New Albyn School head calls VAT on school fees a 'tax on children'

An Aberdeen head teacher has called VAT on school fees a “tax on children” which will “squeeze” families on middle incomes.

Following the General Election last year, the UK government announced that private school fees would be charged VAT at the standard 20% rate from January 1, 2025.

David Starbuck, who became head at Albyn School – a private school – just a few days later, was critical of the move.

He said he expected pupil numbers at the city school to fall next year as a result.

The Scottish Council for Independent Schools predicts 20% of families could withdraw their children from private schools.

However, the government says it will raise £1.8 billion to pay for 6,500 extra teachers for state schools.

‘We’re a charity. You cannot possibly name me a charity where VAT is paid on it’

David Starbuck became head of Albyn School at the start of the Spring term this year, having previously been acting head after predecessor Stefan Horsman quit last year.

David Starbuck became head at Albyn School in January, after predecessor Stefan Horsman quit last year. Image: Paul Reid/DC Thomson

And in a wide-ranging interview with The P&J, he was withering in his views on the VAT changes.

“We’re a charity,” he said. “Independent schools are charities.

“A lot of people can be forgiven for thinking, ‘well, you’re a business, you pay money to come here, you’re separate from the state system, you must be some sort of business.’

“We’re not. We’re a not-for-profit organisation. We have charitable status.

“And that’s because educating children is a charitable act.

“If you think about all the teachers you’ve ever known that are any good, they all go the extra mile, they invest themselves in that process of educating a child, which is not simply doing a job and being paid for it. You have that energy that goes into it.

“You cannot possibly name me a charity where VAT is paid on it.

“It’s a tax on children. And it’s not fair.

“What it will do, and I can’t speak for people directly here in Aberdeen or at Albyn, but it will squeeze the families on that middle income who may have been able to make that choice to come to a school like this.

“It removes that element of choice.”

‘We’re not Eton, we’re not Harrow’

Mr Starbuck said Labour wants to attack the more elite private schools, but that Albyn School isn’t one of them.

And he is sceptical whether the introduction of VAT on private schools will achieve the financial boost to state education that the government thinks it will.

Albyn School, Aberdeen. Image: Paul Reid/DC Thomson

“We’re not Eton, we’re not Harrow.

“And it’s not going to achieve the financial input into the state sector that they’re looking for.

“The state has been underfunding education, so I get the idea, but it’s not going to have the impact that it needs to have.

“The whole issue of VAT is hugely complicated, but it’s a real shame for us as a sector because it’s limiting choice further.

“And that isn’t fair on very hard-working families here in Aberdeen.

“There’s also the impact on state schools.

“Many are already running at a high percentage of, or even over, their capacity.

“For those that may no longer feel that, with the 20% VAT, Albyn is an option for them, they will be going to states schools that are already overcrowded in Aberdeen.”

Albyn School roll expected to drop

Mr Starbuck said early signs show that there will be a fall in the Albyn school roll for next year.

“I hope it’s not drastic.

“I hope that people will still understand the value of independent education, and choose to go independent instead of state.

“But there will be an inevitable drop in the number of kids that can come here.

“And then there’s the knock-on effect of that – 8% of pupils at Albyn are on a bursary of some kind.

“That 8% goes with the school roll – if there’s a decline in the number of fee-paying students then there’s inevitably a decline in the number of bursary kids as well.

“So there’s still less opportunities for people.”

Read our full interview with new Albyn School head

David Starbuck sat down with The P&J for a wide-ranging interview at Albyn School in Aberdeen. Image: Paul Reid/DC Thomson

Mr Starbuck spoke on a variety of topics in his interview with The P&J, including his vision for the school, current and future “headwinds” in education, mobile phones in schools, and “spinning plates” in a school with pupils aged two to 18.

Full interview: Albyn School has bright future despite VAT on fees, says new head