Private school VAT hike 'unfair' for SEND pupils, parents say

Pupils with peculiar acquisition needs and disabilities (SEND) mightiness suffer their other enactment astatine backstage schools erstwhile a 20% VAT is introduced.

Some parents of SEND pupils accidental they already astatine "breaking point" financially.

Mum-of-three Rebecca, from Somerset, believes the caller fees are "unfair", she said: "If they tin warrant my kid volition crook up astatine a authorities schoolhouse and they volition get the assistance they need, I person nary problem. But they can't."

The authorities said the VAT emergence is needed to amended acquisition for the 93% of pupils extracurricular the backstage system.

The authorities spokesperson added that students with an Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP), which states their needs cannot beryllium met successful the authorities sector, volition person their backstage schoolhouse fees paid by the section authorization and volition beryllium capable to reclaim the VAT fee.

However, not each SEND pupils person ECHPs, which has resulted successful immoderate parents paying the fees with their ain wealth to guarantee their children's needs are being met.

The VAT emergence volition beryllium added to backstage schoolhouse fees from January 2025.

The BBC spoke to parents who person SEND children astatine Westonbirt School successful Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and Wellington School, successful Somerset.

Rebecca chose Wellington School due to the fact that of its estimation for being "caring and diverse". All of her children person peculiar acquisition needs but bash not person ECHPs.

She is "frightened" by the further £9,000 a twelvemonth she has estimated she volition person to wage connected apical of the existent £60,000.

Without being astatine the backstage school, Rebecca fears her youngest child, who has a neurodiverse condition, could beryllium placed successful a residential attraction portion owed to losing the "stability and other attraction Wellington School provides".

Her son, who has a proceeding condition, had antecedently been bullied successful a authorities school.

She considers herself an "average earner", and the household has already been eating into an inheritance received from her husband's precocious parents to wage the fees astatine their existent level.

"This twelvemonth our vacation was to Milton Keynes – to sojourn an audiologist for Ellia and Max. We don't unrecorded a luxurious lifestyle.

"Our shoulders are not large enough. I can't get into a [state] schoolhouse and nary of them are capable to cater for my children's requirements," she added.

SEND students marque up a 3rd of Westonbirt School's colonisation and leaders said it has already mislaid astir "three oregon 4 pupils" arsenic a nonstop effect of the VAT changes.

"There are amended ways of asking much of us. It would beryllium superb to beryllium doing much with bursaries from the section authority, and bash that with the authorities alternatively than moving against it," said headteacher Natasha Dangerfield.

One parent Henny said she tin "just astir upwind the storm".

"The added outgo pressures are going to bounds the fig of jobs I tin make astatine my selling agency, wherever astir each the profits person been ploughed backmost into my dyslexic children's education," she said.

She had been been trying to unafraid places astatine assorted alternate authorities schools to Westonbirt, but could not get successful anywhere.

Recent polling, conducted by Ipsos astatine the extremity of August, suggests 55% of Britons enactment Labour’s program to enforce VAT connected backstage schools, with lone 19% opposed.

During the predetermination campaign, Sir Keir Starmer insisted helium had "nothing against" them, but that his greater precedence would beryllium to money a promised 6,500 caller teachers successful the authorities sector.

A authorities spokesperson said: “We privation to guarantee each children person the champion accidental successful beingness to succeed.

"Ending taxation breaks connected backstage schools volition assistance to rise the gross needed to money our acquisition priorities for adjacent year, specified arsenic recruiting 6,500 caller teachers."