Doubts grow over Labour’s VAT plan for private schools

[Blanketyre]

Article in the Observer here:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/oct/05/doubts-grow-over-labours-vat-plan-for-private-schools

I must say they've gone very quiet on it.

Except it isn't the biggest segregator in modern society. The biggest segregator is wealth, not indy schools

Whether I choose private school or grammar, it doesn't alter the fact my DC are "propped up by luck of birth". I've even bought them rental properties to fund their prep school, save for uni and to gift them later in life. By using grammar I'll just be sponging off the state more and contributing even less.

The state schools our school helps seem more than happy to accept the help (and free lunches/trips etc) which our school provides them with.

No it wasn’t a ridiculous statement. I believe that state schools should be funded by general taxation and that it should be increased to pay for state schools. The fact that parents who say that they can easily afford private school but choose not to and still expect those that do to pay additional tax to fund their kids education is perverse. If these parents can genuinely afford private school why are they not campaigning for general taxation to be increased to fund state schools?

And 75% children at private school come from the wealthiest 30% of households, with the majority of that 75% coming from the wealthiest 10% of households.

If you want the areas of segregation ranked then:
1 Cost-of-living crisis
2 Food insecurity
3 Children experiencing poverty
4Homelessness
5Women’s rights
6Trans rights
7Climate change
8Education
9Healthcare
10Racial discrimination
11Police brutality
12Mental health
13Asylum and migration
14Weakening of human rights protections
15Digital safety and privacy

Strangely Independent Schools aren't listed

I agree.

But that doesn’t mean we should - as the poster I was responding to suggested - segregate tax revenue such that people only pay for services they use personally.

I assume with all your investments, you pay the required tax on your income. VAT on school fees will soon be part of that payment.

I’m actually not against private schools - I went to one myself - but I am against the idea that they are charities or not luxuries.

I think parents who want to choose private schools should be free to make that choice, but that everything in the government’s power should be done to ensure the state system is world class. If they have decided VAT is part of the plan, let them crack on.

All of these are most significantly impacted by wealth and quality of education. See comment above – rinse and repeat all you wish.

And did you spare a thought to what number 8 indicates?

Quality of education doesn't = indy schools. Many state schools get better results eg Michaela. Rinse and repeat all you wish.
Your children have way more opportunities due to your wealth

@Didimum the governments. The guidance says any nursery class with 5 year olds or children who will turn 5 in that school year are subject to VAT. Summer born children who have delayed a year are still in nurseries. Nurseries are only exempt so long as they aren’t attached to a private school.

I’m going to suggest no, they didn’t.

I guess private education wasn’t worth it with this one.

#8
You said it was the biggest. It isn't

Who said I went to indy school? I didn't

Then once again we circle back to a state system that is failing our kids.

Bring on the VAT.

Yet your snippiness is a really good advert for state education?

To add, this is what the government said about charging VAT to toddlers.

A government spokesman said: “The vast majority of nursery classes will not be subject to VAT, as children have usually entered the first year of primary school by the time they are five years old.”
“We want to ensure all children have the best chance in life to succeed. Ending tax breaks on private schools will help to raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities for next year, such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers.”

So basically, couldn’t care less.

See comment above regarding wealth and percentage of private school usage. Once again – rinse and repeat.

I think that because they went to private school they are trying to demonstrate what type of people they believe it produces - ones that look down on state school educated people like us. Just ignore it - I see that isn't true on the whole these days.

5yr olds deferring a year to school start don’t get funding for school-hours childcare provision either, regardless of the nursery.

Are the poor state schools going to have a much higher percentage of the new teachers because the good schools won't need them.

I was privately educated - guess I’m not a good advert for it?

State for all, then, I guess.

Unlikely. Most indy teachers have left state for good reasons

Ah so you benefitted from it but now too want to prevent others from doing the same? I say benefit because you obviously look down on others and judge their level of education from a few posts which are a different ppint of view from your own? Or is this the supercilious attitude you think all indy school alumni have so you don't want your own DC from being subject to it?

I don’t look down on anyone because of their education. It was a bit of fun poked at someone who tried to suggest that because the list didn’t specifically mention ‘private education’ it wasn’t relevant, even though ‘education’ was prominent on the list.

To me that showed a lack of deeper understanding, that, given the context of the discussion, I (humorously in my own opinion)
ascribed to their education level.

Apologies if it wasn’t received in the manner intended and hurt anyone’s feelings.