Labour triggers biggest private school exodus in more than a decade
Private schools lost a record 13,000 pupils in the run up to Labour's VAT raid, figures show.
The Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents four in five private schools in England and Wales, said the number of pupils fell from 551,578 to 538,215 in the year to January ahead of Labour's planned 20pc tax.
It marked the biggest drop in pupil numbers since the trade body first surveyed schools in 2012, but teachers warned that the figures 'do not reflect the full damage inflicted by the imposition of VAT'.
Private school fees rose by an average of 22.6pc to £22,000 a year in January, the ISC said.
It comes as Neil O'Brien, a shadow education minister, accused Labour of underestimating the impact of the tax raid and piling more pressure on the struggling state sector.
Mr O'Brien last week told The Telegraph that every child 'priced out' of private education would mean fewer places in good schools for others, and children with special needs would be particularly hard hit.
Labour predicted that only 3,000 children would leave the private sector in 2024-2025 as a result of the tax raid.
But the ISC said this did not include the thousands of children believed not to have started at private schools in September because of rapidly rising fees.
Aatif Hassan, of Dukes Education, which runs 27 private schools, told The Sunday Times: 'These figures do not reflect the full damage inflicted by the imposition of VAT.
'We are just beginning to see the impact on families, and the flow-through of that will become more apparent in September.'
The ISC said private schools faced a 'triple whammy' of financial blows this year, chiefly the 20pc VAT imposed in January.
Costs have been driven up further by the recent increase in employer National Insurance contributions. And schools with charitable status were also stripped of 80pc business rates relief last month.
The Treasury has rejected claims that the VAT raid is to blame for steep rises in fees, arguing that it followed large increases over the past few decades.
A number of private schools have closed this year, with more than a dozen directly blaming the VAT raid.
A High Court legal challenge last month argued the Government's policy of adding VAT to private school fees would 'interfere with the fundamental right to education'.
Documents seen by The Telegraph revealed that Rachel Reeves was warned about the risk of more schools shutting. The High Court is due to rule this month on whether the policy breaches the human rights of children.
A Treasury spokesman said: 'This data misrepresents reality – the increases in fees are not only down to VAT. Average fees have risen by 75pc in real terms in the past 25 years, and pupil numbers have remained steady.
'Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise £1.8bn a year by 2029/30 to help deliver 6,500 new teachers and raise school standards, supporting the 94pc of children in state schools to achieve and thrive.'
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