Guest Post: "Education is about partnership – and we owe it to all our children to work together in their best interests" - Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP's back to school message for parents

[SophiaCMumsnet]

I love back to school week. Sending my children off to school on their first day back, I’m always sad (and maybe a little relieved!) to see them go, but I think forward with such excitement to what the new school year will bring for them. New friends, new experiences, new opportunities.

You all know that familiar mix of feelings as they walk through the school gates once again – nervous, excited, hopeful. If you’re anything like me though, overall, you just want them to do well and be happy.

As parents, we all want the best for our children, both in school and beyond. We want them to grow up happy and healthy, to get a good job, and to be able to buy a nice house.

I understand those aspirations – I share them for my own children and, as Education Secretary, for yours. That’s why this job is the greatest privilege of my life. I want to make sure each and every child gets the best start in life, to ensure that where you’re from doesn’t determine where you end up. By breaking the link between background and future success, we can break down barriers to opportunity and give all children the skills they need to thrive.

Education lies at the heart of this change we all want to see. And education means more than maths or English or science, as important as they are. An excellent, whole-childhood education journey builds a lifelong love of learning, nurtures a sense of belonging, and creates connections that last for years to come. A good education gives our children strong foundations and sets them up for work and for life.

High and rising standards in all of our schools is at the heart of our plan. My offer to you is this: I’ll support your children taking their first steps into learning. I’ll put 6,500 new expert teachers in classrooms across the country. I’ll introduce free breakfast clubs in all primary schools. I’ll improve professional careers advice and work experience. I’ll expand support for families by rolling out funded childcare. I’ll review the curriculum, making it richer and broader, setting all children up to thrive now and in the future. I’ll boost mental health support across our schools and reform provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

I’m ambitious for our children and for our country. But government can’t achieve all this in isolation. I want to work in partnership with you to deliver the very best life chances for our children. We all have responsibilities – you as parents, us as government, and schools do too. I want to reset these relationships, rebuild trust and work together for the benefit of all our children.

I need all parents to play their part too. Every child is different and you know your child best. I know that every child has different needs, but one thing that can have the biggest positive impact for children is making sure they go to school. When things are working well and children have the right support, ambition, opportunities, belonging, all come from being in school. However excellent our teachers, they can’t teach children who aren’t there. As I put in place measures to drive high and rising standards in schools, children who are absent won’t feel the benefit of them.

Attendance from day one really matters. Children who miss a day at the beginning of a new term are much more likely to be persistently absent for the rest of the school year. So my ask of you for this back to school week is simple, but crucial. If you make sure your children are where they belong - in school - schools are there by your side to support you in this, and so is government.

Education is about partnership – and we owe it to all our children to work together in their best interests. As a new September rolls round, let’s use this moment to fix our foundations, begin the work of rebuilding Britain. Happy back to school week!

What about the post code lottery where wealthy parents buy expensive houses near the best state schools where the parents can afford to donate and buy the extras? The poor lose out again. If you truly believe in equity then children should be mixed up more so these stealth private schools are stamped out and the rich and poor kids get mixed together.

Morning Bridget,
how about this scenario:
a child and parents absolutely dreading the first day back. No excitement just apprehension.
dreading despite a consultants letter,not being allows to go to the toilet. Sometimes having no choice but to leave the classroom and go anyway. Being asked to stand facing the wall after doing so…. Bullying continuing across the school. Head more interested in measuring length of ties than addressing this. School not inspected since 2009. Finally inspected and significantly downgraded. Zero emphasis from senior leadership on anything other than maths,English and science.
making the decision to go independent. Hopefully our broad shoulders can deal with the VAT. Hopefully for our child too. Facing spinal surgery and knowing her current school will be supportive. At the old school teachers never stirred themselves to reply to emails.
im well aware that we are in a position of privilege. It’s not just about us making sacrifices. I know that for many giving up luxuries would still not make this an option. The money raised will do little to improve our local state schools. You are really being disingenuous if you think that. The problems there cannot all be solved in or by schools.

Aspiration and higher standards? My husband and I are in our mid 40s, both been higher rate tax payers for years. 2 kids (7 and 10) and have always worked full time. Our eldest was struggling in state school - undiagnosed dyslexia and an incredibly disruptive class - so we've just moved him to a private school. He is thriving. We are scraping the money together. But we're not 'working people' according to Sir Kier because we don't rely on the state. So we deserve to be taxed more apparently. So you'll excuse me if I spit out my tea at your mention of aspiration.

