37,000 kids education being destroyed by Labour for green eyed ideology
The consequences of Labour’s VAT raid on private school fees is becoming clear with closures, cancelled bursaries, state school chaos, with parents and SEN children going through hell.
As we move into 2026, a year into the Labour government’s controversial decision to apply 20% VAT on private school fees, the fallout everyone warned about is becoming a reality. Vocal warnings by parents, ministers, organisations and teachers on what we knew would happen were all ignored for Labours green eyed ideology.
When Labour announced this new policy, it was framed as a fair decision to “close a tax loophole” and inject more funds into state education but this isn’t true on multiple levels.
What Labour fail to understand is that everyone pays into the tax system to pay for the state education of our nations children. If parents make a decision to privately educate their children it should be encouraged as we get a three major benefits;
Firstly, they pay for their place in mainstream eduction but if it isn’t used, it provides more funds per pupil for all state schools, that’s a bonus.
Secondly, the state school class sizes become smaller, which has been proved time and again to benefit education results. So thats more money and smaller class sizes.
Lastly, successful British private schools attract overseas investment and pupils which again benefits everyone but also the local economy around the school. The wealthy abroad love to send their children to our private schools, not only with world class education but also the kudos of being able to tell their friends and family their children are educated in the UK.
Lets go through our main points of contention on this policy…
There is no tax loophole
The government’s repeated claim that the VAT exemption for private schools was some sneaky “loophole” is misleading. Private schools, like many education providers, have long been exempt from VAT because education itself is seen as a public good, not a luxury item. This isn’t a flaw in the system; it’s a feature designed to keep costs down and access open for a broader range of families. The exemption applies to organisations providing education, mirroring similar protections in other sectors. Framing it as a loophole ignores the fact that this was a conscious policy choice to support educational choice, make it more accessible for all families, not a dodge for the rich as Labour are framing it.
Critics, including tax experts, argue that calling it a loophole is just political spin to justify what amounts to a targeted tax on aspiration. If it were truly about fairness, why not address broader tax inequalities? Instead, this policy punishes families who’ve sacrificed to give their kids a better start, thousands of them, often in schools that cater to specific needs like special educational requirements (SEN) or faith-based learning.
This policy hits normal families, not the wealthy
The end result has been the disruption to thousands of children’s education, over 100 forced school closures, and hardworking normal families hit the hardest. The super wealthy could always afford it, this is no doubt on this, but again it’s those everyday families who worked multiple jobs to afford the fees, missed out on holidays and nice things other families enjoy to be able to afford it. For some of those parents it’s not a choice as they have SEN and need to go to a good private school to help them, the skills they have are just not in the state school sector.
Within the first few days of the announcement there were parents in tears on radio stations including LBC explaining how they are regular nurses or IT staff, both working multiple jobs and they just cant afford 20% on their children’s education as well as all the other tax increases from Labour, ironically all whilst the rich will not be affected.
But for middle-class parents, teachers, nurses, small business owners, this is devastating. Many were already stretching their budgets to afford private education, seeing it as an investment in their child’s future. Now, with fees rising by thousands per child annually, they’re forced to pull out. These aren’t yacht owning tycoons; they’re families making tough choices, like forgoing holidays or dipping into savings, just to provide stability or specialised learning.
It’s just made private education more elitist, accessible only to those who can absorb the hit or flee abroad. Thousands of kids are collateral damage in a policy driven by ideology over evidence. Predictions of minimal impact were wrong; the exodus and closures prove it.
The bursary system is also being scaled back and cancelled. This is the very same bursary system that Keir Starmer benefited from to help his career prospects is now being cut by schools to pay for Labours additional taxes.
The reality is that Starmer is pulling the ladder up behind him.
It’s simple logic; by increasing the cost of something by 20%, it’s the people who could only just afford it today who loose out tomorrow. The ultra rich are fine, they always will be.
Thousands of kids uprooted for envy
The numbers are stark and heartbreaking. Since the VAT hike kicked in on January 1, 2025, over 25,000 pupils have left private schools, with many forced into state systems that often don’t have space locally and may not suit their needs. More recent data shows nearly 11,000 departures in the latest census alone. These aren’t just statistics, they’re kids whose routines, friendships, and learning environments have been shattered mid-year or mid-education.
