How's the Private School VAT increase impacting you?

[mumsthewordi]

To private fee paying ...are kids/s still in private ? Are you comfortably still able to afford and happy paying it ?

To state, how do you feel? Have you been impacted by more kids in class or would you expect that to play out this year? Or perhaps you weren't supportive ?
Do you think state schools will improve ?

Full disclosure
A struggling fee paying parent of one kid only other is at state and my oh is an amazing secondary school teacher - we are a divided household indeed at time, but we've made choices best for us.

My own DC is a slow processor. Bottom 9%.

DC’s private school has been very supportive. DC is predicted 4 x A* and is applying for STEM.

DC would not have reached this level at our local comp unfortunately. We have gladly paid and we are grateful it is DC’s final year because the fees have been tough.

I truly regret that not all children have this support. Taking it away from my child wouldn’t help anyone else though. I think it’s better that we made this investment so that DC can have a more fulfilling life, and hopefully contribute more to society as an adult. Which will benefit everyone over my DC struggling and needing support as an adult.

Despite all the slabbering on social
media about ‘we’re going to leave’ ‘everyone apply for a place now to put pressure on THEM! even if you aren’t moving your children!’ ‘Let’s march like the farmers did!’ Etc etc
The reality is - most private parents will keep paying, most children will move to another private over state, and the LAs can’t be certain of anything now.
Anymore than they can predict if a load of parents are intending to relocate from London to countryside or seaside towns they way people have for decades with young kids.

once it happens IF it happens they’ll act accordingly.

It’s too early to say that most will move to another private - not from what I’ve seen.

What I can be sure of is that SEND kids will be homeschooled.

@Liddlemoreaction - it’s happening? Private schools are going bust. They are highlighting every single one going bust.

KittyQMeow that’s very kind. I’m really sorry to hear you’ve had a similar experience. Thank you for your good wishes, I hope you can find the best support for your DC too

But the one option on 1 March might be crap and have a terrible commute. That also leads to stress. When the better school comes up two weeks into the autumn term that's not a great transition is it?

Well @twistyizzy is.

Its caused a massive shortage of tiny violins

The reality is - most private parents will keep paying, most children will move to another private over state, and the LAs can’t be certain of anything now.
Anymore than they can predict if a load of parents are intending to relocate from London to countryside or seaside towns they way people have for decades with young kids.

And did particularly during and after covid when people could wfh more and daily commutes became less critical.

A handful of TINY schools are going bust because they’ve cannot recruit enough pupils - so far ALL of those school have previously been in financial trouble for YEARs, and most are part of larger grps where the pupils are being moved to other schools in that ‘family’ of schools.
MOST schools in the U.K. are experiencing the same thing - FALLING pupils numbers because of our lower birth rate.
This has been a long time coming for some of those schools. BUT of course they will site VAT - particularly the ones who are part of a ‘ brand’ who have other schools and therefore a reputation to protect.

Any school, who has suddenly gone bust because of, SOLELY, because of losing a tax break would have been so badly run and so badly prepared that it should shut because the people in charge would have either been thick as mince or negligent.

Why should any of the millions of people using our state school system give a shit about a school of 150 kids perhaps hundreds of miles away having to consolidate or close? Why? Kids who’s parents are wealthy, and therefore have many options for their children INCLUDING using normal state schools.

One new child from private in a massive secondary school so not exactly over run.

You are fundamentally failing to understand how state school place allocation works. No LA will make school placement decisions based on keeping kids with their friends. You are the only one trying to make it “us and them” by expecting admissions authorities to bend the rules for children leaving private schools.

If you aren’t happy with an LA or admissions authority arrangements, you can absolutely follow the complaints procedure, all the way up to the Schools Adjudicator. You could, if you so wish, complain about Hackney’s procedure in supporting state pupils after closure of a state school, if you could demonstrate that during that process, any applicants moving from the private sector were disadvantaged. But I doubt you’d find any grounds for complaint.

