Whitehall “braced for private schools collapse” 3

[ICouldBeVioletSky]

Starting a third thread to discuss impact of VAT on private school fees, as the topic looks likely to run (and run). Though probably best to finish off the second thread before posting here, thx.

Yes, it’s a short lived policy what ever else happens. Only the SNP and Labour are in favour of education taxes and neither are likely to be in power in 4 years.

“They don't want to destroy it because it's good. Don't be so ridiculous!”

And yet you so very clearly want to destroy it because it’s good…!

Rudeness is uncalled for. Do you have something substantive to add, or are you just slinging baseless insults?

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Are no public school parents capable of caring about the wider society?

Do you honestly not see, even for a second, how selfish and self interested you all sound?

The levels of entitlement on this thread and others like it are astounding.

I'm off now. Enjoy paying your VAT.

Not a public school parent - just a regular old nonselective independent chosen because they were willing to support my send child when state schools weren’t so willing/able.

we are a mixed lot opposing vat - everything from public to selective schools (state and private) to send to comp state school parents who just don’t think education should be taxed, and certainly not in the reckless way this government has chosen to implement it.

Sorry you can’t wrap your head around the many reasons we think this is bad policy for all sectors of education, state and private. It seems like you cannot see beyond your own ideology and self interest, but I respect your decision to move on.

Oh, my children are both at our local state primary so I’m not paying a penny in VAT but thanks anyway!

I genuinely cannot understand how anyone who claims to want to see improvements in state education could support this policy. It is going to raise no meaningful amount of money and may well cost the public purse.

Labour is using it as an ideological populist distraction tactic to avoid tackling the massive issues faced by the state sector. They are too cowardly and dishonest to try to raise taxes across the board which is the only way actually to fund the improvements that are needed.

And yet still people seal clap them on!

Loads of us are state school parents...

In my own case:
State nursery
State primary
State comp

I 100% know what you mean. There’s really no shortage of people who think other people should pay more tax as long as they don’t have to. They even get weirdly quite self righteous and entitled about it, which is odd as they’re usually the ones contributing less than they take.

Labour’s rumoured plans for send are absolutely diabolical - basically removing the right of a parent to challenge LA refusal for additional support. Given 90% of challenges are currently decided in favour of the parents this would massively reduce the level of send provision, which ultimately affects everyone in mainstream education.

Labour aren’t actually interested in addressing issues in education. The whole private ed attack is just a culture war issue that speaks to their voter bas.

I couldn’t agree with you more and am really very worried about the direction of travel. I am really sad that it’s Labour who are selling out kids with SEND. I voted for them. I had hoped they would have a big new vision for education, not just some ableist exhortations for everyone to get back into mainstream. As if anyone leaves a mainstream school just for fun. What happened to ‘Education, Education, Education’? and the idea that every child matters.

Do you have a link?

This is going to be a disaster for children, schools and parents if true.

And not just the child with SEN, but all the other children in that school/class with or without SEN.

Are no public school parents capable of caring about the wider society?
Do you honestly not see, even for a second, how selfish and self interested you all sound?
The levels of entitlement on this thread and others like it are astounding.

Oh my goodness. I should be laughing at this but actually it’s made me feel really sad. My elder child has multiple complex disabilities. He was denied any state education at all for three years, so we had a choice of going private or me giving up my job to homeschool him. We moved 100 miles away from my mum and our friends to a school that would take both of our children and which was a lot cheaper and far less selective than the area we moved from. My mum pays the fees. After 3 years of private the LA finally agreed to place him in a special school. He will never live fully independently. Labour is now reducing welfare provision even further. He’s 19 now and a large part of my life is constantly battling for suitable provision for him. Other 19 year olds are at university and deciding which bar to go to this evening. Mine worries constantly that his beloved Paddington Bear might lose a welly on their way to his specialist college. This is our life and I’m bloody knackered.

But yeah, I’m selfish, self interested and entitled.

