BBC/Brijesh PatelGroup representing 1,400 private schools to press ahead with plans to launch legal challenge against students Government to start imposing value-added tax from Januarythe BBC can reveal.
At a board meeting on Thursday, the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which includes most independent schools in England, voted to pave the way for legal action.
Lord David Pannick KC, one of the country’s leading lawyers handling cases relating to government decision-making, will lead the challenge on behalf of parents, including those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
A Treasury spokesman told the BBC they would not comment on potential litigation matters.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in the Autumn Budget that private schools will no longer be exempt from VAT and said the money raised will help “deliver the highest quality support and teaching”.
The government expects to raise an extra £460m for state school spending next year, rising to £1.7bn by 2029/30.
The ISC wants a judicial review of the government’s policies to focus on allegations of breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The action will focus on Article 14 (Prohibition of Discrimination) and Article 2(1) Protocol (Right to Education).
The ISC informed its members of its plans to take legal action in an email sent to private schools on Thursday afternoon.
The group said its legal claimants would be parents who feel they are unable to find alternative education for their children in the state sector, and will likely include families with children with special educational needs.
Chief executive Julie Robinson said they “will defend the rights of families who choose independent education, but they may no longer be able to do so as a direct result of VAT on tuition fees”.
“We continue to ask the government to work with us to mitigate the risks of this policy to specialist arts education, low-fee faith schools, small girls’ schools and children in foster care.”
Rebecca Frost, a nurse and mother of three children at a Somerset private school, is delighted with the move.
All her children have special educational needs. She is currently applying for the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) because she will have to pay an extra £9,000 a year once the reforms come into effect.
“Despite trying different options, public education is not meeting their needs,” Ms. Frost said. “I can’t put them back.”
In an impact assessment published on Wednesday, the government confirmed that only children with a local authority EHCP with a private school’s name on it would be exempt from the VAT policy.
It added that “excluding all children from this policy would impose significant costs and therefore undermine the government’s ability to improve education for the 94 per cent of children who attend state schools in England”.
In light of rising tuition fees, the government has pledged to increase funding to help pay for boarding schools for children of military families.
But its review also concluded that small faith-based schools would not be exempted because they may be less affected if their income comes not just from tuition fees but from other sources, such as voluntary contributions from the community or support from the government. .
Aliya Azam is from the Al Khoei Foundation, which represents two Muslim faith schools in London, and fees range from £1,250 to £6,990. Parents, she said, were forced to “choose between their faith and their financial survival.”
“We support the legal challenge because faith-based education deserves protection, not a price tag,” she added.
The government said the plans would result in tuition fees rising by an average of 10% and, in the long term, would see about 35,000 students move to public schools, accounting for about 6% of the current private school population.
The money raised is expected to be used to fund 6,500 new teachers in England.
