Latest news with #taxImpact
Telegraph
25-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Private schools dumb down entry requirements after VAT raid exodus
Private schools are lowering their entry requirements in the wake of Labour's VAT raid, sparking fears they are damaging their reputations. Headteachers said they have been left with no choice but to 'widen the net' as the Government's 20pc tax on school fees has led to a significant decrease in applicants. More than 11,000 children left private schools in the past year in England – more than four times higher than the Treasury had anticipated. However, headteachers warned that the impact of Labour's mid-year tax hike has yet to take full effect and there could be an even greater exodus this summer as parents treat it as a natural exit point to remove their children. It comes after a private school in Kent was forced to close after more than 50 families – equivalent to one in five pupils – withdrew for the next academic year. A headmaster of a small private school in Berkshire said: 'It is a huge issue. One school very local to us has closed because of their September numbers. They just didn't have the numbers coming in September to make it viable.' He added that he was aware of many schools that were having to lower entry requirements as a result, either by lowering the pass mark for entrance exams or making the test easier. He said: 'Schools are having to widen the net. They are going further down their waiting lists because they need to, and what's been interesting to see is that schools where pupils traditionally had to work hard [to gain a place], where it's usually very challenging to secure places, it is less challenging this year. 'You can see how nervous the sector is. Whether it's trying to attract new pupils, or all of these mergers and acquisitions are taking place, what has amazed me is the pace of change.' However, a headmaster of a small private school in Surrey attacked larger private schools for taking pupils that would ordinarily have attended his own and said it was no wonder so many smaller institutions were closing or merging. He said: 'As predicted I've seen larger, wealthier schools that are already financially well-cushioned lower their admissions criteria in order to take more pupils in Year 7 who would have gone to more modest schools like mine. 'Add VAT on school fees and a low birth rate and these more modest schools are really suffering with much lower Year 7 intakes. It's hardly surprising that these bigger schools are then hoovering up or taking over smaller schools.' He added: 'The independent schools sector is a delicate eco-system and it is being disrupted from within as well as from without.' One headmaster, who admitted to having lowered his school's entry requirements, said: 'We are trying to hold firm but we also back ourselves with the smaller classes to be able to support a small number of pupils who might be sailing close to the wind in terms of meeting the normal entrance requirements.' He struck a more optimistic tone and said that while schools were currently struggling to attract pupils in Year 7, Labour's failure to recruit 6,500 new specialist state school teachers and the lack of significant funding would bring more families back to the private sector in time. He said: 'Teacher recruitment is not happening in the state sector and I believe the manifesto pledge is now being sidestepped. The higher-than-anticipated salary increases for teachers have also come at a cost because it's only partially funded, so the only way that state schools can fund this is by making some of their staff, usually teaching assistants, redundant. 'I have seen a recent increase in interest from families who are now concerned that the state sector seems to be declining even more rapidly.'
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Private schools dumb down entry requirements after VAT raid exodus
Private schools are lowering their entry requirements in the wake of Labour's VAT raid, sparking fears they are damaging their reputations. Headteachers said they have been left with no choice but to 'widen the net' as the Government's 20pc tax on school fees has led to a significant decrease in applicants. More than 11,000 children left private schools in the past year in England – more than four times higher than the Treasury had anticipated. However, headteachers warned that the impact of Labour's mid-year tax hike has yet to take full effect and there could be an even greater exodus this summer as parents treat it as a natural exit point to remove their children. It comes after a private school in Kent was forced to close after more than 50 families – equivalent to one in five pupils – withdrew for the next academic year. A headmaster of a small private school in Berkshire said: 'It is a huge issue. One school very local to us has closed because of their September numbers. They just didn't have the numbers coming in September to make it viable.' He added that he was aware of many schools that were having to lower entry requirements as a result, either by lowering the pass mark for entrance exams or making the test easier. He said: 'Schools are having to widen the net. They are going further down their waiting lists because they need to, and what's been interesting to see is that schools where pupils traditionally had to work hard [to gain a place], where it's usually very challenging to secure places, it is less challenging this year. 'You can see how nervous the sector is. Whether it's trying to attract new pupils, or all of these mergers and acquisitions are taking place, what has amazed me is the pace of change.' However, a headmaster of a small private school in Surrey attacked larger private schools for taking pupils that would ordinarily have attended his own and said it was no wonder so many smaller institutions were closing or merging. He said: 'As predicted I've seen larger, wealthier schools that are already financially well-cushioned lower their admissions criteria in order to take more pupils in Year 7 who would have gone to more modest schools like mine. 'Add VAT on school fees and a low birth rate and these more modest schools are really suffering with much lower Year 7 intakes. It's hardly surprising that these bigger schools are then hoovering up or taking over smaller schools.' He added: 'The independent schools sector is a delicate eco-system and it is being disrupted from within as well as from without.' One headmaster, who admitted to having lowered his school's entry requirements, said: 'We are trying to hold firm but we also back ourselves with the smaller classes to be able to support a small number of pupils who might be sailing close to the wind in terms of meeting the normal entrance requirements.' He struck a more optimistic tone and said that while schools were currently struggling to attract pupils in Year 7, Labour's failure to recruit 6,500 new specialist state school teachers and the lack of significant funding would bring more families back to the private sector in time. He said: 'Teacher recruitment is not happening in the state sector and I believe the manifesto pledge is now being sidestepped. The higher-than-anticipated salary increases for teachers have also come at a cost because it's only partially funded, so the only way that state schools can fund this is by making some of their staff, usually teaching assistants, redundant. 'I have seen a recent increase in interest from families who are now concerned that the state sector seems to be declining even more rapidly.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