I'm glad that education is going to be prioritised as I agree major changes need to be made.

I think working on teacher retention, as well as recruitment, is also important as there are strong reasons so many leave, not generally related to salary.

I think more needs to be done to ensure there are appropriate settings for those with serious SEN and behavioural challenges, the thresholds are now far too high. This leads to some children who sadly can't cope being in a traditional school setting, often disrupting the learning of others.

Furthermore, the curriculum is too massive. It needs to be streamlined and focused so that there is time for the areas of most importance to be properly learnt and understood. The amount the children and teachers have to do each day is ridiculous and not conducive to successful learning.

Finally, more needs to be done to make parents responsible for their child's behaviour and to be respectful of school staff. The way they are treated is sometimes absolutely appalling. There is little in the way of respect or manners and when parents are made aware of a child doing something they shouldn't there is always an excuse, or they just don't seem bothered.

You are so right. Education is massively important.

but let’s also be real -

• will additional overcrowding in classrooms from the children forced to leave private school help?
• what exactly will the benefit of 6500 teachers be? This is not even one per school? What about the teachers leaving due to the overcrowding and poor working conditions
• what about the parents who can no longer pay for SEN provision
• what about the disruption to so many children who are now forced to move schools due to your policy of envy of VAT on school fees (which let’s face it is illegal everywhere other than the UK due to brexit)

maybe instead of reflex policies you should take some time understanding the real issues for students and parents instead of speaking ideological rhetoric and then come up with a plan to properly fund education reform?? Because your current policies are a joke that only help you feel you are doing something with terrible future consequences

Dear Bridget,

thank you for taking the time to engage and your post. I agree with much of what you say, but I would question how you intend to achieve this.

i have a daughter in a very good state secondary school. It’s an environment that seems to offer her the academic stretch and support she needs to achieve her potential. We are very happy with our school choice for her and believe she will continue to thrive. What her school doesn’t need is larger classes. I am very concerned that by your policy of adding VAT to private school fees the school (which is already full) will be forced to absorb more children whose parents cannot afford to send their children privately. We have many private schools in our local area. I know attendance into year 7 is significantly down in many of them. I know this because I know many people who were considering sending their children to private school but have decide they can’t afford it due to adding 20% onto fees.

I also know it because my older daughter is at a private school. We moved to an area with excellent schools, but what we didn’t know is our first child would be born with SEN. She went to state primary and over the years it became increasingly obvious that something wasn’t quite right. She struggled in ways her peers didn’t. School told us she was fine, but despite their assurances we trusted our instincts and got her assessed. We were right to trust our instincts and she has dyslexia. We tried to support her but her confidence was through the floor and covid was wreaking her generations final years of primary. She was lost, shy, and just not thriving. We looked at secondary options and the school my younger daughter is at was our preferred option. I spoke to the deputy head about their SEN provision and was told they were a very academic school so support was limited if my daughter didn’t get on there - we could always move her. Hardly the message any parent wants to hear about their prospective school choice. We looked at private fearing she would just not find her way in a large state school that clearly wasn’t as committed to her best interests.
She is in year 10 at her small girls independent school. She is thriving and we have seen a confident child emerge. The school is able to provide the support she was not going to get in the state system.
She is lucky, we are lucky that we are (just) about able to afford this. We drive old cars, don’t take fancy holidays and I work two jobs. We are not buying her an advantage but buying her a chance to be on a level playing field.
Please tell me why we should pay an extra 20% on her fees to have removed the burden (and the deputy of the state school made this very clear) from the state sector. Why should my SEN child attract a tax of 20%?
i have a foot in both camps, we all want to increase standards but PLEASE listen to what parents are telling you. Private school parents are in many cases parents who have no other choice. We make sacrifices to try and give our children an education that will overcome a set of cards they have been dealt. If my older daughter were about to start her private school journey now, I’m not sure we would be going ahead. 20% is a huge increase over 5 years. We are hard working but we do not have bottomless pockets.
Please engage and listen to ALL parents. Private schools have a place but by adding this tax you will force parents away from private increasing the burden onto the state sector and ALL the children you want to increase the life chances of. SEN support is inadequate in many schools and where it is adequate adding more SEN children is not going improve the chances of any of those children.
Please engage and acknowledge private schooling is far more nuanced and complex than ‘ Rich parents just buying their child an advantage’

