Daily Mail reports on concerns that independent school pupils could be forced to drop out mid-way through the academic year due to the timing of the government's VAT policy. Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association (ISA), told the paper: "The implementation of adding VAT to school fees being brought forward to January will bring great disruption to families who have already chosen schools for their children for the coming school year. Parents may be forced to move their children to a different school halfway through the academic year." By Ryan Hooper. 

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) has warned that independent school closures are "inevitable" following the government's decision to charge VAT on fees from January 2025. Sarah Cunnane, the ISC's head of media and communications, told The Times: "We have significant concerns about what this policy will mean for our schools and how many will close. School closures are inevitable, sadly, and ultimately that is going to affect the families who’ve chosen to use them and is going to disrupt thousands of children’s education... A lot of parents feel like they’ve had the rug pulled from under them unexpectedly." By James Beal. 

Michelle Catterson, head of Moon Hall School in Reigate, spoke to Nick Ferrari on LBC about the potential impact of the tax changes. She said that while she agreed the state sector needs more funding "it can't be at the detriment to another group of society, and that's what this policy is doing - it's divisive, and it's not looking at the individuals that it will impact". Urging Labour to look at the availability of state school places on a local level, Ms Catterson explained how many areas in Surrey, London and elsewhere are oversubscribed, and have already received a number of applications from independent school pupils.  

A leading article in The Times describes Labour's tax plan as "a misguided and destructive initiative". Highlighting the negative impact pupil movement could have on the state sector and the amount of funding the government is able to raise, the paper concludes "the imposition of VAT on private schools is a policy whose destructive potential risks bringing with it no compensating benefit". 

Dan Neidle, a tax lawyer who runs Tax Policy Associates, has claimed that independent schools with advanced payment schemes face paying back "millions of pounds" to HMRC under Labour's VAT on fees policy. Speaking to iNews, he suggested schools should get legal advice to make sure their schemes are low or zero risk, adding "if they don’t want to do that – or the advice is that there is a risk – they should think about refunding the prepayments". By Connie Dimsdale. 

Writing in The Spectator, Kristina Murkett warns that VAT on fees will "stunt social mobility", adding: "We should be making private schools more affordable and accessible, not less." She argues the policy should instead focus on ensuring independent schools continue to "work for the public good", saying: "Many private schools already do amazing work for their local communities, whether that be sharing facilities, opening new schools, raising money for charities [...] or sharing knowledge and resources."

An article in The Telegraph explains how the tax changes will affect families with children attending independent schools. By Noah Eastwood. 

James Blount from Dorset writes to The Times in response to the chancellor's VAT on fees announcement, arguing "it will be complicated in January for the state sector to accommodate those children whose parents have to withdraw them from private schools; it will be damaging to those private schools; and most importantly it will be harmful to the children themselves to make this switch mid-year, especially if it takes place a term before public exams". The letter can be found a quarter of the way down the page. 

In a letter to The Telegraph, Andrew Pope from Wiltshire writes: "Parents are required to give one term’s notice in order to remove their children from school without incurring a penalty fee... Some parents will therefore have to give notice before the start of September, in order to extract their children at Christmas – requiring a disruptive mid-year change to a state school." The letter can be found a third of the way down the page.

The prospect of local authorities' financial challenges "worsening outcomes for the most vulnerable and exacerbating cost pressures" is now "critical - likely" according to the Department for Education (DfE). According to the DfE's latest annual report, the risk that "pressures continue to outstrip available funding significantly, making the SEND and AP system financially unsustainable" has been escalated from "likely" to "very likely". By Cerys Turner, Tes.

Tes outlines six DfE consultations left over from the previous government, which include new guidance on sex education, a proposal to scrap the faith schools cap, and changes to safeguarding. By Cerys Turner. 

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