Introducing VAT on Private School Fees Mid-Year ‘Deliberately Destructive,’ Says Educator

Introducing VAT on private school fees mid-way through the academic year is “deliberately destructive” and undermines the government’s aims to improve education for all children, the head of a private schools association has said. Dominic Norrish of the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) said bringing in the policy in January will put administrative and budgetary pressures on schools, force parents to find state placements for their children, and cause the closure of some smaller, less wealthy independent schools. Norrish, the chief director of the IAPS, wrote to Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, calling on them to instead give breathing room for there to be consultation with the sector and to adopt a more “considered implementation timeline” for introducing VAT....