This policy is just likely to disencourage high earners to stay in UK (and pay taxes); it will force families (who the State have already let down over education, healthcare and housing ) to stop paying private school fees or decide not to start paying at primary level (creating a huge bottleneck in ait lists for limited state school places). People choose private or home schooling for many many reasons - mostly because they decide state school offering is not good enough for their child. Why is state school not good enough? Decades of underfunding and mismanagement. Improve state schooling first. Just one simple example ... Maybe start looking at wastes within government first ... like the £50,000 you spend per prisoner to keep them in prison while waiting for trial ... over 80% of prisoners at Pentonville are awaiting trial. Contrast that to the derisory £6500 you allow per child on education .... and you wonder why some people manage to just abut make private fees work for their child.... why are you determined to wipe out a private school sector that is seen as one thing the UK does well.... by telling private schools to cut their costs to absorb the VAT, the first thing they'll have to do is look at the bursaries they offer and the resources they give for free to the state sector. Those private schools that close will uproot children and increase state school overcrowding.
You should learn from the successul way private schools are run... at best you say your policy will give 1/2 an extra teacher per school. This is just pure madness ...and no, i'm not a Tory!

IF she responds (as she has a habit of not responding to letters or emails) it’ll be the same old mis-informed ideological statements.

I hope that our Government will listen not only to the damage to the children in private schools, or the damage to children in state schools but the huge shift this will create in the increasing the rich poor divide. I went to an inner city comp, I come from an immigrant working class background, my parents were barely literate, but I still achieved well in a state school. Why? Because my parents were aspirational. So much is about family life Bridget and the home you come from. Your ‘solutions’ are focussing in the wrong place. The huge cultural shift you need for some families to start valuing education need to start at grass roots.

This ‘tax’ is targeting the very children you need to become higher tax payers in the future.

Your government needs to focus on family values, shifting mind sets, making school important. This tax does the opposite in my eyes and many.

At the moment as Tony Blair said we are a less powerful and less influential nation than we used to be, you are encouraging a future brain drain. This tax will not be forgotten by parents. It is likely I will encourage my children to move to a country where their children’s education won’t be taxed. Those countries will receive their income tax.

Finally, I have friends who are doctors GPs, Radiologists and Oncologist, even some dentists. Who will move their children to the state sector, who will reduce their hours of work. I’ll leave it with you as to impact of this on our nation.

Bridget I can only wish you well, as all I want is the absolute best for our nation but I fear you have this all very very wrong.

I have significant concerns about the proposed plans and feel compelled to share my perspective, given my background and personal experience in education. I work across both sectors—state and private—and have one child in each, so I believe my insights may be valuable.

Firstly, I want to express my strong opposition to these plans. If I were to move my child from private to state education, it would ultimately cost the local authority more than it would save.

After contacting admissions, I discovered that the nearest state school with availability is across the county. This means my child would require transportation, likely in the form of a taxi, which would need to be paid for by the local authority. This cost alone would outweigh the VAT gains, but the issues don’t end there.

Without the wraparound care provided by her current school, I would need to reduce my working hours, resulting in a loss of my expertise within some state schools, as well as a reduction in the tax I pay on those hours. In addition, her new school place would cost an average of £7,500 annually.

Furthermore, my child has mental health needs that, while not formally diagnosed as SEN and without an EHCP, would undoubtedly require additional support from an already overstretched school system. This scenario is typical for many children in private education.

Many parents who serve in the armed forces, police, ambulance services, NHS, and education sector also rely on private education for the wraparound care they need to maintain their work hours. If forced to switch to state schools, these parents may reduce their hours, leading to further strain on these vital services.

There are also children with unmet SEN needs in the state system—transitioning them into this system will likely result in higher costs than any financial gains.

Additionally, many parents, unable to accept the state school allocated to them, turn to private education. While we all care deeply about our children, we can’t all live in catchment areas for top-performing schools. It feels disingenuous to compare your children’s state school experience with that of most families, given the higher house prices that often accompany access to better state schools. If your children were attending inner-city schools with inadequate Ofsted ratings, perhaps this would be a more relatable discussion.

