VAT on private schools: Attack on privilege or investment in Britain’s future?

By Matthew Brookes

One of the few aspects of the UK that the previous government left in an improved state is the education standards and achievement of British pupils. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Institute for Fiscal Studies both highlight a rise in the global achievement of British secondary pupils in the last 14 years, with maths achievement rising from 27th in 2009 to 11th in 2022 according to the OECD rankings. These high rankings are however underpinned by a significant level of social inequality. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, only 50% of students eligible for free school meals achieve a good level of development, compared to 72% of other students. Pupils eligible for free school meals are also 3 times less likely to attend a Russell Group university such as Durham. 

With this imbalanced improvement in mind, it can quickly become clear why the Labour government has introduced a 20% VAT for both education and boarding fees for private schools by removing their charitable status. The government claims that this will raise over 1.7 billion pounds of revenue and then this will be spent on state education and attempt to bridge the gap of spending per student between state and private schools. The Labour government have been assuring the press that there is plenty of room in state schools for any private students who are forced to leave their old schools due to fee increases and that military families who rely on boarding schools for their children will not lose their support. 

Many on the right wing of British politics have expressed their distaste for this policy, claiming the introduction of VAT on school fees is the politics of “envy” that is not based on practical reality but on ideology and class war. This criticism in the media is largely led by the privately educated, for example, both Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and the former PM Boris Johnson, educated at Dulwich College and Eton College respectively, are very outspoken against VAT being levied on school fees. Their argument is not without logic, the largely working-class Labour Party is naturally predisposed to dislike the schools exclusively for the wealthiest individuals and would seem to want to reduce the importance and power of these schools. It is correct that the Labour Party is a party of ‘social democracy’ which is at odds with private schools as they damage social equality and the idea of a meritocracy. 

However, the rationale and reasoning behind this policy is more than valid to understand why this has been introduced. The state school educated Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that the money raised through the new VAT will be spent on state schools. The government already announcing backdated pay raises for teachers, above the rate of inflation, in an attempt to retain more experienced teachers. SecEd claims that one-third of all teachers leave the profession after 5 years, many citing poor pay that falls far short of both the private sector in the UK and the state schools of other nations. Addressing this fundamental issue will allow schools to reduce their class sizes and reduce the workload for teachers. Then the focus can shift back to those students who need additional assistance to overcome personal and financial barriers to their development. At present, the government has not been very forthcoming with the exact details of what the finances raised from the VAT introduction will be used on and is likely waiting until the policy begins to impact the treasury before making exact plans.

Overall, it’s not unbelievable that the Labour government would introduce a policy that does encourage almost a mild-mannered form of class warfare that slowly and carefully attacks the established privileges and inequalities in education. However, the funds from the introduction of VAT to private schools will be used to combat a serious concern in British education, a growing gap between those who receive free school meals and those who do not, even in the same schools. The majority of major voices that disagree with this policy do not have another stream of revenue to fix this divide in education as unlike the current government they do not care for handling the serious issues that affect this country or addressing the concerns of working families, only protecting and encouraging centuries of inequality.

Image: Noel Foster via Wikimedia Commons