Private schools in the Granite City – including Robert Gordon’s College, International School of Aberdeen, Albyn and St Margaret’s School for Girls – have been hit with a 20% VAT hike in the Budget.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she will introduce VAT on private school fees from January 1.
The UK Government says the move will raise extra cash for state schools, but critics argue it will have the opposite effect.
Instead, they say, it will force families who can no longer afford fees back into a struggling state sector, wiping out any potential gains from the VAT take.
One mum told the Press and Journal the VAT hike was badly thought out and poorly timed halfway through the school year.
The businesswoman, who sends her two children to Robert Gordon College, said the school operated as a charity, not a business, and should not be taxed.
“There are parents there with two or three children and they are saying if this goes through they have to remove their children,” she said.
“This feels like deliberate, nasty, toxic politics as opposed to wanting to make a difference.
“They [Labour] promised they wouldn’t put taxes up for working people but it’s a lie. The majority of parents who put their child to an independent school are working people.
“My increase of 20% is going to be massive; I run a small business and I am now going to have to work a seventh day of the week.
“I don’t know who these very rich and wealthy people are that can afford this and not blink.”
Education in Scotland will suffer
According to an independent report by Baines Cutler, an estimated 20% of families will be forced to leave the sector in the event of VAT hikes.
But Lorraine Davidson, chief executive of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), says many state schools here don’t have capacity to take them in.
She said: “We want more people to wake up and realise the horrific unintended consequences whereby education in Scotland generally will suffer because of the extra strain on local authorities.”
She says a Freedom of Information request to local authorities reveals exam years in many Aberdeen city schools are full.
Those figures for July 2024 show Aberdeen’s Cults Academy, Aberdeen Grammar and Harlaw Academy have no spaces left in most year groups.
“We have got one kid due to sit National 5 who has been told the nearest secondary schools are full,” said the chief executive.
“Local councils will come back and say it’s not a problem for us, there’s capacity in the system.
“Now capacity in the system is utterly meaningless to any family or child because obviously they need a specific year group.
“What you can see through the Freedom of Information data is that, basically, exam years are full. So that’s a real crunch point.”
Aberdeen private schools do A-levels
Meanwhile, some independent schools here do not offer Scottish qualifications, causing even more headaches for stranded students.
“So, if a kid is halfway through A-Levels or BTECs or the International Baccalaureate, there is no other way of them getting the same education in the state system,” said Lorraine.
“It can’t be offered. So, it’s a real discrimination point compared to England.”
She pointed to a report commissioned by SCIS, by Biggar, which shows pupils from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire attending private school saved the local authority a combined £21 million last year.
The economic report also estimated if public sector cost savings were added to taxation benefits, that SCIS member schools contributed £347m in 2022/2023.
The Biggar report indicated an increase in school fees (on average £13,800 for primary and £15,700 for secondary school) would make independent school education unaffordable for some.
If that were to happen, it says, the cost of educating those pupils would fall back upon the public sector.
“It’s going to cause a lot of damage to the whole education system in Scotland,” added Lorraine.
“You are going to have parents who have now got no option but to move their child.
Overstretched state system
“A lot of children come into the independent sector because they have got additional support needs, so what you are going to have are more children with additional support needs going back into an already overstretched state system.
“That means kids that are in the state system already, they are going to be impacted.”
The chief executive said the Chancellor’s new “rushed policy” fails to respect the many differences in the Scottish sector.
She added: “VAT on school fees will harm Scottish education, disrupt the learning of children, and put jobs at risk.
“Our plea to exempt bursary students, pupils with additional support needs, and those who can’t get a place at their local school or study the same curriculum has been ignored.
“The January timescale does not give schools or parents the time to prepare which was promised during the election.
“Our schools will do everything they can to support their pupils, and to work with state schools for the benefit of all, despite the deeply damaging impact of this rushed policy.”
Aberdeen City Council has been approached for comment.
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