A new 20% tax has pushed private schools in Kent to increase school fees

KentOnline / KMTV

Previously, independent schools were exempt from VAT but chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the tax to help fund state schools  The Kings school in Rochester say they've seen less students walking through the doors

Transcript

00:00The library and playing fields at the King's School in Rochester may look empty right now,

00:04but is this a sign of the future to come?

00:07Announced last year in the Labour budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that private

00:10schools would be subject to major changes.

00:13As of 2019, Kent had the third highest number of private school pupils in England, but as

00:18of the 1st January, schools are no longer exempt from VAT charges, which means they

00:22now have to charge an extra 20% more in school fees.

00:27Headteachers agree that state schools here in Kent are facing enormous pressure, which

00:30only adds to waiting lists here in the county.

00:33We know that a number of children have left the school at Christmas time, pre-VAT, but

00:39now that the application of VAT has been put in place, there are children who have left.

00:44So it has had a big impact on some families.

00:47The grammar school places are generally fairly full.

00:50We know that some children have applied to local state schools, but we also know that

00:53they haven't been able to get in because the places aren't available at this stage in the

00:56middle of the year.

00:57But one parent, whose child previously failed to secure a place in a local state school,

01:01is committed to private schooling.

01:03For me personally, the cuts I've had to make are definitely in holidays, or where we holiday,

01:09or how frequently we go on holidays.

01:12I've mentioned about my home, I live in a modest home, it's not big by any standards,

01:19and that's a decision that I've made because, again, I've wanted to prioritise education

01:24for the children.

01:25I also worry about the wider school community, not just my children's peers and the affordability

01:31of them, because my children have formed these really tight bonds and friendship groups.

01:36But the King's School is only one of many independent schools across Kent reeling from

01:40this new policy.

01:41The headmaster at Gadds Hill School around the corner, which is located at the former

01:44country home of Charles Dickens, worries the policy will disadvantage smaller independent

01:49schools even more.

01:50An additional problem with this policy is that it's the smaller independent schools

01:54which are going to be most hard hit by the advent of VAT on fees.

02:01I think the wealthier, more perhaps elitist independent schools, private schools, will

02:09be better placed to be able to swallow the additional cost of VAT.

02:14For very many of our children, they've come to us from poor experiences in state schools

02:20where they haven't been able to cope perhaps in bigger classrooms.

02:23However, Rochester locals were divided.

02:26Some people can afford private education, why should they pay more for it for the fact

02:34that the government aren't funding state education?

02:38Students who come from lower economic backgrounds are given more support within their schools.

02:45I think the state court, state source system does need a lot more money ploughed into it.

02:50Some think it will serve the government's mission to level the playing field, while

02:54others think it's a step too far.

02:56Zinia Nakvi for CAME TV in Rochester.

Category

Transcript

Recommended