Labour’s plans for VAT on Private Schools

[Busydadof2]

The Labour Party has proposed introduction of VAT on private schools.

In the scheme of things the money they will bring in from this is tiny compared with total expenditure on state schools, while it will drive more burden on the state system as some parents leave private schools. I think this is a populist ploy to get traditional Labour voters to vote for what is in any other sense a centrist party.

Have you considered signing this petition to make sure the policy gets scrutinised and the weight of public sentiment against it is known?

Change.org petition: Stop Labour from adding 20% VAT to private school fees and forcing kids to change schools

www.change.org/p/stop-labour-from-adding-20-vat-to-private-school-fees-and-forcing-kids-to-change-schools

Various perspectives from the signatories of this vote come to mind and resonate with our own situation, including this: “I work in a state school with over 30 in a class and oversubscribed. My 2 kids went or go to private schools and we have sacrificed loads to do this. We are NOT wealthy, many of the kids at the school I work at live in bigger houses and have much more disposable income than we do. We chose to send our kids to private school rather than live in a bigger house instead of our semi detached on a main road. We holiday in the UK every year and I work full time. I buy my clothes on the high street or in charity shops. Many parents at the school my kids attend are in exactly the same situation. I agree there are some very wealthy parents there too and the addition of VAT will not even make an impact on them, they will pay it without batting an eyelid. All this will do is push the kids like ours back into an already oversubscribed state system, increase class sizes even more and create a bigger divide as private education will become truly elitist.”

shortage of STEM teachers is not related to extra funding -did you see their salaries ? have a look at what is starting salary for grads with Maths /Physics or Computer Science degrees in other industries-those are higher then they ll get as teachers-so it’s not surprising that they choose different career paths to teaching.

So I guess if that tax will be implemented will see Grammar schools full of kids that otherwise would have been educated in Private sector thus taking away opportunities from other kids ,our local state schools are already oversubscribed don’t think they even are able to accommodate 5% of potential transfers from local private schools and mostly those families actually live much closer to good schools as well so getting in those schools for other families will be even harder if not impossible ,house prices more likely to go up as well -don’t see how that is actually improves anything for anybody :/

Why would children from private schools automatically get into the grammar schools?

Most areas don't have grammar schools anyway.

I did not say they ll automatically get into grammar schools but since their parents are able to pay for a lot of 1:1 tutoring they ll have much higher chances to plus those families live much closer to other good schools -for example we live about a mile from nearest school and currently in their catchment but houses just next to school are much pricier and currently a lot of kids from those houses actually go to private schools of some of those decide to move their kids to state schools that will make catchment area smaller and those who can’t afford a house close to school will be pushed out of catchment

Because those who leave are likely to be academic high attainers, with parents who know their way round education systems - or they would not be in private education in the first place.

This will make grammar school entry more competitive post-11+ and for sixth form, but numerically its greatest impact will be on entrance to high performing, socially and academically selective, comprehensive schools.

Speaking as one whose children were very successfully privately educated with the partial support of academic scholarships rather than going to the local comp (then rated among comprehensive schools about 40th in the country academically - small family houses in the catchment area cost approx £1m) or nearby grammar school, it will be very entertaining to watch. It will undoubtedly be disruptive for many children in or headed for private education, but on the whole they will not be the losers in this debacle.

Yeah, but there’s about 3 areas in the UK that have grammar schools. And if the Labour Party have any sense they’ll kick them into touch too.

I live in an area with an outstanding comp. It’s a well off area. People send their kids there rather than to private schools, it fine outperforms the privates at A level. Loads of parents pay for tutors. It’s normal. But how will the sudden influx of ex private pupils get in. You can’t jump the queue for state schooling.

They’ll have to go to crap state school first and sit on the waiting list.

Is it oversubscribed? Ie you need to live nearby to get in and some miss out each year?

Yeah, massively oversubscribed.

You’ll likely see a rise in house prices as ex private choose it instead

It’ll be harder to access for others

House prices are silly already though.

People with a spare load of unspent fees can easily make them go higher

Idk where you are but here in London top state have high house prices, they’ll go up too

It’s one of the only good things about Labour. Here’s hoping they ban grammar schools too.

Because when the cost of private school becomes a bit too much, mummy and daddy will pay for little Tarquin to have private tutoring to coach him/ her so they have the best chance at passing the 11+ exam.

This is the main outcome of the policy imo

Not education or funding but adults indulging in some spite online against children

It does nothing positive

Why would they do that though? If they’ve got that much money they can pay VAT.

I don’t think a few private school kids who have parents who can’t afford vat are really going to make that much difference to house prices. Catchments might shrink a bit, but the school population is set to decline anyway.

If they already live there they’re in catchment anyway. If they don’t live there they don’t stand much chance of getting on,

Lots of kids had tutors in my dc state schools.

It’s more at entry stages. I know plenty who buy houses to get in. The amount saved in private fees is a fair whack.

Not sure this relates to the post

But they’re choosing not to use private schools anyway if they buy in good catchment.

So why would vat affect them? And why would they push house prices up if they were just going to send their dc to the state school anyway?

More people will do it as VAT will change their decision from using private to state - generally the best state they can access with those funds

Maybe for those with kids in Year 4-6 now. For those already in secondary school, their parents will have to find the funds or move into catchment of a top state school (which can be very expensive especially if not already planned for). Likely cheaper to find the extra VAT if your child is mid-secondary than move with stamp duty etc. I don't think the impact on state school catchment will be felt for at least a year or 2.

There quite a few who already live in very good catchment areas but choose to send to private -they usually buy houses in such areas as it’s not the way to send kids there but seen as a good investment (houses are likely to get up in price in good catchment more then in not so good )one of our local schools -my friend was not able to get a place in y3 now after infant school though just a year ago they were in catchment -I ve heard from other parents too that there are some kids being transferred already from PS -so in the end it means people who can’t afford to live that close will be pushed out of catchment even more

I don’t think it’ll make much difference to prices. Most of the kids in private schools live in good catchments. They do round me anyway.

As pointed out by Katrinkae13, this is incorrect. It presupposes that people buy houses in good catchment areas for the sole purpose of educating their children, although I guess it was inevitable that this mindset would develop.

In the short road in which I lived close to a very good state school there were nine families, four without children, five used private schools (three day, two boarding), and not one child in the road went to or was due to go to the state school. This was representative of the general location, consequently the state school had a large catchment area. When significant numbers of children switch to the state school, which they will because it is not a bad school with good Oxbridge track record, the catchment area will shrink and demand for houses that are still in it will increase.

I personally think the more people actually able to afford PS and send their kids there the better -means less crowded state schools ,less pressure on the government to fund those school places ,hopefully smaller classes in state schools meaning better quality of education ,less pressure on being able to afford to live in that tiny catchment area etc -I d personally do smth like a partial tax rebate or smth for those who decide to send to PS -that will create a whole new layer of families able to afford it -I d love to send my son to PS especially at secondary school level but their current school fees are expensive if those will raise even more that will not be achievable to even more families ,but if I wont be able to send to PS I want state schools at least be less crowded then and being able to get a place in decent one without selling a kidney to live next to that school .