VAT on Private Schools Kicks In

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Sort of true. But also not true..

This is (part of) my job.

The process is exactly the same for State and Private schools. The oversight is exactly the same too

But, of course, private school pupils are at an advantage because of the resources their parents have (private diagnoses, the social capital and 'know how' to navigate the system etc ) and their schools have (specialist staff, dedicated time and space etc.)

It is becoming (much) harder to get additional time for exams because of this .

Apologies if my post seemed misleading/ sensationalist. What you have said in your post is pretty much exactly what the woman I spoke to told me. If there were less hoops and constraints for my daughter and I to jump through, of course I would have asked for extra time, breaks and a one on one exam for my daughter.

 

[philosophical]

I suppose it might be a minor part of this debate, but it might be worth considering whether being educated is the same thing as being qualified (in terms of exam results/grades).
The difficult bit is you can’t say somebody is definitely learning, but how much and how well is a secret.
I taught a subject where the students happily and adamantly said you don’t learn anything in it, but ‘you get better at it’.
Anyway as I said above, the VAT move is (for me) about closing an unfair loophole for a private business but the discussion about this whole thing has been interesting.
A lot of my sympathy remains with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

 

[Red Cat]

Ideally, learning. not just education, is a two way process, the teacher should also be learning from the student, how they think, how their mind works, how best to tackle a problem with them etc. Not just teachers teaching and learners learning. I really hate the current trend of MATS to call students learners, the reification of that power differential.

 

[Gramsci]

Labour’s attack on private schools is a triumph of ideology over evidence

Over the last 14 years, in Conservative-led England at least, educational standards have risen against international benchmarks, our children are now the best readers in the Western world. Parental choice has become an embedded reality in our education system. But that hard-won progress is now...

www.politics.co.uk

This reminded me of some posts here. Tory lite.

All coached in such reasonable language. The cutting ones nose to spite ones face argument.

Apparently centre right think that private and public education coexist in happy collaboration. And the choice argument. Which is laughable

Woven into the fabric of our education system is parental choice and the importance of the right school setting being available for each child.

The real reason to oppose it is ideological. Despite what this Tory MP says.

All it seems to achieve is the sating of long-held Labour prejudice about independent schools. It is the triumph of the politics of envy, over the power of evidence in policy making.

Reasonable sounding language from a Tory to defend a system that's all about perpetuating inequality and class divisions.

 

[Gramsci]

My experience of education was that it was a one way process. And if you didn't fit - tough. However much you have interest in learning.

Learning/ curiousity about things and education system are totally different.

Stats on whether state or public school pupils get better grades is beside the point. That's not what the public school system is about.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

My experience of education was that it was a one way process. And if you didn't fit - tough. However much you have interest in learning.

And that, in a nutshell, is what’s wrong with most education today too, whether it’s private or state. Not great but bearable if you’re a round peg in a round hole, or even an oval one. Terrible if you’re shaped differently.

I was talking to a friend about where all the kids who are far too overwhelmed to attend school were back in our day. They were either written off as bunkers, or went in as there was no alternative option and continually struggled and became traumatised.

 

[chilango]

Apologies if my post seemed misleading/ sensationalist. What you have said in your post is pretty much exactly what the woman I spoke to told me. If there were less hoops and constraints for my daughter and I to jump through, of course I would have asked for extra time, breaks and a one on one exam for my daughter.

Yeah. It's a tough ask for parents

 

[chilango]

Ideally, learning. not just education, is a two way process, the teacher should also be learning from the student, how they think, how their mind works, how best to tackle a problem with them etc. Not just teachers teaching and learners learning. I really hate the current trend of MATS to call students learners, the reification of that power differential.

This, so much this.

 

[sim667]

What is the ‘excellent’ education that is supposedly delivered at private schools?
It is exam results, not ‘education’ in a thought out sense.
Smaller class sizes help teachers get on the case of individuals more, and the kids make an effort because their folks are paying for it hence they are in a position to get the grades. In addition even in those circumstances some people pay for private tuition in some subjects, notably Mathematics, but the school will still claim the credit for the results if they are good. Many private schools filter at the start anyway, looking for those likely to get good grades.
The debate about the VAT is going on, but so far I have not heard the argument that private schools are private business that can (and some do) simply shut down just like that, as Debenhams did, or any private businesses.
When there is a system that private schools never ever close at the veritable drop of a hat, then there may be a case for looking at VAT or whatnot, otherwise people can pay up the fee including the VAT just as they pay VAT on a car or a chair.

Let’s not forget private schools kick out the kids who aren’t going to achieve and make them sit their exams as external candidates

 

[Idaho]

Also private schools choose the easiest exam boards, arrange extra time, and often people to write the exams for the students. Universities are full of academically mediocre private school kids.

 

[InArduisFouette]

Call me daft but what the arguement against public school fees not be subject to vat?

if the arguement is rich people are clutching their pearls about it .. they should pay double vat

apparently they are 'Charities'

oddly enough charitable benefit does not appear to be demonstrated

state schools are not charities and it;s very hard for PTA/ 'Friends of <the state> School' groups to register as a Charity

 

[chilango]

Also private schools choose the easiest exam boards, arrange extra time, and often people to write the exams for the students. Universities are full of academically mediocre private school kids.

That's my job (well, a massive chunk of it). The kids getting this have genuine SEND, and the evidence needs to be as robust as in a State school. The exact same arrangements are available in State schools too.