iNews reports Labour's commitment to impose VAT on independent school fees could cost them votes from parents who risk being priced out of their chosen schools. Speaking to the paper, Suki Chandi, whose son attends a fee-paying school, said: "It has been a massive sacrifice on my part as I'm a single parent, despite it being one of the more affordable schools in the area... This pledge is one that will really affect me." Thish de Zoysa, who has two children who are in independent schools, added: "Why target private schools? It's really important to invest in the youth, and parents deciding to do that by sending their kids to private schools shouldn't be frowned upon." By Zesha Saleem. 

Independent school fees could rise by two-and-a-half times the rate of inflation as headteachers brace for Labour's VAT plan, according to The Telegraph. Data collated by the paper predicts an average increase of 6.2 per cent in the 2024/25 academic year, despite inflation coming down to 2.3 per cent. Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said: "Schools are working hard to keep fees affordable for parents – as evidenced by the below-inflation average fee rise for 2023-24. It is too early to say what average fee rises will look like for next school year, but we know that schools will all be working within their own individual set of circumstances." The article also quotes Louie Gray, a bursary student at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts who wrote to Sir Keir Starmer and shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson expressing his concerns about how the policy would impact his education. By Henry Bodkin and Ben Butcher. 

According to Spear's, divorced or separated parents might be forced to renegotiate financial agreements on how school fees are paid if the VAT policy comes into effect. By Stephanie Bridger-Linning. 

Richard Cairns, headmaster of Brighton College, writes to The Times raising concerns about the impact of the VAT policy on children currently attending independent schools, particularly those midway through their GCSE or A-level courses. He says that he trusts Labour will set out "a series of protections for those children who will be worst affected", adding: "Of course, the most responsible and humane approach of all, if VAT is indeed deemed necessary, would be to impose VAT only on the fees of any child who joins an independent school in the future."  

In a separate letter, Peter Ohlson describes Labour's plan as "a carefully crafted misrepresentation, implying that the better-off are exploiting a loophole in the tax system". He adds: "VAT is rightly not charged on any aspect of education, from kindergarten to university tuition fees; there never has been an exemption specifically for private schools." Both letters can be found a quarter of the way down the page. 

Fewer pupils in England are studying drama, media, and performing arts at GCSE and A-level, while the popularity of statistics, computing, physics, and maths has increased, according to provisional figures for exam entries published by Ofqual yesterday. The findings also reveal a growing enthusiasm for modern foreign languages, which had been in long-term decline. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

Carl Cullinane, director of research at The Sutton Trust, writes in Tes outlining the organisation's manifesto for the next government, which offers a series of policy recommendations that could help narrow the attainment gap. 

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