To think a lot of people who agree with VAT on school fees…

[geeenuoe]

Actually don’t truly understand that to most sending their kids to these schools, it is a massive, massive struggle already.

There seems to be a mentality that if you can afford 20k a year then you’re already comfortable so sod it, you should find more cash now for vat … but do people in general not understand that some families re mortgage their homes to pay these fees? Yes there’s mega wealthy people but there’s many, many more who are not.

On the one hand we hear a good education is a luxury so VAT must be applied, then on the other we are told a good education is a right for all. So… why are we taking away that good education from those who already have it? Why is the focus not on sorting out the state sector properly? We all know the vat won’t fix the state sector. It may help in a tiny way in ad hoc circumstances but there’s so so so much more that needs to be done to state schools to make them ever match what the private sector offers.

I simply don’t get this mentality that those making sacrifices must make more when it comes to bloody education. I say this as someone who can’t afford the fees but if I could I absolutely would… and I also acknowledge that I am unwilling to go to some lengths that others will to pay it. I respect the choice of others to make such sacrifices and have no desire to make it harder and more inaccessible for the masses to access it. Similarly, I know plenty of people driving fancy cars and spending loads on holidays… they’ve chosen that over school fees. And those who have spend loads getting into a postcode of a decent state school… should they be paying enhanced tax on their house purchase?

Why do most people think those who pay schools fees are doing so with great ease? Is it basically because they don’t personally know people paying this so accept the media narrative that it’s the mega rich only?

@YellowSundress isn’t it a shame that lots of other parents don’t choose education over cars and holidays? Stop trying to penalise parents who make sacrifices for the sake of their child’s education.

We are those parents that can't afford it but our children are at a private secondary. Both are what is known in the USA as "twice exceptional" (gifted and neurodiverse) and both have scholarships and a grandparent pays the rest. We pay for their travel, lunches and school uniform. We didn't look at a bursary because the grandparents were always going to pay if the children passed the entrance exam.
We chose to send them to this school as it caters for students like them and the pastoral care and smaller classes are very helpful to my neurodiverse children.
Yes, there is some academic pressure on them, as their grandparents are not wealthy but are using our inheritance to pay for their schooling as they believe it is life-changing. And it probably is. Certainly they are happier since starting at this school and love going to school.
We do go abroad to visit the grandparents when we can (they pay) but apart from that we have had two "holidays" in the UK in the last 10 years, one was three nights at a B & B and the other was one night in the garden office of a friend. We buy reduced yellow sticker food when we can and much of our clothes are second hand or TK Maxx reduced items. We do go out for a meal at Pizza express or wagamama two or three times a year and my partner and I do not go out on dates.
The grandparents have worked very hard in their lives and have the mindset that "they don't take it with them when they go" so they will continue to pay the fees but I hope the school does not have to cut corners so much that the class sizes increase massively and the SENCOs hours are lowered.

You're not being penalised. You're being asked to pay tax on a luxury. It's a great idea. Next step, abolish private schools.

Pssst er that won't produce any tax revenue then! Who would prop up state education?!

@Emptyandsad thank you for your posts. They have given me food for thought. I can’t say I agree or think in reality any of these ideas will ever practically come out fruition but I have genuinely appreciated your posts and they have caused me to reflect on my own perspective.

@YellowSundress education shouldn’t be a luxury. The fact that private schools generally provide a better education doesn’t make that a luxury.

Most people are struggling and struggle to pay for essentials. I think you sound wildly out of touch.

I've got no problem with people paying for private schooling.

I'd be an absolute hypocrite if I did. We pay through the nose for our children's education, even though they go to state schools. We moved to an area with some of the best state schools in the UK, for that reason. The dc's school outperforms a few of the nearest private schools and house prices here are three times what they are five miles away as a result.

We've made some financial sacrifices due to our choice. We certainly have less holidays, less luxuries than if we hadn't lived here. Boo hoo, poor us.

But we chose this. We chose it, so we pay for it. We don't moan about our 'sacrifices'. We had every opportunity to not choose this path.

Private school parents just need to do the same. You chose it. So pay for it. With no tax breaks. None of the rest of us get them for our choices.

Hearing the constant whinge about the tax break ending is tiresome. It never should have existed in the first place.

Of course private education is a luxury.

You'll never convince me otherwise and you'll never convince me that it's unfair for rich people to pay a fair amount of tax on their luxuries. If you can afford private school fees, you're rich.

@RachPelders are you paying vat on your mortgage repayments? Oh….

@YellowSundress you are delusional. But then again, if you’ve never mixed with or been to a private school, you won’t know any better.

Ooh watch it, your true colours are coming out now!

I voted for labour on the strength of this policy so i can't wait for it to happen.

But if every child has an equal right to a good education, then the answer is to abolish private education and level the playing field for all kids.

That way all kids would have access to the same good education. This is more fair than some having access to a better education, which gives them accelerated access to other educational opportunities.

The answer to giving fair access to education is not to lower the price of private education so that it become accessible to the top 12% of earners rather than just the top 10%.

If you believe completely in the right to a good education, would you be in favour of abolishing private education in order to level the playing field?

@YellowSundress I believe you did. Lots of people voted labour for this reason. Your state schools won’t change without proper reform, which isn’t happening. It was a good ploy from labour to get in power though, granted!

Back on p25 you said you were off but you seem to be back again with more bad language. Really you need to stop the personal insults.

To me state schools is a separate issue. I see this as a great step towards abolishing private schools and levelling the playing field for all children, not just rich ones.

@planAplanB you just click the quote button.

We don’t want private education for exam results. We want our child in a safe and well rounded educational environment.

You still haven’t explained why you said state schools are great but then also that they need funding from vat to get up to scratch? Which is it?

The best way forward is to charge people with the broadest shoulders earning over 150k per year for state education
eg Starmer and Phillipson to name but a few

@YellowSundress they won’t be abolished. They will simply be more elite, if anything. All the while the state sector won’t change and will be even more overrun with pupils.

@Sasha82 don't worry, just another post reminding why I desperately want our child in private the sector!

Stamp duty and council tax.

@FluffletheMeow same as those with kids in private. Yet this house has purchased a good education, with not extra tax.

@geeenuoe

"most people who pay these fees don’t own yachts and fleets of cars. They have a couple of holidays a year and watch their spending."

A couple of holidays a year????

That shows an absolute disconnect between your understanding of what struggling is and what struggling actually is.

We have a holiday every other year (and this year used our holiday budget for decorating) and I consider my family extremely fortunate.

People who really struggle probably haven't had a holiday for years never mind paying for private school.

That's a cheap shot too

There's plenty of serious discussion to be had around this complex issue and there's room for plenty of different opinions, honestly held. There's no need to be gratuitously insulting people's children. It doesn't make the point that you think it does