vat on fees- can we have another thread with numbers/type of school ONLY?

[dietcokewithice]

I think it would be very useful for many of us to know what other schools are planning, but it's difficult pull this info out from the other thread as it became full of debate!

Be great if people could just post along these lines - eg

'15 percent rise from Jan '25 - London girls private'

'8 percent rise from September '24, rising to 12 percent in January '25 - North East boys private' - or whatever.

Our school (London co-ed) is raising fees by 4 percent in September. No info yet on what they will do from January '25!

thanks

I'm sure there are some FB groups dedicated to this. Why not join some of those and ask there rather than complaining about what other people comment on a public forum?

DS’s old school are absorbing any VAT applied in 24/25 to give parents breathing space. I think it I aimed at yr10 - yr13 so they avoid changing schools mid GCSE and A levels or it has less impact financially. It also gives those that need to source state places to apply and have room to give a terms notice. Thereby not loosing a terms fees.
What they will do 25/26, who knows. We were lucky during the pandemic because the discounted fees despite providing full teaching service online so education was not significantly interrupted. They refunded exam fees and any money paid in advance for trips. DS missed a cricket trip and a trip of a lifetime to South Africa so we were lucky considering some of the travel losses people sustained.

I don’t think that it is a long term arrangement but it is in the best interests of pupils who will be taking exams.

Same thing applies to many posts on MN!!

I don’t think this is the reason - they have to give one term’s notice and they will stick to that, and spend the few weeks between the announcement of the timing of Vat and the start of term working out what can be absorbed

That’s wonderful, but if you posted a thread regarding a problem in the state sector I’m sure most of the posters on this thread would not try and take the piss or derail your thread.

It’s a fact finding thread and not one asking for your opinion or judgement.

Crazy thought I know, but perhaps some people don’t use Facebook. So we will stay here on this public forum thanks, and you can feel free to move along.

Please, don't feed the trolls. I'm not sure if they go away if we don't answer, but at least this thread will remain somehow readable in terms of its original purpose.

@Angrymum22 that's impressive. Would you mind sharing which type of school and which region?

10% increase from September (following a 10% increase last September too...). Been advised to expect min of 17% on top of that for VAT but no further details re when/exact numbers.

• North East coed prep

Prep in the sticks - 22% in the last 12 months.. no clue what the plan for Jan 2025 is.. we have cut our losses and run..

20% from January 2025! Small all through co-ed day school.

Did I? I do t remember. What did I say?

Thanks for (sensible and informative) replies so far!

@Angrymum22 - I’d also love to hear whereabouts in the UK you are? Thanks again x

😂

15% from January 2025, which I'm very annoyed about (London secondary co-ed)

5% extra from Jan, but had larger than usual annual increase that is already in effect. Lots of building activity over the past couple of years, so should be a fair bit that they can claim back. Ultimately we will all see the 20%, but school seems to be trying to spread the impact over multiple years.

edited to add we are an all through with boarding in the south.

No news from either of our schools on VAT add on from January:

1. London boys (they've indicated it will be less than 20%)
2. Boarding boys (no they haven't said that VAT will be fully absorbed by the school).

15% from January. All through co Ed day school. Mid sized. In Yorkshire.

Children left now but old school just says these are the fees for this 2024/2025 and are subject to current vat regulations - think this implies they will add Vat on top from January so pretty horrible. Surrey mixed day/boarding

West Midlands - co-Ed day school.

9% usual annual rise this September
15-17% VAT rise from Jan 2025.

The Jan rise is on top of the Sept rise, obviously. Whilst it is a lot, I’m impressed that the school have kept us informed throughout, have a clear financial plan, and have told us exactly what the figures are as soon as they could.

Large Scottish all years school - nothing definite, they anticipate being able to recover VAT on nearly 20% of the total school expenditure. Not stated if that's a rolling figure or based on prior building works which will be a one off.

4% for September then 10% in January. South (not London) prep school.

5% in September - this was just normal increases before VAT. They’ve said increase of 15% with further increases to be expected.
Co-Ed - Warwickshire

@flowergirl24 - so it’s possible you’ll be paying 26 percent more from next Jan?! 😱 There would be uproar at my school if they proposed similar. It’s already one of the most expensive London day schools though…

Our school have said that they don't know yet, they will do what they can to keep an increase as slo as possible m, but they don't have enough information until after the budget to give us a firm answer.

It’s not possible; it’s a certainty. The 17% is for the higher years as it is done on a tiered system. Most schools I know are operating on a 5-10% yearly increase anyway. VAT is now on top of that.

I wonder whether your London school parents will actually cope better, though. Wages around here are not always that good, especially wage increases, so I think we will see quite a bit of movement out of the school.