I also want to highlight that my child in state education receives tutoring, as do many other students. However, tutors aren’t subject to VAT. While I sympathize with his teachers and school, the reality is that the system struggles to cater to individual needs due to lack of time and resources. The changes being proposed will not address these fundamental issues.

As someone who grew up in a single-parent family and attended a state school with a challenging reputation, I am not wealthy, and I have never had surplus funds. I firmly believe that these policies are misguided and will not have the intended impact on the people they aim to support.

I urge you to reconsider these proposals, as they may have far-reaching, unintended consequences that could do more harm than good.

Bridget’s attempt to ‘break down barriers’ will not work for us. As a military family of very modest means (I am part time (lower end of main scale pay) teacher and my husband is non commissioned officer (so we are not on officer’s wages!) and we both come from very working class backgrounds. I was raised in a single parent family on a very rough council estate and thanks to my fantastic state school and crucially, stability, I thrived. We have opted to do the same for our daughter and she goes to an independent / boarding school. Since she was able to access education she has attended 5 different educational places and 3 different curriculums (we have lived abroad) by the time she was in Year 5! Her education was massively impacted by the constant upheaval and relocation. I chose to marry into the military and so “knew what I was getting myself into” and I’ve missed out on promotions, jobs, careers, pensions and living in my own home (to name a few) but our daughter didn’t! So we opted for the Continuation of Education funding that supports a military child with stability of education regardless where my husband will be sent. We fund 10% and obviously pay for the extras that are needed outside of the fees.
We forgo holidays and I work a second job either side of my part time job AND during every holiday that funds our contributions.
Choosing an independent school is not some elite choice but out of sheer necessity to ensure stability for our child. My child opted for this route as she was beginning to get very upset as the constant moving and leaving friends. She is thriving in stability, just like I have. Despite me failing my 11+, I went to a state comprehensive school/6th form, gained degree + post graduate + a masters and thrived. I couldn’t have done this without educational stability.
I have emailed Bridget to raise my concerns and she has reassured me that there will be 6000 new mental health specialist in schools - WHAT?! This doesn’t address the constant upheaval and change of school for our daughter (who is now starting her GCSEs).
The proposed number of new teachers that she is going to find… how about RETENTION! I have seen so many newly qualified teachers leaving the profession after their ECT year and experienced professionals leaving (check out the facebook page ‘Exit th classroom and thriving’ for examples of why teachers are leaving!) Why is she not addressing this elephant in the room?

The VAT is an unfair policy for us military families. The House of Lords clearly addressed the abhorrent policy in their discussions (5th Sept 2024) and also identified that the Labour’s maths does not work out. It could end up costing the tax payer more and to do it mid term shows how inconsiderate the government are to disrupt educations midyear.

How dare you write all this tripe about wanting the best for all children, whilst throwing 7% of them under the bus. Do you have any idea the impact on private school kids, forced out of their schools, mid academic year during exam years? Are state schools going to be able to absorb Y11 & Y13 children, in January, a few months before they sit vital exams and offer them the same subjects, exam boards etc. You’re rubbing your hands with glee at the stress and upset this is causing those kids and their parents. Using children as political pawns is shameful.

Bridget, you clearly don’t have SEN children do you?

‘Looking forward to the year ahead with excitement, new things to come’.

How about fear induced vomiting at what’s to come, how about sleepless nights, how about complete emotional meltdowns…. That’s the SEN reality for back to school. Back to an independent school where class sizes are low, 1:1 support is available and the child centered.

Now you want to take that away from our children and place them in your idealistic state schools, the schools that are already pushed to their limits, your proposed tax won’t even put a dent in what’s needed in state schools and you well know that.

please stop playing with our children’s futures, quite rightly you need to improve state schools, this is not the way to do it. Build more schools, bring in more support for those who find school most challenging, look at why children can’t cope in this environment- in honesty could you?!

I urge you to do as you say and put ALL of our children’s needs first. Rather than being hell bent on imposing a policy that will damage the education system beyond belief.

I think she needs to listen to the House of Lords. A great debate highlighting just how harmful some of her policies are going to be for ALL. Debate link below for those interested.
VAT on independent school debate in the House of Lords

Couldn't agree more.

