Around 100 schools could be forced to close under Labour’s plans to impose VAT on private schools_nhy
About 100 private schools will be forced to close because of Labour’s hated tax raid on fees, a Minister has admitted.
It is the first public acknowledgment by a Minister that any school will shut because of the 20 per cent levy on independent school fees.
Government officials have previously insisted they were not braced for the collapse of private schools as a result of the policy and have been accused of underplaying the number of pupils who would be forced out of the sector.
Now Treasury Minister Torsten Bell has put a figure on the effect of the tax hike for the first time, revealing about 100 schools are expected to close over three years.
A dozen schools have already shut, or intend to close, since January, blaming the VAT hike.
The Independent Schools Council (ISC) welcomed Mr Bell’s admission but said Ministers were still underestimating the impact of Labour policy on school closures.
The Independent Schools Bursars Association has forecast that 286 private schools could close, 11 per cent of Britain’s 2,600 total.
VAT was added to private school fees at the start of the year and from next month the business rates exemption for independent schools will end, adding to the pressure on schools.
About 100 private schools will be forced to close because of Labour’s hated tax raid on fees, a Minister has admitted (file photo)
Treasury minister Torsten Bell (pictured) said around 100 private schools were expected to close as a result of the Government’s VAT levy on fees
In a debate on independent schools in Westminster Hall this week, Mr Bell suggested the Government anticipates a 60 per cent increase in the annual closure rate of schools.
He said: ‘Evidence suggests that around 50 private schools close each year during normal business.
‘Although we would expect some additional closures, we have not seen any evidence to revise our view that the overall number of extra closures will be modest, perhaps something in the order of 100 schools over three years.’
If 100 schools close, 40,000 pupils would be displaced and 11,000 jobs lost, ISC analysis suggests.
Its CEO Julie Robinson said: ‘It is frustrating to discover the Government has been planning in private for what it rejected in public.
‘The loss of any independent school has a huge impact: for local employment, businesses and, most importantly, families.
‘This tax on education will not raise money, not benefit state schools and not improve outcomes for children.’
Labour says the money from the tax will pay for 6,500 more teachers and other improvements for state schools but its figures have been widely disputed.
Education Secretary and Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson talks to former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during International Women’s Day conversation on March 8, 2025
Amid reports at New Year that Whitehall was drawing up contingency plans for a surge in demand for state school places if private schools go bankrupt, a Government spokesman said the suggestions were ‘completely misleading’.
A Whitehall source said of Mr Bell’s admission: ‘Many of these schools shut because they are poorly run or because parents have voted with their feet after ever-increasing price rises that were not accompanied by a higher quality service.’
Last night it emerged that Heathfield girls private school in Ascot, whose former pupils include actress Sienna Miller, will become part of Mill Hill Education Group to help ensure its survival.
