VAT would lead to Gloucester private school making 'sacrifices'

The headteacher of The King's School in Gloucester said it is already "preparing for the worst"

A private school headmaster warns "something would have to be sacrificed" if VAT was introduced on top of fees.

If Labour forms the next government it has said it will charge independent schools 20% VAT to reinvest in education for state school pupils.

David Morton, headmaster of King's School in Gloucester said he was "preparing for the worst".

Mark Matthews said it was already "a big challenge" to meet his daughters' school fees without any VAT change.

Some private schools have said fees could go up by £3,000 per year. Labour said it would remove "unfair tax breaks" if it won the next general election, which is due by the end of January 2025 at the latest.

Speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Mr Morton said King's had tried to be "really clear" in explaining the situation to parents already.

"We've promised our parents that we're never going to pass on the 20% increase in fees as a result of this policy, because I think that would be unachievable for the vast majority of them and that might have a catastrophic impact on our school," Mr Morton said.

"What we've promised them is we're going to do everything we can to make savings in the school without decreasing the quality of education that we offer.

"Some of [the VAT] we will have to pass onto our parents but we have promised them that if Labour come to power that figure will be a single digit."

'A big challenge'

Mr Matthews enrolled his two daughters at King's when their local village primary school became "too small" and he found other state schools were at "maximum capacity".

The father from Ashleworth said he did not think state schools would have the capacity to cope with parents removing their children from independent schools in response to the proposed 20% VAT introduction.

While Mr Matthews said he did not regret his decision to enrol his children at King's "for one second", he said it was "a big challenge" to meet the fees.

"It isn't just going to impact ourselves and our friends at the school, it is going to have an impact on everyone who has a child, grandchild or great grandchild who uses the state education system," Mr Matthews said.

"All of a sudden, you're going to have a tsunami wave of applications coming in looking for places in those [grammar and comprehensive] schools who are already at maximum capacity."

The Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has criticised Labour's plans to change the tax rules.

The prime minister has previously said the policy showed Labour "just don't understand the aspiration of families like my parents who were working really hard".