<awaits spiteful response blaming me for something>

@Labraradabrador "Labour’s rumoured plans for send are absolutely diabolical"

Do you have a link to the rumours?

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/mar/03/ministers-plan-major-changes-to-send-education-in-england

It is inclusion at all costs without any adequate funding. The fact that Reeves is making 1.4B cuts to education to fund public sector payrises just exacerbates this

Thanks for the link.

Together with the next Home Ed rules this is going to be a complete nightmare for everyone - not least teachers.

I’m really sorry that you and your family have had so little support and so much upheaval

This VAT issue has been so divisive. It’s a punitive illogical government policy that fails on its own terms. It creates new drawbacks for all children and families in state or private EXCEPT for the most privileged families with kids attending the most top flight private schools.

People in favour of this policy don’t like this being pointed out. They don’t like being made to feel uncomfortable by being asked to look at the reality for parents with SEND.

It’s sad reading posts from people smugly saying that their bright child is doing brilliantly in their local state school.

Those parents have just been lucky, that they can both meet their kids’ needs AND not have their own principles for state education challenged.

Let alone have their family finances, family health, adult careers, partner and family relationships, living arrangements, reasonable expectations of how they and their family might be able to live either now, or in old age/adulthood challenged, stretched or broken.

They don’t have to live in near constant hypervigilant stress in the moment for their kids and reality-based anxiety for the future.

Because even less help is coming soon, financial punishment with school costs and VAT is already here and the Labour government (shame on them) wants to cut public services for disabled children even more. Nobody wants to hear this. I voted Labour to protect public services. That’s why I can never vote Tory.

VAT on private schools is way more complex issue than the government had presented it as, because it also relates to ingrained injustice and failure in the state system for kids with SEND. And apparently the government’s answer will be to cut more, hurting the kids in state snd private schools with SEND and the many who still can’t access any suitable school at all.

It's all part of the ideology of state only provision. Labour hate anyone having any alternative other than 1 size fits all state. They don't care whether or not that is suitable for none/some/many/most kids.

I don't have a send child so have not followed the issues. From the link above: it sounds like the govt is looking into how best to cost cut and where to pass the costs on to.

So bringing send mainstream will cut state costs as they will no longer have to outsource to private providers. Plus they have to write off council debt to avoid insolvency for some councils. When I started reading, it sounded like a reasonable rescue plan until I read this particular line:

"Reducing Send entitlement won’t make needs go away. You just end up with lots of children with needs but no support".

This issue sounds far beyond the education budget, impacting councils long term. Hot damn, there is no way out of this without increasing general taxation significantly for all of us.

Or, they could let richer parents pay for their own children in private facilities, freeing up tax funds for children who can't afford that. But I guess that's also not a political option?

When you see how many parents have to go to tribunal - where over 90% of appeals are successful - removing the right to appeal is a nightmare.

At the moment appealing is basically a stage you have to tick off when getting an EHCP so the council can string things out a bit.

I would love to know how Labour plan to improve things within schools. DD has SEN, every year I remind her teachers that she is SEN, every year it becomes obvious at parents evening when they complain about her focus, her spelling, how much she fidgets, her lack of executive function… that none of them have read the SEN plan. Yet I am assured the school have given all staff “specialist training”.

Labour have no plans to "fix" schools, they are just tinkering around the edges with VAT, breakfast clubs, teeth brushing etc. Cutting the DfE budget is their signal that they aren't going to do anything of substance.
Oh sorry I forgot, they are going to use AI to "reduce teacher workload" ie that's their way of combating teacher retention + recruitment crisis ie kids learning online. Then they won't need their mythical 6500 extra teachers cos kids will be in front of computers.

@EHCPerhaps thank you so much. I echo everything you’ve said. From your previous posts I know you have similar constant worry.

Chairman of SENDTO re:rise in NI employer contributions: it will disproportionately impact disabled children who rely on specialist school transport.