape the 20% increase. I know people who did this in the hopes that this would happen and now it has. TELL ME HOW THIS IS FAIR??? The ultra wealthy won’t be impacted by this at all while other families are going to have to move their children. To those of you who support VAT on school fees, please know that it won’t apply to everyone and that some of the revenues from this will be lost. If you think it won’t matter because very few will have prepaid, you should disagree with this on principle.

regardless of where you stand on the topic of VAT on school fees, I think we can agree this is fundamentally unfair.

You sound delightful, I hope your cousin isn't on Mumsnet.

I went to private school between the ages of 4-18. I benefited hugely from the experience. I was head girl, got poor exam results and elected not to go to university. I now earn a six figure salary, as does my husband, and both my children are privately educated.

So what.

You don’t sound pleasant and also if private is no better than state let people pay without driving some out with VAT

The very rich private schools will be fine

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/elite-schools-set-to-become-even-wealthier-under-new-vat-rules-bjbf9vfbg

How exactly does that work? Young mothers with cancer dying and leaving behind small children because they can't afford healthcare. I do not want to live in a country like the US thanks.

This was always on the cards. Right from the start it’s been obvious that elite schools, divested of any necessity to retain their charitable functions will be able to significantly benefit from the ability to turn themselves into businesses.

Whoop-Dee do. I was also head student - state school, worked hard for good exams, scholarship to Uni, from a poor background, zero advantages other than parents who loved me and valued education.
Am in highest tax bracket now, so is DP.

sounds like you tried to piss some of your private school advantages up the wall.
Somwhat? Plenty of kids, private and state do.private schools are full of not very bright kids whose parents are buying privilege to compensate. others would do well anywhere.

But as you are a high earner at least you can pay the VAT no problems.

You don't need to buy privilege to compensate? Compensate for what exactly?
It is perfectly fine to spend your money on whatever you like. People spend £10k on a Chanel bag. So what?

The point the poster was making is that spending money on private education does not mean some predetermined 'successful' career outcome. So what if a privately educated person is cleaning bins? Hopefully they enjoyed their childhood and school years and clean bins with dignity

Those who go to state schools hopefully enjoy their schools too and if they don't, government is lobbied to change that

Well, if the poster managed to fail her exams despite her parents struggling to send her to a private school, that’s between them. I have a friend who flunked her exams at private school, and re-sat A levels at a state school and went to Uni and her dad has NEVER forgiven her for the £££ he thinks she ‘wasted’ ‘ …

That is too bad. People fail in all types of schools. Going private does not mean you will pass your exams. There are prestigious private schools with exit results worse than my local state secondary school.

You missed the point of the poster who was replying to a mean comment about a privately educated person with a menial job

‘That is too bad. People fail in all types of schools. Going private does not mean you will pass your exams. ’

Totally agree. The ‘superiority’ of private schools is a myth

Just wondering if anyone knows if any more information has been made publicly available by government on the legal details of this new application of VAT to education?

People don't bat an eyelid when others choose to spend their money on luxury holidays ever year, new cars, latest gadgets, massive teles etc and yet when people choose to spend their money on school fees, people are disapproving. Many people scrimp & save to be able to pay for their children to get a good education yet are immediately judged for doing so. Just how the state education system will cope with an influx of new pupils from the private system doesn't seem to have been looked at. Also, those paying for private education are already paying for the state system too, in the same way the rest of us are too. The resulting strain on the state system will be huge. I am not against private schools at all, although the fees seem exorbitant these days.

People pay VAT on luxury items. And it is actually possible to get a good education in a state school.

If people feel that state schools are no longer good then you can blame the Tories for cutting council budgets by 50%.

The overwhelming opinion on Mumsnet (from people actually using private schools), used to be that broadly speaking it was only worth paying school fees if you would not miss the money.

Since the issue about VAT was announced, there are suddenly all these carefully constructed narratives about people who live on bread and water because their child can't possibly learn unless they are in a private school.

I call BS, I'm afraid. The reality is, imo, that people making a noise about this are affluent people who have become used to having a government where it's the vulnerable folk who are targeted in policies, whilst they sat unaffected.

‘ am not against private schools at all, although the fees seem exorbitant these days.’

they are, that’s why pupil numbers are falling in many. They’re businesses and if some have decided to gouge their customers and price themselves out of existence then so be it.

Agree with this. I don’t think private schools are good for our education as a whole. That’s just my view.
I also don’t think they’re worth the money either, so chose state.
But if you view it differently and really want to go private, go for it. But bleating on about the cost when 93% of families send their children to state schools really isn’t going to get sympathy from anyone not affected.

20% VAT will be applied on all private school fees from January 2025.
What that means for different schools depends on how each private school decides to pass on the extra costs.
Our school informed parents this week that they will absorb the majority of the new costs (by dropping the pre VAT fees), so parents in practice will only have to fork out a small increase. They are clearly making a big effort to avoid losing pupils.

Thats good news Ahaha
Ours has announced the school fees uplift already for the coming year so they have carefully distanced that from the 20% increase. And they’ve left us in suspense over the holidays as to whether they will in any way seek to not pass on the full amount, saying that they will tell us in Sept. Then we all have to just find the extra money by January. It’s very stressful.

Posters on here being happy that this is happening, should look around my kid’s private school class. Yes some privileged kids in the class but also several kids with SEN who like mine have already been to multiple other (state) schools each.

It’s not as simple as ‘just put them into state’ for kids like ours who are there as a last resort because state school has failed to meet their SEN needs due to massive underfunding for the past 14 years. Waiting lists for special schools take years. The new government as far as I know have made no promised increase in SEN budgets for state schools.

The most well known private school in my town has promised to freeze fees for 2 years.

Why aren’t you pissed off with your school? They’re dicking you around! How much are you paying already? How much did your fees go up last year, the year before?
And they are increasing fees despite knowing their customers are going to be hit by VAT?
These amazing, special places of education don’t appear to give a stuff about you and turn kids.
Why rage at posters here, who use state schools, for lack of ‘empathy’ - it’s not on us that this has happened.
Your schools
are SCREWING uou over. Why are they adding to your stress? Don’t they care?

Get off MN and out your energy into getting answers from the school you pay. They’re the business, you’re the customer.

@Kitkat189 ; Op, if you find the raised fees challenging, could you use state education and spend what would have been the school fees on extra tuition. You could enrich your child(ren)’s education by adding tuition in a foreign language and music, etc. Whatever you think is lacking.

The cost of private tutors has gone up massively in my area by well over 20% - with some well established tutors doubling their prices and prioritising private school kids wanting to go to selective secondaries.

Seems like many private school parents need to take a step back and really REALLY think about the value they’re getting for their money.

And as for those private parents bleating that IT’S NOT FAIR because wealthier people find things easier than them… go and have a good long look in the mirror.

I just read this. I think that it was not just the' ultra wealthy', some people borrowed money or extended mortgages to pay the fees up front as it worked out cheaper overall than to pay the 20%.

The government cant legislate a policy until they are in Power and have announced it, they would not be able to go back further than the announcement date.