Military families could get a reprieve from Labour’s VAT raid on private school fees amid fears of an armed forces exodus
Military families could get a reprieve from Labour’s private school VAT raid over fears of an armed forces exodus.
It is understood Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering an exemption for service personnel who use boarding schools due to frequent foreign assignments.
Many military families are required to relocate often – meaning their children would face constant disruption if they did not attend boarding school.
Eligible families receive Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) from the Government, which currently pays up to 90 per cent of the fees.
Labour’s decision to impose 20 per cent VAT on school fees from January 1 provoked uproar in the armed forces, with some fearing CEA may not be increased to cover the cost.
It is understood Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering an exemption for service personnel who use boarding schools due to frequent foreign assignments
Many military families are required to relocate often – meaning their children would face constant disruption if they did not attend boarding school (file image)
Eligible families receive Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) from the Government, which currently pays up to 90 per cent of the fees (file image)
In its response to the policy consultation, the RAF Families Federation said this would be ‘unaffordable’.
It added: ‘We have been informed that retention will be an issue – families have told us that they will be forced to consider their ability to remain in the RAF.’
One military parent told the consultation: ‘As a member of the military, I have to deploy for months at a time and have to work 24-hour on-call shifts, often assigned to locations with no support network.
‘Boarding school reduces the stress on the parent by ensuring the child is always safe and looked after and can get to school without burdening others.
‘Should CEA not be increased to cover the VAT, this will result in children being withdrawn from their schools.’
It is understood the Government is now looking at the potential impact on these families and examining a range of options for how to mitigate it.
One option would be to simply exempt anyone who receives CEA from the new tax.
Alternatively, the Government could choose to recalculate the CEA to cover any increases in fees caused by the tax.
It comes as Labour prepares to remove private schools’ VAT exemption in January, rather than in September 2025 as many had expected
A Government spokesman said: ‘We want to ensure all children have the best chance in life to succeed.
‘Ending tax breaks on private schools will help to raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities for next year, such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers.
‘We provide Continuity of Education Allowance to eligible officials and service personnel, which is in recognition of the enormous sacrifices our military families make and the fact that they are often required to move base location.
‘The allowance ensures that we can limit disruption to the education of serving personnel’s children.’
