VAT on Private School Fees Could Make System More Elitist, Says Labour MP

Rupa Huq said those impacted by the changes include working people, who will struggle to pay the increased fees, and smaller faith and special schools.

Pupils arrive at Chertsey High School in Chertsey, England, on March 9, 2021. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A Labour MP has said she is concerned that the blanket application of 20 percent VAT on private school fees will hurt small independent schools and will make an “elitist” education system “more elitist” by pricing out working people.

Rupa Huq told MPs during a debate on Monday that while she would not consider using private schools herself, she understands how many parents would.

Huq said those impacted by the changes include those who “consider themselves to be working people” and will struggle to pay the increased fees, noting that she had received letters from concerned parents who send their children to the 14 independent schools across her constituency of Ealing Central and Acton.

“My worry is that this policy will make an elitist system more elitist,” she said.

The addition of VAT on private and boarding school fees came into effect in January, with the end of charitable business rates relief coming on April 1. Both were policies introduced by Huq’s own party when it came to power after the July 4, 2024 election.

Smaller Schools

“The problem is that the words ‘private school’ imply a whole load of things—but they are not all Eton,” the MP said.

“There are smaller SEND schools and smaller faith schools,” she added.

She said that she could imagine some parents who send their children to the likes of Eton “would be able to bear a 20 percent increase, and for a school that is clever with its accounts, these things may just be a rounding error. I am talking about smaller schools for which that does not apply.”

The Labour MP only dissented from her government to an extent, conveying that she still supports some level of VAT on private schools but not blanket application across the sector.

She argued that instead, VAT should be based on turnover to prevent smaller independent schools from getting “caught in this trap.”

Defending Eton

During the debate, several MPs highlighted Eton College—one of the most expensive independent schools in the country—as a private institution where parents could easily afford the increase.

However, some spoke up in defence of these larger private schools and noted that not all parents who use them are particularly wealthy. This included Liberal Democrat MP Rachel Gilmore, who said that as a single mother she had worked three jobs to send her two sons to Eton.

Gilmore added that Eton, a single-sex boarding school, “hands out completely free fees to 100-plus boys a year; they do not even have to pay for their pencils.”

Conservative MP Jack Rankin likewise said that many independent schools already give back to their communities, by sharing their sports centres and other resources with nearby state schools.

Undated handout photo issued by UK Parliament of Rupa Huq who is the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton. PA

Special Schools

One recurring theme was the impact the policy would have on special schools and the children that use them.

The government said that where a child with special educational needs (SEN) has an education, health, and care plan (EHCP) stating that the child’s needs can only be met at an independent school, the parents will not pay any VAT.

However, MPs noted that many SEN children at private schools do not have EHCPs and that it can sometimes take years to get one.

In July, education specialist Tom Richmond told The Epoch Times that the government’s plans “would inadvertently create a perverse incentive for parents to seek out a special needs diagnosis and then an EHCP for their child,” which would add pressure to local authorities already supporting an increasing number of children with SEN.

Responding to the concerns, Treasury Secretary Torsten Bell said that the government is seeking to “break down barriers to opportunity to ensure that every child has access to high-quality education—and every child includes the 94 percent of children who attend state schools.”

Bell said that the changes to VAT and business rates will raise around £1.8 billion a year which will go into improving state education.

He added: “However, I fully recognise that they will increase the cost for some parents and carers who have chosen a private education for their children. This change is necessary, but I am not hiding from the reality that any rise in costs is unwelcome for those affected by them.”