VAT private school requirement to give one terms notice to leave

[KHB]

We have four children who are educated in the private sector. When we did our sums prior to the VAT announcement we could just about cover the fees whilst making many sacrifices to enable us to afford it. We hoped the VAT would be introduced in September 2025, as did the schools we attend, giving us time to work out whether we could afford to continue and give notice to leave if required. Now this has been brought forward to January, the additional cost to us due to VAT is £8850 for this school year alone (spring and summer term 2025). We simply cannot afford this.

Our eldest is due to start senior school in a few weeks time at the start of September (year 9). This school is the most expensive of all the fees we pay. We have made the difficult decision to pull him out and move him to our local state school, who have been incredibly helpful in finding us a place last minute and even allowing us to look around the school during the holidays.

However we are left in the situation where the senior school we are leaving (before we have even started) insist that we pay a full terms fees for pulling our child out without giving the required one-terms notice. My view is that the immediate cost of school fees has increased beyond everyone's expectations, and it would be incredibly detrimental to our son's education and his mental health for him to attend for just one term before being forced to move to a different school. I have written to the bursar to ask him if he would exercise his discretion and consider waiving this requirement. However, I have received little sympathy.

I have heard that some schools are waiving the term's notice requirements to allow parents, like us, to move their children with immediate effect if they can no longer afford to continue paying their school fees. I would be interested to know how other parents have been treated? Does anyone know if there is any scope for legal action to fight the terms and conditions? I would be grateful for any positive contributions. Thank you.

Your school. You have no idea whether your school is in line with market.

@vanana and it's not a fine.

And OP’s kid has not yet started at the school. I can well believe that some schools will allow more discretion for those who have already paid a year or three of fees.

I wonder if it was between early July ( when private schools break up) and late July, when state schools do?

However, I’m not sure OP is coming back.

OP's is a family which could afford to pay £66K a year for just one child's fees, plus slightly smaller amounts for another three children

@Marseillaise i think all the amounts quoted were for totals across a few kids

I do understand I have children myself, 5 of them in 3 separate private schools.

Can only speak on behalf of my children's schools none will have admission staff working during August, they will return at the start of September.

The bursers will working over the summer, however as I'm sure all with children in schools will also know any financial decision such as this would need to be agreed with the trustees (if like ours they are charitable trusts).

Our schools do not hold trustee meetings outside of term time, therefore are unlikely to be able to agree an approach other than that in the contract.

I've had children in school and pre school for the past 12 years now and can honestly say other than single settling in days have not experienced a mid term new pupil arriving. It's disruptive and unnecessary, in the schools I have experience of waiting list or not someone leaving just before the start of term will be replaced in the winter term now.

Well not entirely. Their draft documentation states all fees following the issue of their draft (29.07) will be liable for VAT. Therefore its fair to assume anything prior to that date will not - Subject to the amount paid directly corresponding to an invoiced term.

It's a draft it could still change.

In our situation I had a discussion with the school well before holidays, and it was a very brief one without any trustee meetings. The school knew we would be leaving and offered our place to ppl
on waiting list, but they still charge me for the term maximising their profit.

The school also held a few meetings for all parents to discuss pre-payment plans so people could decide in advance whether it was going to work for them or not and make their arrangements. That was also during term time. I guess many schools and parents did something similar to get ready so could move at a short notice.

I understand every school is different. Our previous school (not financially or otherwise struggling) has already reduced bursaries and will pass the whole VAT on to parents, the new school absorbs part of VAT for all pupils and in our personal case offered a better scholarship. They're not a wealthier school, it's just a different attitude.

I think bringing this in mid year is monumentally cruel to the children involved - whether you think the VAT levee is right or not, this will be tough for kids.

I went private to 16, then state for 6th form, I still remember the bump of the culture shock, it turned out my two years in state education were my happiest, but boy was it a change of speed, style, culture etc..

I have been doing some archive work (sorting old photos etc) for the local comprehensive I'm a governor of, took my nephew, who's 13 in to help and goes private, as I had a set of master keys we went for a little explore, he was totally in awe of the number of chairs or computers in rooms (class sizes not familiar to him) and the whole atmosphere, corridors lined with lockers, hundreds of them. That's just the premises, not the people, curriculum etc...

A change is not a bad thing, but a change mid year makes it harder to keep up, chunks of education can be completely missed depending on the order the curriculum is being taught in, and its so much more difficult to find a group of mates mid year.

And if you are mid exam programme.....

So I spare a thought for the kids, who have done nothing wrong and are being put in a challenging position.

Contractually you are liable, ask them for a repayment plan and pay over 6/12/18/24 months. It’s shit but we all knew it was coming it’s hard to fight for payment in full when someone has agreed a repayment plan.

But it's not accessible for 'normal working people'. I'm a normal working person on £42k and DH on £50k and we can't access private school.

Reeves said “at least not until 2025” and when experts reached the conclusion that this would mean September 2025, the Labour Party did not bother to set them or any of us straight. Reeves did not come out and say that’s wrong folks. Would have been helpful if she did…

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/private-schools-vat-labour-reeves-b2566493.html

I know a couple of single mums whose DC are in private schools and not even on scholarships. They earn less than your household.
There are scholarships and bursaries that can go up to 50% and sometimes even 100% of fees. There are "normal working people" in private schools. They will struggle to pay the remaining 50% now, that was @Education79 point.

She knows that. She literally wrote it in her op. Helpful. Not.

A discussion before the end of term I can imagine might be more manageable and could still allow for someone to start at the beginning of term, maybe thats why. Slap in the middle of the summer and lots of parents will have already purchased their new year's uniform or like us have headed to holiday homes for the summer.

Argh its a mess for people. I feel very fortunate that other than potentially paying the equivalent of a 6th child from here on our life remains the same and will be looking for loopholes elsewhere to even us back up.

I know people with less income than yours who do, they may sacrifice a lot in terms of going without to make it work - but its close to the wire, those are the families who will be hit - and often there is a reason they chose to use private over state, often SEN needs etc that are better met through smaller class sizes.

Which is what they will do and then the OP will end up with a CCJ recorded against her name if she then doesn't pay within one month.

If she fails to pay within one month then that CCJ will mess up her credit rating for the next six years

They may not even do that, in our school finance office we regularly get advertising from firms who will do the debt recovery on a no win no fee basis, or who will buy outstanding debts.

The school then gets most of its money and the parent finds a debt collection agency chasing them, with all the issues like CCJs etc.

We factor our invoices after 3 months, selling them to the bank for 80% of the amount, after that the debtor no longer owes us anything, but owes the bank.

That’s a lot more than we earn and we put our kids through private school. It is all about priority.

It’s all about priorities is pretty simplistic. Depends on mortgage, other bills, number of kids etc etc.

We paid the remainder of the school fees for our children for the rest of their school career before 29th July and have been assured that this won’t be subject to VAT given Labour’s announcement. We have an invoice for each school/term.

Mortgage was a choice that we had to make so small terrace house instead of a big detached house with big garden.

Other bills was also a choice that we had to make, old car that we own outright, foods, holidays etc are all choices that people can make priorities or not.

Number of kids is also a choice too.

Mmm hmm. When did your kids finish school, approx where in the country are you based and were mortgage rates at pre or
post trussonomics levels?

what happens if you need to change school?

Any assurance you have been given is false. The legalities are still being decided nobody can tell you yet whether or not fees in advance will be an effective way to avoid VAT.

in answer to a pp point about changing schools, the Fees in advance scheme usually allows you to transfer your advance payment to a different institution