Gradually and suddenly: how VAT is slowly killing off traditional private education

Mace | 5th June 2026 | Comment, Politics

Latest Dept of Education figures reveal over 40,000 independent school pupils dropping out since Labour's VAT raid. But, The Mace argues, surging fees, an arms race for facilities and a marketing drive for "overseas" pupils, has long made the traditional private school model unsustainable.

When the controversial VAT hike on independent schools was first introduced, Labour said the measure was designed to make more funding available for more teachers. Most people already knew this was a smoke-and-mirrors excuse as the real reason was political class warfare – especially on the aspirant and hard-working professional classes – at its most naked, egregious and often hypocritical. "Private schools prop up the class system in society," said Labour’s Diane Abbott, while also admitting she sent her son to a fee-paying school. The latest private school closure and pupil drop-out figures last week from Independent Schools Council, basing their findings on a survey of its own member schools, make for celebratory, lip-smacking reading if you are a signed-up Labour class warrior – such as John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington – who believes private education is immoral. He has backed a ban on the existence of any private schools arguing that "private schools don't need to ...

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