Education Minister says private schools in Northern Ireland will not have to pay VAT

Northern Ireland’s Education Minister has intervened to prevent parents from paying tax on private school fees from January.

Paul Givan said fee-paying schools in Northern Ireland are different to those in England and do not have to pay VAT.

From 1 January 2025, a standard VAT rate of 20% will apply to private school fees, in a move the government says could help boost teacher pay in England.

Approximately 2,500 pupils in Northern Ireland attend secondary schools, Christian schools and other independent schools.

Their parents will have to pay more for their children’s education, as the government plans to scrap a long-standing VAT exemption for private and independent schools.

While some well-known private schools such as Eton and Harrow in England charge around £50,000 a year, schools in Northern Ireland charge parents much less.

Mr Givan told BBC News NI that schools in Northern Ireland could not be directly compared with many private schools in England and that the new approach in the UK “did not reflect how the education system in Northern Ireland is funded”.

While education is delegated to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont, taxes are decided in Westminster.

“Ultimately this is HMRC, the Treasury and I am making the case on behalf of schools in Northern Ireland and parents why they should not be involved in this,” said Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Minister Givan.

“I recognize the real concerns that parents have.”

In a statement to BBC News NI, a government spokesperson said: “We want to ensure that all children have the best chance in life to succeed.”

“By eliminating tax breaks for private schools, we can raise the revenues needed to fund our education priorities for next year.”

Among the schools affected by the VAT changes are independent Christian schools in Northern Ireland.

There are nine independent Christian schools in Northern Ireland, including five run by the Free Presbyterian Church.

The Reverend Brian McClung is principal of Newtownabbey Independent Christian School on the outskirts of Glengormley in County Antrim.

He told BBC News NI that the VAT changes could lead to parents paying more in school fees.

“Our parents pay less than £2,000 a year to send their child to our school because they want the education we provide,” he said.

“We are already raising money to cover the total cost of the school, so that we can keep the school fees affordable. But we have no choice but to charge parents more.

“There are pupils at our Christian schools who are entitled to free school meals. So it is certainly not the case that many of our parents are rich.”

“For example, some families do not have holidays to send their children to our schools and I know that some grandparents of children help to pay the school fees.”

“We hope the Treasury understands that we are not comparable to better funded private schools in England.”

The Holywood Steiner School, with more than 170 pupils, will also have to pay parents more.

Steiner education focuses on child development and imaginative play rather than testing. It is inspired by the work of philosopher Rudolf Steiner.

According to Peter Chambers, director of the Steiner School, the school is almost entirely funded by the school fees paid by parents.

“We believe that the education children receive at our school is holistic and focused on the development of the child, as opposed to excessive testing,” he said.

“Our maximum rate is just over £6,000 a year, so we can add another 20% on top of that.”

“And to implement all these changes in January is very complex for school budgets.”

Mr Chambers also said he was concerned that an increase could make the school unaffordable for some parents.

“A 20% increase mid-year for families could be daunting,” he said.

A number of grammar schools, including those with preparatory departments for younger children, may also face higher fees.

Twelve grammar schools have a preparatory department, while three schools admit boarding students, whose families also pay the fees.

Around 1,500 students in Northern Ireland took a grammar preparatory course in 2023-24.

Stephen Moore, headmaster of the Friends’ School in Lisburn, which also has a preparatory department, said the schools were not the same as independent schools in England.

“They are completely self-sufficient and have much more autonomy in the way they are run than we do,” he told BBC News NI.

“It is legislation that is not really intended to regulate schools such as preparatory schools in Northern Ireland, which do receive government funding and are essentially branches of local secondary schools.

“It could also have an impact on the sustainability of preparatory schools here and that could have a knock-on effect on the grammar schools of which they are an integral part.”