The Government maintains that charging 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, which came into effect from 1 January, is necessary to sustain the underfunded state sector.
Forensic scientist Jennie Armstrong and her husband had considered selling their home in Warrington, Cheshire, to raise the extra funds to cover the cost of higher fees as a result of the VAT but soon realised they would still be short.
It has left them no choice but to give notice to the school that they will be withdrawing their sons, Ms Armstrong said.
They had already factored in how they would cover the standard annual rise in fees but Ms Armstrong said footing the bills to date has already put them into £22,897 of debt.
“We were just scraping by as it was already and with the introduction of the 20 per cent VAT, it’s just gone beyond what we can even try to afford.
Ms Armstrong said she is “heartbroken” at having to move her sons from their private school to a state school and feels like she has failed them.
Joshua, left, and Oscar, right, will be removed from their private school because of the introduction of VAT on school fees (Photo: Supplied)
Joshua has suspected ADHD and really struggles with change and anxiety. He also has sensory needs, which means he requires a lot more movement, noise and contact input.
Ms Armstrong said the private school have put in a lot of strategies for Oscar and “a lot of guidance and support to allow him to access that education on a daily basis”.
“What’s going to happen now is he’s going to go into a school that can’t provide any of that,” Ms Armstrong said.
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Read More“I feel like I’ve failed my children and that I’m not able to give them that support that they need. They should be allowed to have a nurturing environment and, and to be able to access education, and I feel like putting them in that bigger school is not going to give them that.”
Last month, The i Paper revealed the Government is considering tightening the rules on which children with special educational needs qualify for specified extra support, in a move that could result in more of them being educated in mainstream schools.
The Armstrongs are planning to appeal the council’s decision and Ms Armstrong said she is prepared to take the fight to a tribunal.
“I will not stop fighting,” she said.
Why VAT is being placed on private school fees
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the policy will create £460m in revenue for the Treasury in 2024-25, over £1.5bn in 2025-26 and 2026-27, rising to £1.6bn in 2027-28 and 2028-29.
The OBR’s forecast states the cost of educating an additional 35,000 state sector pupils will cost £300m, based on a £7,690 per pupil cost in England.
The Government has said this money will go towards state sector priorities such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers in key subjects in state schools, reforming Ofsted and creating more than 3,000 new nurseries.
Money from taxing private school fees will support the 94 per cent of children in state schools to “achieve and thrive”, the Treasury said.
At least 35,000 children could be displaced from private schools to state schools because of increased costs, a lawyer representing affected families told the court.
Ms Armstrong said: “They just keep asking, ‘can we stay? We want to stay at the school. We don’t want to leave’.”
“Fewer than 0.1 per cent of pupils are expected to move schools this year as a result of ending tax breaks for private schools, set against over one million spare places in schools across the country.”
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