Good luck Bridget, it's going to be expensive and I worry that a tipping point has already been passed - services (including CAMHS and SEN provision) have simply been dismantled beyond repair. Disagree with those who say we don't need MH support within schools though- but the best way of supporring young people is to have staff that don't leave and have the emotional capacity to be there for young people. So more of them, and better supported. Staff are the key to this.

And 99% of responses on this thread are those with VAT allergies- that's just not representative of even Mumsnet users- most of them care more about usable state education.

reform provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

This line makes me nervous, if it means creating more places or genuinely better funding enabling every school to open their own SEND bases then bring it on. However when politicians have said this in the past it generally means pushing the "inclusion agenda" harder and harder resulting in the chaos we have now in many Mainstream schools.

By the way I'm a SEND teacher of 25 years, very much in favour of inclusion done well but I have taught too many children (and families) who have been utterly broken by it!

Not every child 'belongs' in a school setting. Every child has the right to an education suited to their needs, abilities and aptitude. You're blinkered, and your intransigence harm children.

Why are you so tone deaf to the fact the VAT on independent schools is going to massively backfire? To bring this 20%increase in January is plain spiteful. My son attends a local small independent school where no parents are rich - they are nurses, policewomen, teachers etc. In my sons class alone I know 7 kids are leaving because of this increase alone as they jist cant stretch their finances, so for you to say this will not lead to kids leaving or it having any impact on state schools is an outright lie. I have contacted my local schools and council about a state school place for my son and have just been told he is on a waiting list so will be schooless in January. Where are the state school places for these children? Where do we send them or do you just not care!

I doubt one single person responding on this thread would disagree that state education needs to improve and that a thriving state system would benefit the whole country. The issue is, adding VAT on independent schools will a) not achieve this goal, or even positively contribute to it, it is more likely to cause harm and b) is a shameful act marking us out as the only European nation (or US state) to believe that education should be subject to tax

I would like to know where my child is going to go to school - there are no state school places in our local area - there are no places for year 1 nor is there any support or help from the local authority or our newly elected MP who refuses to respond to emails. If you are intending to continue with this discriminatory tax first make sure that there are enough school places for every school child that is with an independent sector and there are enough resources to support all of the SEND children whether on an EHCP plan or not. Education is a right for all children whether in a state setting or private settings. Ignoring the comments from worried parents and not addressing them shows that you do not understand the issues around this policy. All people are asking is for a pause so that all facts can be considered and the research be done before this policy is implemented. There is no need to do this mid school year. You have decided the timing to force children to stay in the private setting because they are unable to find any suitable state schools with availability or even be able to go and look round them with the schools been on summer holidays. Please reconsider and acknowledge the issues with this policy.

Chair of School Governors for a state school here. Our school is the largest in our Home Counties town, having been asked to add classrooms several times over the last decade and a half. We have done everything asked of us by our County / LEA, but this week we’ve been asked (Read: TOLD!) to prepare to increase PAN again because of the influx of independent school pupils and increased enquiries to County admissions. WE CANNOT KEEP DOING THIS!

1. We don’t have the space in our buildings, infrastructure or grounds to safely accommodate more children. We have 31 children in several classrooms already. We cannot go higher safely. But we will be forced to.
2. we don’t have enough staff room facilities - we are literally cramming teachers and staff into an unsuitable communal space - it’s not fair to them.
3. There are no new teachers! It’s a lie that we will find new staff to support the additional children. We are classed as London fringe, our staff don’t get a full London weighting but they pay London prices to be near to school. Recruitment is very difficult.
4. We cannot support any more SEN, as much as we’d love to help. In our County an EHCP is well known to be almost impossible to get without a long drawn out fight - I know because I’ve been involved in many of these battles where the child desperately needs additional support for very specific needs but their application is refused on a technicality, frequently! This system needs updating before any other changes to independent school pricing - we know the private sector takes many of these children because parents give up on state education- we cannot take them, I’m sorry, but the detrimental effect to our existing cohorts will be catastrophic. I am also willing to bet the County send some of the children who leave the independent sector back to their original school at the taxpayers cost - prove me wrong?
5. Even I can see that the maths does not work! The calculations I have seen by the IFS are garbage. Any educationalist can see the assumptions are nonsense! Worse still: I have seen your education announcements and you have spent the money many times over already, how can any of us trust you when you cannot even be honest about the calculations that drive this dysfunctional policy.
6. The timing is ridiculous! Schools on both sides of the sector need time to understand the ramifications of this policy and find ways to work together to find solutions for each child’s needs as well as our existing children. Throwing this into the chaotic mix that is current state education in January is insanity and leaves no thought for the mental health of the children, nor the staff.
7. We are lucky enough to get support FOR FREE from our local independent school. The use of a swimming pool, additional learning support from their specialist team, speakers that visit them come to us for free, we can use their playing fields for events and they even give us books for our library and their pupils do work experience with us. They ask for nothing in return, it is part of their commitment to the local school community and they do this for several local schools. I fear that will evaporate overnight because of this ill thought out policy.

