Private school fees soar to £216,000 amid VAT raid

Families are now facing a bill of more than £216,000 for a complete private day school education.

A study by Weatherbys Private Bank found the average cost of sending a child to a private day school from reception through to year 13 has risen to £216,189.

The figure is 5.7 per cent higher than last year's total, with independent schools continuing to face rising costs following the Government's decision to remove their VAT exemption.

For pupils attending boarding schools, the cumulative cost is considerably higher, reaching £438,444 across 14 academic years after rising by six per cent.

The total cost for day pupils attending boarding institutions has also increased, reaching £274,061 over the same period.

Oliver Barnett, head of private clients at Weatherbys, said schools were facing mounting costs as they attempted to maintain the standards expected by parents.

He said: "Providing the high standards parents expect is becoming increasingly expensive thanks to VAT, the loss of business rates relief, increases in employer national insurance contributions and falling pupil numbers."

Labour introduced a 20 per cent VAT charge on private school fees in January 2025, although some schools initially opted against passing the full cost on to parents.

Mr Barnett said many institutions had attempted to absorb some of the additional cost themselves to limit the impact on families, but maintaining that approach was becoming increasingly difficult.

Peter Woodroffe, deputy chief executive of the Independent Schools Association, which represents the heads of more than 800 schools, said independent institutions were also dealing with significant increases in their operating costs.

He said: "The operating costs of schools have increased considerably [over the past two years], but, despite this, they have done and continue to do their utmost to keep fee rises to a minimum."

Official figures show private pupil numbers in England fell by more than 22,000 during the first complete year after VAT was introduced on school fees.

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Stuart Hoddinott, associate director at the Institute for Government, said it remained difficult to determine how much of the change in private school numbers could be attributed specifically to VAT.

He said other pressures, including higher teacher salaries and broader inflation, were also contributing to rising costs across the education sector.

"We've seen private school fees rise pretty considerably over the last 15 or 20 years, and it's not unusual to have year-on-year increases."

He added that the large-scale movement of pupils from independent schools into the state sector that had been predicted by some had not yet materialised.

The Treasury defended the policy, saying the removal of tax breaks for independent schools had raised billions of pounds which would help fund more than 6,500 additional teachers.

Labour said the additional funding would benefit 94 per cent of children across the country.

Weatherbys' research suggests the financial pressure facing families choosing independent education could increase significantly over the coming years.

A child starting reception at a private day school this autumn could face total fees of £393,492 by the time they take their A-levels in 2040, assuming annual fee inflation of three per cent.

The projected cost rises to £796,921 for a child whose family chooses a boarding education.

The Treasury has also argued that increases in private school fees are not solely the result of the Government's tax changes.

It said average private school charges have risen by 75 per cent in real terms since 2000, arguing that the long-term increase predates the changes introduced by the current Government.