I know what damage that does, I have been there. Admittedly, not moving from a private school to state education but moving schools from the south to the north. The inherent ‘southerner’ jibes, pre-established friendship groups and bullying made my teenage school years a living nightmare. I used to come home at lunchtime to get away from it and just sit in the garage and mostly cry because of how unhappy I was in this new school where i knew no one and was an outsider. Labour are putting thousands of kids through this same turmoil for the class system.
The High Court challenge
In a significant ruling, the UK High Court dismissed legal challenges against the Labour government’s decision to impose the tax. The policy, aimed at generating approximately £1.5-1.7 billion annually to fund state education initiatives like recruiting 6,500 new teachers, faced opposition from parents, pupils, and independent schools. Claimants argued that the tax breached human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including the right to education (Article 2 of Protocol 1), freedom of religion, and protections against discrimination, particularly impacting children with special educational needs (SEN) and those attending faith-based schools. The court acknowledged that the VAT addition interferes with certain rights and could exacerbate difficulties for SEN pupils, noting that 1.1 million such children already face challenges in the state sector, but ruled that no ECHR provision guarantees state subsidised access to private education.
The three judge panel emphasised the government’s broad discretion in balancing individual impacts against broader public benefits, stating that the policy exemplifies post-Brexit freedoms, as it would have been impossible under EU law. While rejecting claims of unlawfulness, the judges noted that an outright ban on private schools might violate human rights, but the VAT measure does not. This outcome validates the government’s authority to proceed, despite recognising potential hardships, reinforcing that access to education under human rights law is limited to the state system or privately funded alternatives without taxpayer support.
Tax revenue is not going to state schools
In his June 12, 2025, X post, Starmer wrote: “In the budget last year, my government made the tough but fair decision to apply VAT to private schools. The Tories opposed it. Reform opposed it. Today, because of that choice, we have announced the largest investment in affordable housing in a generation.” ISC chief executive Julie Robinson stated in a Telegraph interview that “schools were promised the money raised, if any, would go to state education, but the rhetoric had been watered down to ‘public services’ and now revealed to pay for housing.”
ISC estimate 25,000 since labour came to power
The report of up to 25,000 pupils leaving UK private schools and entering the state sector are from an October 2025 survey conducted by the Independent Schools Council (ISC), a body representing many private schools. The ISC’s chief executive, Julie Robinson, cited this figure as the decline in pupil numbers since the Labour government’s election in July 2024, attributing it largely to the 20% VAT on fees introduced in January 2025 in addition of course to all the other increases in employment costs, rates and general inflation. The survey covered 1,150 schools and reported a raw drop of around 16,700 pupils since September 2024, which the ISC extrapolated to approximately 25,000 across the sector. The ISC further estimated that most of these pupils (implying a similar number) would shift to state schools.
OBR forecast of 37,000 longer term
Over a longer timeframe, the official forecast endorsed by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and Treasury, was that 35,000 pupils would transfer to the state sector with a total of c37,000 leaving private schools overall, including some who homeschool or move abroad. This represented about a 6% reduction in private school enrolment, costing the public purse c£300 million annually to educate those additional state pupils (based on per-pupil funding rates).
School closures and effects on jobs and local economy
School closures are piling up. Over 100 schools shut their doors in 2025, with at least 81 closures directly linked to the VAT pressure. Headteachers have openly blamed the policy, saying it’s “a bridge too far” for institutions already operating on thin margins. Several high-profile schools have folded, leaving communities scrambling. And experts warn more are coming as the full effects ripple through.
For children with special needs, the disruption is even worse. Many private schools specialise in SEN support, and the VAT has made them unaffordable for families who relied on them. Legal challenges highlighted how this pushes vulnerable kids out, but the High Court dismissed them, prioritising fiscal policy over individual impacts.
It’s a cold miscalculation that ignores the real-world chaos.
State school system is now in chaos
As mentioned, this policy was meant to raise £1.5-1.8 billion for state schools, but early signs show it’s fallen way short, failing to fund even the basics of the promised 6,500 new teachers never mind everything else AND the revelation of it going to build houses too. Meanwhile whilst revenue drops, state schools are overwhelmed by the influx, expected to deliver extra services including Breakfast Clubs stretching resources so thin it’s madness. Councils are also struggling with no spaces in the local areas and having to spend thousands securing places for children in other counties and paying for taxis to get them there and back every day.
It’s not redistribution; it’s utter destruction for one reason, socialist envy.