Our DS goes to a highly academic private school and as our daughter is on her way out of the same private school in 6th form, we will be able to manage one child’s fees a little more comfortably from this September, even though we’re scraping everything right now. However, our DS and his friends calculated how much we’re paying daily to his school. Yes, we all know how much termly or annually we’re paying but as a private school has fewer school days (and more holidays), it comes down to £180 - 200 per day, including foods & music tuition. Now we start to wonder if this cost really justifies sending him to a private school. £200 per day, seriously?? And when he gets ill?! That’s just our thoughts. We’re considering to move him to a state school.

I don’t think anyone has suggested that there is anything wrong with Hackney’s procedure in relation to pupils of closing state schools.

The point that’s been repeatedly made, but apparently needs making again, is that a similar process is not applied to pupils from closing independent schools.

The whole point is an LA can’t follow a similar process, for the numerous reasons outlined on this thread. Some of those reasons are due to legislation, and some are due to logistics.

But the law is very clear.

That’s a LOT of money. So many private parents claiming their children are talented or exceptional in some way, they thrive anywhere id that really is the case.
Seems a lot of money to pay to give children already in a position of privilege another leg up, or an attempt at one.

"So many private parents claiming their children are talented or exceptional in some way"
Who has claimed that? Or are you just projecting and transferring yout prejudices?

Clue was in the first line of the quoted post.

Most of my uni friends send their DCs to good comprehensives and make sure they land in top sets and make sure they get tutors, where needed. They are then blasted all over the school’s websites when they get into top universities which now seems to include top US unis too.
The demographic is exactly the same as many private school parents. Not sure what all this competitive parenting amongst middle classes comps/vs grammars/vs high achieving church schools/vs close down private schools is ultimately meant to achieve? They will all eventually land in the same jobs, barring SEND needs, leading the same middle class competitive life, yet all over again, being scammed by the State to pay taxes for the rest. Perhaps it is far cleverer if we make them all chill out and scam the State instead?

What a disgraceful attitude @Araminta1003. 'The rest' that your taxes are paying for are providing essential services, you know, refuse collectors, and care workers that will be looking after you in your old age. People we all rely on.

No thanks @Jemimaaaa - I will be doing a living will as soon as it is legal. No way am I letting the state look after me in old age and keeping me alive for the sake of it. I believe in choice and free will, we are not all cast from the same mould. Nor will my DCs be pushed to be busy little beavers anymore. No point.

Right. So you don't use any public services 'the rest' are providing?

I think most of us begrudge paying taxes tbh. Especially those who are 'net contributors' and unlikely to rely on many public services - obviously everyone relies on them to some extent but there is a sting is saying 'goodbye' to thousands of pounds every month when you know you're contributing more to the state than you'll ever need from it.

The point is we keep paying them - but we're allowed to feel fucked over by what they're being spent on.

I wouldn't have phrased it quite like Araminta, but I think there is merit in asking the question "What are we doing this for?"

In particular, what message are we giving children about their role in society and the value of their achievements? And what counts as success?

It's one of the issues I have with boarding schools. I don't think boarding schools are intrinsically awful for older children if they want to go, but they do remove children from their home environments and put them in an environment which is entirely geared towards their achievement and which doesn't require them to contribute towards the home that they live in or their local communities (beyond formal programmes). It's a very individualistic way to learn - the focus is all on academic and extracurricular achievements. And then on to university and the world of work, where you have to continue achieving.

For many women especially, it all comes crashing down when they have children and suddenly find that they're no longer supported to achieve in the way they previously have been. And - somewhat stereotyping but there is some truth in the stereotype - many men post-DC seem to think that they should be able to go on achieving at pre-DC rates and shouldn't be burdened with home and caring responsibilities. As someone else has dealt with all those up until now.

Maybe there's something to be said for teaching children from an earlier age about balance and burnout and the influence of harmful gender stereotypes and to question how they think about "success". And whether the path they see trodden by most of those around them is necessarily for them.