The Labour government’s pledge to levy a 20% tax on private school fees – first announced in the party’s 2024 election manifesto – has now come into effect, despite outrage from the sector that has culminated in a High Court battle as campaigners scramble to block the legislation.
Experts have previously told The PIE they expect the average independent school fees to increase by 10-15% as schools work to cushion themselves from the hefty financial blow, with worries that the extra expense could lead to a drop in interest from parents – especially those from overseas.
But Minerva’s Virtual Academy – a UK-based private school that conducts all of its tuition online – revealed that it has actually seen demand grow since Labour first unveiled its plans last year.
Since then, there has been a “five-fold” increase in interest, the school’s CEO Hugh Viney told The PIE.
He credited the rise in demand to the VAT policy, as he said the school’s fees are “good value” and much less than most private schools at under £8,500 per year – a price that has always included VAT and is therefore unchanged by the new legislation.
“I’m against the [VAT] rise. I think it’s ridiculous. It’s affected so many of my colleagues so badly,” he said. “I’m friends with lots of heads of boarding schools and day private schools. I hate to think of it, it’s terrible. But, of course, to be brutally honest – and they know this and I know this – it is it is sending children our way.”
I’m against the [VAT] rise. I think it’s ridiculous. It’s affected so many of my colleagues so badly
Hugh Viney, Minerva’s Virtual Academy
The school, which recently welcomed its 1,000th pupil, is popular with students who have additional mental health or neurodiversity needs due to its flexibility.
Elite athletes account for around a fifth of its student body and a further 30% are what Viney refers to as the “lifestyle” category, whose parents want to send them to a private school “but are fed up with the constraints of the UK school system”.
Around a quarter of Minerva’s Virtual Academy’s student body is international, with students studying at home from Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and a “handful” from the US and the Far East.
Having seen demand grow steadily since the VAT rise was first mooted early last year, Viney told The PIE he expects to see this trend continue as the financial effects of the policy start to bite.
“I think this is just the beginning,” he said, predicting that while families whose children are currently enrolled in private schools may decide to “take the hit” this academic year, many will start to look at his – less expensive – school as an option further down the line.
“The reality of three terms [of the increased fees] in the summer, that’s when it will kick in even more and that’s when you will see a bigger exodus, in my opinion, and therefore a few more families considering it as an option,” he explained.
Viney explained that Minverva’s Virtual Academy offers an English curriculum, with 60% of the programs in a self-study format and the remaining 40% in a fixed timetable. Every pupil has a one-on-one session with their designated mentor every week and pupils can opt to meet their peers in person at regular community meet ups.
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