Edinburgh schools: Influx of pupils after removal of VAT exemption for private education fails to materialise
A predicted influx of pupils to Edinburgh’s state schools as a result of VAT on private education has failed to materialise.
The UK Labour government’s decision to end tax exemption on private school fees prompted warnings that hundreds of pupils across Scotland would be withdrawn from the affected schools by parents who could not afford to pay any more for their education.
Places would then be sought for these pupils in council-run schools. And the impact would be felt most in the Capital, where up to a quarter of pupils go to private schools.
VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent was added to schools fees from January 1.
But figures released by Edinburgh City Council under Freedom of Information legislation show that between June 1, 2024 and January 2025 just 58 pupils who previously attended an independent school were enrolled into city schools.
The Scottish Council of Independent Schools said the financial environment for their members had been challenging for several years due to the removal of business rates relief and increases in teachers’ pay and pension costs, leading to an increase in fees.
It said families and schools were doing everything possible to avoid pupils being forced out of school in the middle of an academic year. But it claimed hundreds of children had been forced to leave their school.
And it said: “It will be several years before the full damage on the public sector is known. Every child who moves to the state sector will be an added cost to the taxpayer of £8,000 for a secondary pupil and £6,500 for a primary school pupil.”
Several private schools in the Capital have recently increased their fees, but George Heriot’s said in December it was aiming for a three-year freeze in fees to provide “stability” for parents, followed by inflation-only rises from August 2028.
City education convener Councillor Joan Griffiths said: “We are focused on giving children and young people living in Edinburgh the very best start in life, regardless of where a child’s school journey may have started.
“We have capacity in our primary and secondary schools to accommodate additional pupils that may come into our schools from different routes, including from the independent school sector.
“We are continuing to track enquiries and applications for school places and alongside this we are reviewing capacity in our schools and strategically managing requests for places, applying existing admissions and school placements policy to all placing requests.”