Inside Your Ed
This podcast takes a look inside the latest stories from across the education system in England including schools, colleges, universities and apprenticeships. Hosted by Tom Richmond.
Inside Your Ed
VAT on independent school fees: is the debate over, or just getting started?
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“Labour will end the VAT exemption for private schools to invest in our state schools.”
So said the Labour Party election manifesto in 2024, and in the Budget later that year the addition of VAT to school fees was enacted.
This was soon followed by predictions of a dramatic fall in the number of pupils attending independent schools, with some claiming that we would see a 25% drop as a result of this policy.
In June 2026, the Department for Education’s official data showed that the drop in pupil numbers in independent schools since 2024 was, in fact, 5.6%.
In this episode, I am joined by two people who have never been fans of this controversial policy. What do they make of the 5.6% decrease in independent school pupils since 2024? Is VAT the only reason why pupil numbers are falling? And how has the politics of VAT on school fees changed since this policy was introduced?
My guests are Julie Robinson, CEO at the Independent Schools Council, an umbrella body for 1,400 schools, and Maxwell Marlow, the Head of Public Affairs at the Adam Smith Institute.
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