Church warns Labour’s private school tax hurting vulnerable children

Labour’s decision to impose VAT on private school fees has again drawn sharp criticism from the Catholic Church in England and Wales as the consequences of the new tax take hold. The bishops say the measure is causing distress to families and disruption to the education of some of the country’s most vulnerable pupils.

The Catholic Education Service (CES), which represents the British bishops on matters of education policy, warned that the government’s decision is having “unintended consequences” for small independent schools, many of which serve children with special educational needs or disabilities. Parents are also, the CES said, being priced out of the schools they chose for their children’s pastoral care and support.

According to figures cited by the Daily Telegraph, out of 50 independent schools that have closed in recent months citing VAT as a contributing factor, one in five were Catholic institutions, affecting more than 2,000 children.

Paul Barber, director of the CES, said most Catholic independent schools were “small, with fewer than 400 pupils” and had long sought to remain inclusive and affordable.

“They have historically been run as inclusively as possible, as charities, charging lower fees, and offering a greater quantity of higher value bursaries than elsewhere,” he said. “But the combination of the pandemic, VAT on fees, business tax, rising costs, as well as declining birth rates, means the number of these schools in England has reduced by almost a third in the past six years, from 116 in 2019 to just 79 today.”

Among those to close was St Joseph’s Preparatory School in Stoke-on-Trent, where fees were about half the national average for a private school. Its former headmistress, Roisin Maguire, told the Telegraph that Labour’s tax had “effectively priced the working classes out of the private education market”.

As a result of all this, the policy is also facing a legal challenge. A coalition of Christian schools and parents of children with special educational needs has argued that the VAT charge discriminates against children with disabilities. Though their claim was dismissed in the High Court, an appeal is being pursued with the support of the Christian Legal Centre.

The Church has also cautioned that the closures risk destabilising communities, especially in areas where Catholic schools have long provided an accessible alternative to state education.

Many of these schools operate as charities and have historically offered generous bursaries and lower fees than their secular counterparts. Their loss, the CES warns, leaves parents with fewer options, particularly for children in need of tailored care or smaller class sizes.

The debate also touches on the future of faith-based education in Britain, an issue that carries a personal resonance for the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, who is herself a practising Catholic.

Before entering politics, she often spoke of the influence of her faith and her own experience of Catholic schooling. Yet her stance on moral and social questions has at times appeared at odds with the Church’s teachings.

Some Catholic commentators have suggested that her approach reflects “cafeteria Catholicism”, one that embraces the Church’s social message but sets aside its moral doctrine.

In a past interview, Phillipson reflected: “For me, being Catholic has always been about a wider sense of social justice, social action, the value and worth of every individual.”

But, she added: “I part company [with the Church] on issues around abortion, contraception ... all that stuff.”

Photo: Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson on the first day of the Labour Party conference at ACC Liverpool, Liverpool, England, 28 September 2025 (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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