Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department is providing the Office for Budget Responsibility with input assumptions on (a) the price elasticity of demand for independent sector education and (b) the number of children likely to move to state sector schools as a result of the imposition of VAT on independent schools.

On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This will also apply to boarding services provided by private schools.

The Government will confirm the introduction of these tax policy changes at the Budget on 30 October. Following scrutiny of the Government’s costing by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, details of the Government’s assessment of the expected impacts of these policy changes will be published at the Budget in the usual way.