Private school says fees will stay Vat-free under Labour

A PRIVATE school has paid for a motorway billboard saying “VAT? What VAT” to advertise its decision not to add the tax to fees under Labour.

Adcote School, a day and boarding school for girls in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, has been criticised by rivals for the advert, which shows a photo of a pupil alongside the text.

Labour has said that if it wins the next general election, it will add the 20 per cent levy to independent school fees and remove the relief they receive on business rates.

If schools pass on the tax to parents, tens of thousands of pupils are expected to be forced to move to the state sector.

Adcote School, which charges fees of up to £35,100 a year for UK pupils and £45,000 for international pupils, is only the second to say it would absorb VAT under a Labour government.

In January, Ampleforth College in York said it would not pass on VAT to parents.

But a Censuswide survey of 350 private schools for The Telegraph found that 95 per cent expect to increase fees as a result of the policy.

Of schools surveyed who said they will increase fees, 76 per cent said their fees would have to rise by more than 10 per cent.

Announcing the school’s plans to absorb VAT on Linkedin, Victoria Taylor, the head of Adcote School, also said parents would be guaranteed a price freeze for three years from September.

She said: “At Adcote School, we know the impact VAT could have on our wonderful community. For our new students joining us in September 2024 and paying our headline fees, we are going to absorb the cost of VAT. Our families will have a price freeze …Our families are normal working families who work hard to give their daughters an independent education - we support our community. Did we put this on a billboard to make our position clear… erm yes.”

Replying to the post, Susan Beck, the director of external affairs at Royal Grammar School Newcastle, which charges fees of up to £16,521 a year, said: “This is heartbreaking for those of us still working tirelessly to highlight that the proposed policy is an own goal for social mobility, and that most independent schools can’t simply shoulder the costs of VAT.”