The government has accused critics of its plan to put VAT on private school fees of being detached from the real world after polling showed the policy, which will come into force on 1 January, is strongly backed by the public.
The poll, commissioned by the Private Education Policy Forum (PEPF) thinktank, found that 54% of people backed the idea, with 22% opposing it. This is an even greater margin of support than seen in similar polls carried out before the election.
In the run-up to the start of the policy there have been repeated attacks by the Conservatives and from voices in rightwing newspapers, with one accusing the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, of being motivated by “class envy”.
The polling of more than 2,000 people showed wider disquiet with the status quo, with 57% saying they found the overall private education system to be unfair and 22% disagreeing.
It also showed strong support for the idea of UK private schools being obliged to open a quarter of their places for free to local children, to improve social mixing.
A government source said: “This is yet more conclusive evidence of the overwhelming support for this Labour government’s policy of removing tax breaks from private schools to invest in the state sector.
“With every hysterical headline attacking our policy, the Tories and their backers in the rightwing press show the public just how out of touch they are.
“And by pledging to restore tax breaks to the privileged few at the expense of investment in state schools used by the many, the Conservatives show they have learned nothing from their humbling election defeat.”
Downing Street backed Phillipson on Monday after she argued that the bulk of middle-class parents had been priced out by soaring private school fees and were therefore likely to support the policy.
Private school fees had risen by about 75% in real terms since 2000, with the average annual cost per child now about £18,000 a year, “which is clearly out of reach for the majority of parents in our country”, Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said.
“The government has been very clear that by ending this VAT break for private schools, it means an additional £1.7bn of investment into our state schools, where 94% of this country’s children are educated.
“It’s the right thing to do. It means more teachers. It means higher standards.”
The sum of £1.7bn is expected to be reached by 2029-30, with the government estimating the first full year of the policy, 2025-26, will bring in about £1.5bn. The aim is to spend the revenue recruiting 6,500 extra teachers for the state sector, and help mental health provision in schools.
One of the arguments made by critics against the change is that other European countries do not tend to tax private education. But Francis Green, a professor of work and education economics at University College London, who led the PEPF polling, said this was not necessarily a fair comparison.
For example, he said, while a higher proportion of French children go to private schools, these tend to have much lower fees, with the state paying teachers’ wages.
“I suspect it’s true that if you looked across Europe, you would not find a sales tax or a VAT tax on private schools,” he said.
“But the British private school system is a unique outlier. It’s a substantial and very exclusive sector of the education system. When they say no other countries do it, that doesn’t mean to say that we shouldn’t do it.”
Given public opinion, he added, private schools may be better served giving up their opposition to the policy change and instead trying to “enter constructively into the debate” about how to make themselves more socially accessible.
