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inews
  • 26/06/2024
Transcript
00:00It's not possible for us to cut the 20% of cost out the way we operate.
00:07Hello my name is David Benson and I'm the head teacher of Mill Hill School which is a large
00:12independent school in North London but I was previously the head of Kensington Aldrich
00:16Academy which is an all-ability comprehensive state school in West London. So why has Labour's
00:22policy to introduce VAT on school fees cut through so much of the election? I think it's simple,
00:27education is a massive priority for all parents and anything that reduces choice or reduces
00:35quality is going to stir up strong emotions in parents from all sides of the spectrum. Secondly
00:42how could the policy impact the state schools? Well as a state school head teacher who's moved
00:47into the independent sector I'm afraid it is going to have very significant impacts
00:52on both sectors. Just ask anyone working in London local admissions authorities right now
00:58and they will tell you that parents are peeling away from independent schools and joining waiting
01:02lists for state schools and that is displacing other pupils often from poorer backgrounds who
01:08live further away from the school. And how has my experience changed my perspective on this? Well
01:13it's simple, if you think that private schools are full of very privileged very entitled young
01:18people with you know vast wealth that is simply not the case. The majority of families at this
01:25school and schools like it are making very significant sacrifices and they won't be able
01:29to absorb big increases in fees easily and schools just it's not possible for us to cut
01:3520% of cost out the way we operate and I say that as someone who's run state schools and
01:39private schools it's really challenging and going to have a negative effect on the system overall.

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