VAT on private school fees

[user1486984759]

So I’m going to get crucified for this, BUT, let me get this straight:

• We pay 45% tax, thereby funding state schools
• We do not get any benefits, and those that do get priority when it comes to state school admissions
• We scrimp and save from what’s left after paying 45% tax to pay for our kids’ education
• And now the state is going to add 20% to our school fees to fund state schools
• So we pay the most to fund state schools, but when it comes to state school admissions, we are last in line

How is this fair?

It seems that in this country, the best places to be are (1) a non-dom billionaire, or (2) someone who doesn’t pay taxes, gets all the benefits, and gets priority in state school admissions. The hard working PAYE earners are screwed by parties from left, right and center.

I have no idea
However schools are regularly checked to see if they are doing sufficient to keep their charitable status. If they aren’t they get a warning and if still nothing happens they loose their charitable status.
So, on that basis, if schools stop the charitable stuff they’ll loose it easily.

You realise that doesn’t work because Oxbridge can see which exactly school provided the GCSE tuition?

So, made up then.

You realise that doesn’t work because Oxbridge can see which exactly school provided the GCSE tuition.

SabrinaThwaite what about home educated applicants to Oxbridge? Does that count for or against them?

There are plenty of them at my DCs' school. Children of barbershop owner, first generation immigrants on modest salaries and no generational wealth, home based caterer, teachers... I know plenty who are renting and unable to put down the house deposit. I am not sure what fictionalised version of private school parent you have in mind

I’m pretty sure I know where every kid on my estate goes to school. Zero of them go to private school. Have you actually ever met anyone who lives in a £200,000 house? Other than your cleaner?

Again, the fact you see this as a sob story simply shows your privilege. These are parents who have aspired to private school and prioritised their spending to achieve that. It is a success story not a sob story.

To be fair, the houses on my estate don’t quite reach £200,000, so perhaps the parents are just not quite wealthy enough to scrimp.

I have no idea.

But I do know that switching from 5 - 16 at private to a state school for A levels doesn’t pull the wool over anybody’s eyes.

I don’t think it’s sob story. I think you do.

I think you must be privileged, with good schools in your catchment and lead a rather shielded life in order to talk so ignorantly. I have two DCs attending private, live in a modest house on the very outskirts of the town (because that's what we could afford) and DH and I have one 11 year old car between us. We both work full time and earn average salaries in tech. We don't have any savings other than our pensions. We don't go on holidays. We run the house on a very tight budget. We don't have a cleaner.

@Nellodee not that it is any of your business but:
-£180,000 house

• fiesta + family car
• both parents work full time and my salary is circa 30K

You really have no idea about the majority of private parents do you? There are a minority of wealthy/uber wealthy but most parents in DDs school are just ordinary peoole with ordinary jobs + cars who choose education over cars/big houses/flashy holidays etc.

You called it a sob story

Funnily enough, my cleaner sends their DD to a private school. They were here yesterday having a massive rant about Labour and how they're taxing aspiration.

Convince yourself you are poor if you like. We have one person earning 30,000 in a two parent working household (other income undisclosed) and another with two undisclosed incomes from tech and a “modest house in the suburbs” which you have not priced up.

You’re not poor. You’re not scrimping. Come work in my local comprehensive school and tell me I’m privileged. I’ll give you a lift there in my eight year old sandero, if you want to compare cars. Or my husband can give you a pag on his bicycle.

Choosing not to have a holiday because you are spending £24,000 on school fees does not mean you are having to do without anything you need. Being able to make that choice IS the privilege. You’re comparing yourself to people who have that money and choose to spend it on other things.

Do you not realise most people do not have a spare £24,000 lying around, that they have to decide how to spend? £27,000 is the median salary in the U.K.

Most people don’t spend £24k on private school fees either. Only a few private schools have fees at that level.

@Nellodee that's because our school fees aren't 24K. FFS stop making sweeping uneducated assumptions.
I have never said that we are poor, I've said we prioritise education over cars/houses + holidays. There are many people richer than we are who send their kids to state schools.
You obviously haven't got a clue about the 'average' demographic of private school parents and are basing your assumptions on the South/SE/London area.

I’m a private school mum. I grew up in a £200,000 house (well it was a lot cheaper back then) and I was a free school meals girl at times. I find it really distasteful of you to imply that all private school parents are from privileged backgrounds. You should know better as a teacher. Most of the parents at my DS’ private school went to state school themselves. Some drive Ranger Rovers but plenty drive very ordinary cars including Ford Focuses. Just the same as my local state primary which also has a mixture of luxury and more standard vehicles. In year 2, my DS did a project about his house. The kids all had pictures of their homes on the classroom wall. Many of them were no bigger or flasher than the three bed 70’s semi that I grew up in.

@Nellodee wow are you a teacher? I'm so pleased you aren't DDs teacher with your very overt bias, sweeping assumptions and inverted snobbery!

Let’s have some data:

The average cost of private day school is 50% of the median U.K. salary.

According to “Income, housing wealth, and private school access in Britain” by Henseke et al, it seems that my evaluation the average private school parent is pretty much spot on.

@twistyizzy this assumption is based on left newspapers always showing an image of Eton kids in tails when there’s an article about private schools.

Some can’t see beyond the obvious

It is true that these parents think they are “ordinary” when most of them have household incomes in the top 10% of the U.K.

They feel poorer than they objectively are. IFS has a tool where you can see where you fall:
https://ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in#tool-results-section

The poor girl who was murdered in Croydon yesterday morning was a private school pupil.

Her mother is an NHS nurse, and her father is a social care worker.

The papers seem to feel the need to tell us all that Old Palace is nearly £20k a year.