FT: Demand grows for private tutoring after VAT charge on independent schools

[nearlylovemyusername]

https://www.ft.com/content/300f07df-0126-46be-8470-544223cb7c35

Some extracts:

"Britain’s elite tutoring agencies have seen a boom in business from parents seeking alternatives to private school, a year after VAT was imposed on independent school fees. Top-end private tutors said they had witnessed demand shifting away from preparation for independent school entrance exams, as more families focus on securing places at competitive state and grammar schools."

"Lessons costing more than £60 an hour in subjects including maths, English and languages have risen by 56 per cent since 2022, and by 27 per cent since 2023, according to the data shared with the Financial Times.

Initially, parents were “aiming for independent schools and might have a grammar as a safety or backup”, but he added, for those affected by the VAT changes “it’s shifted completely the other way”."

"Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, raised concerns that a rise in private tutoring risks exacerbating inequalities in education. "

Surprise surprise...

Who could've thought that VAT will lead to wealthier families pushing out poorer ones out of grammars and best selective schools, whilst saving them substantial amounts to help kids with housing deposits instead spending on school fees.
And the same wealthier kids don't hold a tag of private education anymore so can't be discriminated by unis.

Win win for wealthy

It’s not discrimination - it’s making things equal.

Not sure if thats just “a few extra parents” if this equates to 25000-30000 who have completely left independent schools and that’s not including those who never started.

Tutoring has always existed and will always exist - I personally don’t see a problem with this but feel for the people who need this to keep up if they went to a school that’s not suitable for them in the first place. Mental health is a real issue

Some effectively are taught ‘next year’ over the summer hols. Then there’s the other language fluency, a priority from birth, in some of top schools. One other language A level then effectively in the bag almost from get go & done & dusted.

Where I live you have no hope in getting a tutor because all of the grammar kids are having extra lessons for every subject. Thriving business and they are still almost the worst in the county. People get very protective about giving out names of tutors that manage to get good grades.

Yes I agree was just using the same language as the OP.

We always used online tutors - across 4 different countries. Places like Superprof have reviews and you can do trial sessions.

Agree on people being cagey on names. I get asked most weeks for recommendations for who we used last year and 2 of them are fully booked for 2026 now.

This - the extra time and less time for friends and rest/other activities is something else. At Primary some kids were doing 5 hours of a weekend running up to the Kent test! Most do at least 2 hours a night to get through all of the subjects each week now they are in secondary.

I suspect we got fobbed off with their third tier reject recs :) There’s also poaching going on.

There’s a guy near us that claims to be able to get any struggler a 7, or if about nine months or more, a 8 in upper tier Maths GCSE. He names his price pretty much & has a system that focuses on the exam paper itself.

My dd is autistic and struggles with different methods of teaching - substitute teachers can make a substantial drop in her grades as she can't cope if they aren't teaching the same method or formulas. We've not been able to deal with tutors for that reason (tried for her dyslexia in Primary and after 3 weeks of meltdowns I had to give up). I am sucking up Private because there is really no other option for her near to us at the moment - all state schools other than the grammars are under the national average.

I mucked around at school instead of studying GCSE maths, despite being incredibly good at maths at primary. I think it was a teacher who just was so disengaging.
Anyway I was predicted a C and my parents knew that would be a very poor reflection of my capabilities so organised a tutor for me in the January before my exams. She just drilled me in past papers until I knew my way around any question and in just those few months managed to transform my performance from the predicted C to an A*

The crazy thing of course is that many of my friends parents did the same thing too so our very poor maths teacher probably looked like she was performing really well

The exams will have stuff in that in a lot of cases someone just doing the normal National curriculum would not have seen like verbal/non verbal reasoning. Children not being tutored would have very little chance in my opinion. Some state schools do try and help some pupils but I don’t think that’s the norm. So almost all pupils in any grammar will have been tutored, some for years.

That’s always the danger! :)

Do we really have the right figures to make any claims about causality here? VAT on private schools started in January 2025 (1 year ago).

So an increase of 56% in the last 3 years and 27% in the last 2 years. Doesn't that imply that the main explosion of growth was between 2022 and 2023. VAT on Schools which was 2 years away at that point.

If only Labour and much of the Great British Public would realise that some families go down the private school route purely because their child wasn’t offered a state education, or because they struggled dreadfully in a state school. The blanket assumption some people have that all private schools and all students in them represent the same level of purest privilege, is baffling.