I could go on: military families (we don’t have any but they are in the private sector in our town), international pupils, the saving to the taxpayer from these children not taking a state school space…

From someone who has been involved in state education for longer than you have been an MP, I am begging you to stop and talk to the stakeholders, there is a better way. Your current approach is dangerous for children, staff and the future of education in this country.

^This.

This kneejerk stuff on attendance is pretty offensive to the thousands of SEND families who have been battling to secure the provision and understanding needed for their children at school. It would help if you acknowledged what has happened to SEND children in schools during the years of the LA funding crisis and that schools and LAs of every hue have been colluding to avoid having to meet the costs they are under an obligation to meet under the 2014 Children and Families Act, SEND code of practice 2015, and Equality Act 2010. This is denying disabled children the opportunity to achieve their potential, and playing a significant role in fuelling the child mental health crisis, both of which will have implications for children, families, and the state well into adulthood.

Perhaps show us you understand that some of our most vulnerable children and families have been made to bear the brunt of spending cuts and the inclusion of disabled people in society has been pushed backwards as a consequence. Perhaps also show us you will have no truck with some of the pernicious narratives towards disabled children and their parents and carers that some in local government have been indulging in to cover their own grubby tracks.

Education is about partnership

i couldn’t agree more this the headline I just think the education secretary is way off the mark in execution.

1, The state cannot create equality of opportunity through the education system when families and whole communities won’t engage and support the staff.
2, 6500 teachers are not just kicking their heals waiting for VAT to be levied on hard working families. These teachers do not exist as there are already vacancies that can’t be filled.
3, this is about Labour levelling down. Trump style “if we stop testing there won’t be any Covid cases”.

partnerships that work

There are excellent examples of partnerships that are working between local state and private systems. With imposing VAT and business rates why would private schools keep funding these partnerships and allowing access to their facilities?

snake oil salesman

unfortunately this idealistic and vindictive corbynista cabinet has been hiding behind Keir’s moderate facade and the electorate fell for it. Oh well how much damage can they do in five years…. Oh bum.

Bridget Phillipson needs to stop censoring every comment on her Facebook page, by parents who are justifiably concerned about the effects the imposition of 20% VAT on private schools. If only she would listen to/read these comments and see what a cruel policy this is and is going to raise very little money for the treasury, if any. It’s going to cause untold misery for the students now forced to leave their private schools because of this policy, especially for the many children with SEN, and make classes in state schools even bigger! This policy needs to be stopped now and careful considerable given to its detrimental affects on both private and state educated children! Bridget Phillipson are you listening???

Taxing independent schools (Labour’s tax on education) will hurt state schools and their pupils as well as tens of thousands of children currently in independent schools.

6,500 new teachers (even if it were possible to recruit that many) spread across the UK’s 20,778 state schools equates to 0.3 additional teachers per school. So about one in three schools would get one extra teacher, no where near enough to increase the number of classes or reduce class sizes.

In taxing education, Labour claims that it will raise £1.6Bn (to pay for those 0.3 extra teachers per school) the reality is that adding the cost of tax to education will force tens of thousands of kids currently in private schools and into state schools which do not have the capacity to accommodate them (those additional 0.3 teachers, who don’t actually exist anyway will not provide the additional capacity required). This means that instead of providing an additional £1.6Bn, Labour’s education tax is likely to l, at best, break even and at worst cost about £1Bn more (figures from various studies into the subject).

