Adding VAT to private school fees has had “no obvious impact” on applications for state sector places, according to local councils in England.
When Labour announced last year they would be scrapping the VAT exemption on private school fees, critics had predicted this would prompt a mass exodus to the state sector, causing shortages of school places.
However, it looks like these fears have been proven wrong after the latest year 7 application figures were released by councils.
These show that more families have received their first choice of secondary school, with most councils saying they have seen no impact from the private school tax hike on applications.
Year 7 is the first year of secondary school and it had been identified as the period when parents would be most likely to take their child out of private school because of the VAT addition.
A flooding of the state system would have meant fewer families getting their first choice of school.
But in London, the number of families receiving their first preference of secondary school place rose by one percentage point compared with 2024, to 71.6 per cent, the Guardian reports.
London Councils, which represents the 33 local authorities in the capital, said there had been “no obvious impact” from the addition of VAT on private school fees.
Meanwhile, similar results were reported outside of London. A survey of 70 local authorities carried out by the Press Association found that 44 had seen an increase in the proportion oof pupils getting their first choice compared to last year.
This suggests that, as many had predicted, parents who could afford to send their child to private school could also swallow the higher fees with VAT.
As one person put it on X, it turns out “people with lots of money in this country do, in fact, have lots of money.”
A government source said: “Despite all the doom-mongering and ululating from the private schools lobby, as well as their Conservative and Reform lackeys, there hasn’t been a massive exodus from private schools.
“This government will deliver for working families who want a brilliant state education for their children.”
Related: State schools to receive £1.7bn-per-year windfall from VAT on private schools