In a written question tabled on 20 September, president of the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Lord Lexden asked ministers what assessment has been made in the scope under existing law for levying VAT on the fees charged by independent schools with charitable status. 

In response yesterday, Baroness Barran, parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Education (DfE), said: "The government has no plans to make changes to the VAT regime for independent schools. The VAT regime does not treat school fees differently based on whether schools have charitable status or not. All school fees are exempt from VAT. The government has made no assessment of the scope under existing law for levying VAT on the fees charged by independent schools with charitable status. Other organisations, including EDSK, Baines Cutler Consulting, and Oxford Economics have published their own assessments related to this issue. It is also worth noting that in practice, VAT on school fees would be passed on to parents. Schools would be required to pay the difference between the VAT they have charged to parents and the VAT they have themselves paid to other businesses." Hansard.

In a letter published in today's Times, Ben Horan, headmaster at Prior Park College, writes in support of the government's proposed ban on mobile phones in schools. Mr Horan explains that banning such devices in his school last year has had a "profound effect on students' learning" and that "virtually no policing has been required". The letter appears halfway down the page.

In his speech to the Conservative Party Conference yesterday, prime minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to replace A-levels with a new Advanced British Standard (ABS). Under the new qualification, all sixth formers will study five subjects, including maths and English, rather than three A-levels or a single T-level course. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Responding to the announcement, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) Daniel Kebede said Mr Sunak’s plans were “out of touch with reality” since schools are already lacking 4,300 maths and 2,600 English teachers. By Richard Adams, The Guardian.

The number of seven-year-olds with very poor reading skills has doubled since the pandemic, research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has found. The attainment gap between Year 3 and Year 4 pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers has widened, although the research also indicates that the learning gap caused by the pandemic is beginning to narrow. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph. 

Concern is rising for the more than 7,000 disadvantaged pupils identified by Tes as attending schools disrupted by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) this term. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has said the DfE needs to work with affected schools on what “additional support it can provide”. By Jasmine Norden.

Pupils should be tested on how best they can use artificial intelligence (AI) to write essays and answer questions, not on how they can do those tasks themselves, Professor Guo Yike has said. Professor Yike, whose university in Hong Kong officially sanctioned student use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT earlier this year, said children should be taught how to prompt AI to write quality work for them. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

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