Most independent schools have only a couple of hundred pupils, make no financial profit (they are charities) and operate on a financial knife edge where the loss of even 10 or so pupils will make them financially unviable. This means that even if only a handful of parents cannot afford the rise in costs forced by Labour’s education tax, those schools will close, forcing hundreds of kids into the local state system which has no where near the capacity required to accommodate them.

The children who are most likely to be forced from the private to the state sectors by Labour’s tax on education are those whose parents can only just about afford private school fees as they are. Many of these will be children with special educational needs (SEN) which were not being met in the state system, which is the reason that their parents stretched themselves financially to put them into private schools to start with. This means that as well as overloading state school class sizes, the limited SEN provision in state schools will be stretched beyond breaking. This will punish both the thousands of children with SEN coming from the private system but also the children already in the state system.

Labour’s decision to impose tax in the middle of a school year and immediately will force children (whose parents cannot afford the additional cost) to move schools in the middle of the school year, some will be moving in the middle of their GCSEs or A levels. Most local education authorities do not have the school places for these children and even where they do, a change of school will mean that the child will normally not be able to study the same combination of GCSEs or A levels or the same exam board syllabuses. This will hugely damage their GCSE and A level prospects and put extra load onto the state schools they move into, who will need to increase class sizes to accommodate the additional children and spend extra resource to teach them the new syllabuses in what remains of the GSCE or A level course.

Independent schools have been told to “absorb the costs of taxation” but for the vast majority this is impossible as schools are not profit making businesses and their entire income is reinvested into staff salaries, infrastructure maintenance and other running costs and into scholarships and bursaries and partnership programmes with local communities and state schools. This means that the only way they can “absorb” the costs of Labour’s education tax would be to cut costs. They cannot realistically cut their running costs much or staff salaries so the only things that they can cut are scholarships and bursaries awarded to poorer children and partnership programmes with local communities and state schools. Partnership programmes include schemes to give state schools access to facilities (classrooms, theatres, swimming pools, sports facilities, etc.), teachers (including specialist teachers) and extracurricular activities (like school cadet forces). All of these things have a cost and so Labour’s education tax and it’s instructions to independent schools to “absorb” the costs of those taxes will inevitably mean that bursaries which help poorer children and partnerships between independent and state schools are cut.

By forcing independent schools to cut bursaries and scholarships and by forcing the children of parents who can only just afford the fees as they are (without tax) will make private education accessible only to the “super rich”. This flies in the face of Labour’s ambition to remove boundaries in education.

Parent’s of children in state schools, particularly those with children who rely on SEN support or who benefit from partnerships with independent schools or who use their facilities, need to understand that by taxing independent education, Labour is actively harming children in state schools as well. This is because state school classes will get larger (only one in three schools will get just one more teacher), SEN support will be stretched across more children (so children with SEN in state schools will get less support) and state schools which currently benefit from using independent schools’ facilities and sharing teachers, etc will not be able to in the future.

Not only is Labour’s education tax economically pointless (it will cost taxpayers more than it brings in), it will actively harm children, both those currently in state and independent schools.

if Labour is absolutely dead set on taxing education (morally wrong in the eyes of almost all other countries), they should commission a study to properly understand the implications both to the public purse and most importantly to ALL children’s welfare and education. In the unlikely event that the study found there was overall benefit to taxing education, the government must publish the detail of that tax three academic years out, to allow children to complete their GCSE or A leve courses at their current schools before they are forced to move schools. This would also give the state education sector the time it needs to restructure and grow capacity to accommodate the tens of thousands of children who would move into state schools from independent schools. Additionally, if education is to lose its tax exemption, this should apply to all education, and including to private nurseries and universities and not arbitrarily just to independent schools educating school aged children.

Translation.... for "Each and every child", read "unless your child is privately educated".
Let's face it - you don't care about any child, as its not just the Privately Educated that will suffer getting ripped from their friends and surroundings mid-year - it's also every state school child that will suffer with massive class sizes, and no single extra teacher per school, as this Policy hasn't been costed and will bear no financial fruit.
Let's just hope Labour don't win next time, and whoever gets in u-turns this divisive, spiteful policy.
Also note; if we didn't leave the EU, this policy would have been illegal.