HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) documents have confirmed that Labour's VAT policy will come into effect from 1 January 2025 despite warnings from the sector and unions that schools are not ready. Ministers' guidance for independent schools, released on Thursday, also confirms that the VAT changes will be introduced from the date of the Budget, 30 October. This means that although VAT is only due on payments relating to terms starting after New Year's Day, if a school receives payments from 30 October for the spring term next year, VAT will be payable on the date of payment, not when the term begins. Schools must register for VAT if their total taxable turnover for the past 12 months is more than £90,000 or if they expect their total taxable turnover to exceed £90,000 in the next 30 days, tax advisers have said. By Connie Dimsdale, iNews.

Independent schools will be able to claim back the tax they have paid on capital projects such as buildings and land acquisition completed over the past 10 years once they have registered for VAT, according to the HMRC document that was published on Thursday. It advises that the money would be paid back progressively over the next 10 years, with the timing and amounts dependent on when the project was finished. Commenting on the VAT plans, CEO of the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Rudolf Eliott Lockhart said: “I’m worried about the small, local independent schools that are going to be pushed into closure by this policy. These are often schools using their independence to do things differently: offering specialist SEN [special educational needs] provision, or bilingual teaching, or a performing arts focus, or meeting the needs of smaller religious communities.” Calling for more time to enable the complexities of the system to be fully managed, chief executive of the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association (ISBA) David Woodgate warned: “The implementation window is just not long enough for all interested parties to get everything in place.” By Toby Helm, The Observer.

Twice as many pupils could be forced from independent to state schools as predicted by official estimates, Luke Sibieta has claimed. The author of the report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which was published last summer, has admitted that the proportion of independent school pupils forced into the state sector could be as high as 15 per cent, which could mean as many as 90,000 independent school pupils switching to state schools. Prime minister Keir Starmer and other ministers have repeatedly cited the report when defending their VAT plans. Mr Sibieta said: “Our reasonable estimate is that it’s 3 to 7 per cent, so if you asked me to make a bet on it that’s where I’d put my money. But it’s entirely possible it could be larger.” Elizabeth Ivens, Poppy Wood and Daniel Martin, The Telegraph.

A group representing more than 270 Jewish, Muslim and Christian independent faith schools has held talks with ministers over a proposal to exempt independent schools charging less than £7,690 a year from VAT on fees. The group told The Guardian it wanted the government to delay adding VAT until September next year, to allow for an equality impact assessment of the consequences for faith schools and their communities. Sector leaders have warned that unless such fees are made exempt, some families may turn to unregistered illegal schools or loosely regulated "homework clubs" with minimal safeguarding. The paper states that government spending on state schools averages £7,690 a pupil, while almost all of the independent faith schools involved charge below that level. By Richard Adams.

Emmanuel School in Derby is one of a number of faith schools launching a court challenge against the government's imposition of VAT on fees. They claim the tax would unlawfully discriminate against them as it could force Christian schools to close. Speaking to BBC News, headteacher Ben Snowdon said: "For some [families], an additional 20% on top of what they are currently paying would be too much, they wouldn't be able to manage that and then they would have to make decisions about what they were going to do about their children's education." By Steve Beech. 

The government’s VAT plans are leading to a boom in tutoring as parents look to supplement their child’s state education, The Telegraph reports. A number of tutoring firms told the paper they have seen a spike in interest from families who have pulled their child out of their independent school in anticipation of fees rising when the policy comes into effect. By Camilla Turner.

A Telegraph View article welcomes plans to use private hospital capacity to ease NHS pressure, contrasting it with the government's approach to independent schools, particularly Bridget Phillipson's stance on the government’s VAT policy. The opinion piece highlights the inconsistency, arguing that while partnering with private hospitals "makes sense", Labour has failed to recognise that "parents paying for private sector education, while relieving pressure on state schools, is a clear positive". 

Reference is made to research by the ISC and several schools in membership of the ISC's constituent associations are mentioned across this weekend's coverage.

In a letter to The Sunday Telegraph, David Stalker from Surrey, a former CEO of UKactive, expresses concern about Labour’s VAT policy. He warns it could reduce community resources and lead to fewer sports facilities, undermining public health and increasing the strain on the NHS.

Writing from Gloucestershire, Richard Boggis-Rolfe says his experience as a school governor has found that many state schools already have superior facilities compared to independent schools, rather than the other way around. "The top private schools are exceptions - but not the rule", he claims.

The letters appear halfway down the page. 

The headteacher of St Swithun's School says pupils have become "more sociable" since a ban was implemented on the use of smartphones by children in Years 7 to 11 at the start of this academic year. Jane Gandee told BBC News that concerns about the impact of phone use on students' mental health had prompted the move, which aligns with a national campaign by the Smartphone Free Childhood group. "They would be heads down and not talking to each other, which made me think we must act now before their brains are completely rewired", Ms Gandee said. Among pupils at the school in Winchester, opinions on the phone ban were generally positive. One explained: "The thing with phones, it's a distraction that can take you out of the moment, especially with GCSEs coming up, it makes me more focused on revising." By Ellie Cleverley. The school also featured in a segment on BBC Politics South - listen from 15:08. 

Autistic children are waiting more than four years for a diagnosis, “robbing them of their childhood and potential”, Dame Rachel de Souza has warned. The children’s commissioner has used her statutory powers to gather previously unpublished data, which she said should “sound the alarm on the crisis taking place in the services supporting children with suspected neurodevelopmental disorders”. By Caroline Wheeler, The Sunday Times. 

The teacher retention crisis is now costing taxpayers more than £1 billion a year, with schools in England spending £3.5 billion on agency teachers to fill vacancies and cover long-term sick leave in the past four years, new figures have shown. Unions have said it means billions of pounds of public money is being “needlessly wasted inflating the profits of teacher supply agencies”. By Connor Stringer and Poppy Wood, The Telegraph.

The Times' leading article looks at the rise in vaping among young people. In light of the serious health risks associated with e-cigarettes, it says: "Any sane society would take strong measures not only to discourage young people from vaping but to prevent them buying e-cigarettes in the first place."

Nicky Bowman tells The Times her daughter Holly started vaping at the age of 12 and is still addicted. “The problem is even more difficult for schools to manage", Ms Bowman explains. By Nicola Woolcock.

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