Kier Stammer's legacy.

[Nextweektoo]

Another school facing closure. Hopefully Keir Stammer's adding this to the list of all the wonderful things he has achieved.
So many jobs wll be lost and so much disruption to these children and I bet the additional teachers will remain invisible.

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/26118235.reading-st-josephs-college-close-july/

I'm sure they will be fine.

I don’t think that school has been financially secure for a couple of years now. IIRC they struggled during Covid and put fees up quite a bit shortly after. They were in a deficit for awhile pre VAT.

It’s a real shame for the children who have to go to new schools, very disruptive. They were always one of the cheaper private schools in the area, it wasn’t a big flashy school like Eton, parents who were just about able to afford it before the VAT probably couldn’t manage any more.
Not sure this VAT thing is going to raise as much money as Labour claimed. Not that it is going to fund the teachers they promised anyway now.
What actually is the money raised going to fund? Was it housing?

I very much doubt there will be any transparency on how much money has been raised. There are credible suggestions it will actually lose money. Not much in the grand scheme of things - a few million.

I agree.

I live in the area, and my FB feed this morning contained posts from at least four other local private schools expressing sympathy towards St Joseph’s, but also touting for business in the same breath.

I saw posts from The Abbey, The Oratory, Crosfields and Luckley House, with more to follow no doubt.

I feel sorry for the affected children, but personally I’m in favour of VAT on school fees.

This is what they wanted though.

Globally, very few countries impose a sales tax on education. Only New Zealand springs to mind, and they offer financial mitigation to families affected. Greece tried it, it went very badly, and they ended up reversing it. It’s generally considered a “bad thing to do”. Why is this?
Why is the UK an outlier? And what will the long term consequences be?

Presumably you’re in favour of it because you believe it will a) raise money which can be used in the state sector and b) it will help to reduce inequalities in education?

If it does neither of those things (the likely outcome) are you still in favour of it?

He gave private schools an excuse for closing. Noting to do with being expensive, not fit for purpose and continuing falling rolls.

Private schools have always closed. That’s the nature of the beast. This tax is ideological and spiteful as evidenced by the almost total lack of developed nations who tax education.

Yes-but now the schools and others can ignore all other causes and say that it’s because of VAT. And the UK is still not taxing education. It’s taxing private education. Not the same thing at all.

My db teaches in a private school and lived in a rented flat. Labour frightened his landlord so she sold up and my db is now facing the second round of redundancies at the school whilst simultaneously having his teaching load massively increased. Anyone leaving naturally isn’t replaced. So his workload is mega.

so overall, his finances and health have taken a hit. Thanks Keir. Keir who attended a private sixth form en route to Oxford.

DB’s school can’t last much longer. It’s a secondary so it’ll fuck over kids in exam years at some point in the near future when it goes under.

At which point DB will have to leave his community and find another job (doesn’t drive, public transport is shit in the area). School currently is walking distance for him.

but yay let’s close private schools and pretend all the people in million pound houses living by the very best state schools are the salt of the earth.

what a stupid pointless policy. Has the state sector got better? No.

At least get your facts about Starmer’s education right.

I know that school slightly, its had falling roles and middling results for many years.

The private school sector in the UK long since priced itself out of its regular market - that is nothing to do with VAT and everything to do with how their businesses were operating. Prices have near doubled over the past couple of decades. I can’t think of any businesses who have whacked up prices in that way priced themselves out of their traditional market and not suffered significant closures.

That school would have been struggling before this.

Falling rolls are impacting both sectors

Yet another person who can’t spell the name of the prime minister right, even the surname! That is a first. Perhaps you need to go back to school yourself.

Taxing private education is taxing education. No need for pedantry.

The causes may be VAT. Perfectly possible for a business that was originally operating well to not be profitable after a major tax change such as this.

What are the benefits of taxing private education in your mind? Other than it just being something the left agree with on principle?

Given OP is so in favour of private education this would suggest it’s not really worth the money anyway.

Agreed, it really doesn’t support the idea that private education is even worth the investment when those in favour can’t even google basic facts.

I worked for the Local Authority all through austerity.
We lost staff in the thousands. We had to do all the work of the staff who left if we were 'lucky enough' not to have been made redundant.
My brother worked for a big law firm in London (not as a lawyer). He got made redundant due to the collapse of global markets.
My dd works for a charity. They have just been through a whole round of redundancies. Half her team have gone - obviously their work hasn't.
My friend works in International Aid - being made redundant in July.

I'm sorry your brother is facing redundancy, but that happens to people from all sectors, all across their working lives. Obviously my anecdotal examples are just a tiny fraction of the people it happens to, all the time.

I think they're attempting to be funny.

It distracts from the facts, you see.

Which are, so far in 2026, 10 Independent Schools have closed
(according to the DfE register of schools).

And 38 have opened....

Shame you can’t get your facts right. How many of those that opened were mainstream private schools with places mainly funded by parents and how many were specialist SEND schools with places mainly funded by local authorities?

Of course it happens in all sectors. But there was no need to launch an assault on the private sector. The state sector hasn’t been helped, but many children and adults have been caught in the crossfire. Again, this policy has really no benefit to anyone,
at the time, Eton were goign to be claiming VAT of £5 million back offf the govt. The net benefit was frequently estimated at zero pounds.

I do agree that everyone should be entitled to the same education. You shouldn’t get better education if your parents are rich. But here in the real world, the differences between the type of state schools that politicians’ kids attend (London oratory anyone?) compared to a shitty one is the real problem. We have state schools varying so much. But demonise private.

ultimately db will become an online tutor. Because in the state sector he was assaulted. He isn’t tolerating that. And still nothing will be equal.

And I have no skin in the game. My dc are grown up.

Oh dear, sorry to offend, I ddnt even check his name, I guess my parents should have paid for my education as I went to a state school 😊.
Everything has a cost and it's sad to see these families endure over a poorly thought through policy. Also there is a large portion of state schooling that is privatised in the form of PRUs that don't even deliver. Nevermind, it's not like I have the answers either.