My understanding was that the independent sector as a whole froze fees during the Covid period but that the ensuing massive inflation meant fees had to go up to account for that inflation and extra energy costs/building maintenance/staffing costs and then Labour whacked another 20 per cent on top of that @mellicauli

I think where people go wrong is to assume that goodie two shoes Labour are any different from the self serving Tories. Of course they are not. This was a vote winner for them, a symbolic thing and besides their own kids have to go to state schools largely or they are shamed. So they actually want the privileged kids in with their own kids to raise standards for their own DC. In addition, what comes out of their mouths also shows their is some fundamental ableism going on where they all think middle class parents have invented minor special needs for their DC and are too precious for state schools, so should pay up anyway. You see that they are not willing to spend on SEND en masse, they want to put everyone in together and just leave the most severe SEND for special school. And they are positively expecting everyone to tutor their kids or use AI etc out of their own pocket. And they will continue to underfund schools and teachers will be stressed out and all anyone can do is support their own DC as best as they can against this background of a shitshow.

My DC are in grammar schools and the teachers and heads seem more than happy to welcome in more privileged kids willing to make a donation and who have extracurricular and languages and humanities/classics coming with them to inspire and drive the rest of the state school kids who have all been shoved down a STEM/Maths for all rabbit hole.

Surely the fact pupils and parents are STILL deciding to pay for schooling after trying the state options says more than you make out here? I think this does reflect on the state system hugely. Parents at state schools should be wondering why people are willing to sell houses, give up huge amounts of income and make their lives so much harder just for their kids to get education in this country. How does that reflect on the level of education in the state sector and it's ability to serve the public?

@6thformoptions I would love state education to improve. I really value education. Not just to train people up for jobs, but also so young people can understand science and culture. However, to improve it needs more funding. You need to attract and support high quality teachers and you need resources and facîities. All this is expensive. For education to improve, people need to be willing to increase tax revenue. This is what I want, but I am not sure that it is a popular view.
I (and I am sure most state parents) are aware that private school can have advantages over state. People (who have the financiàl resources) may decide that the benefits they perceive are worth the costs. Some people can't afford private education. Some can afford it, but dont think the benefits justify the costs. Others think the benefits are worth the costs. People may take different views at different educational stages. People may need to cut other expenditure to afford private school. However, most people cant afford it whatever expenditure they cut. The parents who moved their children to private from my DD's school will have will have decided that the benefits they perceive are worth the costs. They are just making the choice that they feel is best for their family. I dont find it shocking or alarming. It is just part of life.
My DD is 'getting an education' at her comprehensive school. There are some issues, but there are also great dedicated teachers delivering lessons that enthuse her. She is making progress and experiencing a broad curricûum Would she do better in private school? Possibly. There would be smaller classes and I imagine less disruptive behaviour. However, I cant afford it so it isnt something I consider. I encourage her to make the best of the opportunities she does have.

I dont think my time is best spent wondering why parents might devote financial resources to private education. I think it is better spent supporting my DD to make the most of her state education.

My state education hasnt prevented numerous typos on my phone. Sorry - cant edit now.

My kids went to a mixture of grammar and state school. Mainly because of where we were located at the time. And the grammar was much closer to our house.
We didn't tutor privately (I did it badly!) 2 got in, 2 had to travel to the comp.
The ones that the comp have ended up doing academically better.
Grammars don't actually add that much. They take in academically, bright children, and those same children do alright as they wokld have done elsewhere.

I don't massively have a point other than primary schools aren't particularly amazing. I would get rid of all schools that create a divide including grammars and religion.

Goodness who would have thought that mobile parents who are now priced out of private woukd try and scoop up grammar/outstanding state school places and tutor! I expect many are wondering why they ever considered private as ‘more people like them’ do the same. These very children will also start to dominate the Oxbridge places.

Serves Labour right, politics of envy. It’s actually going to increase the divide that was always the largest and that’s state vs state.

If they get in next time they will start to look at sll
the parental donations to these schools and start adjusting funding (see other thread about schools asking for donations).

Sorry I wasn't trying to single you out particularly - as well as coming at this from the SEN point of view - I meant that not every child can be looked after and get an education in a state setting. If your child is bullied and has needs that aren't met then private can be the only recourse other than home education. I strongly suspect the rise in HE is linked to the lack of SEN provisions at state schools with those who can afford private doing that instead. That is what I meant by society wondering about the people forking out thousands every year for education and deciding they need further punishment through taxing. I don't think it is hitting the people Labour anticipated.

As another parent of child with SEND needs I couldn’t agree more.

totally agree with this. The government will be able to preen about how well state school kids are doing when for a few years some of the kids will have come from heavily selective private schools who teach a year or more ahead