Foreword

You may have noticed the weather around independent schools getting stormier of late; as well as the increased media scrutiny, there are increasing costs, affordability concerns and Labour’s threat of punitive taxes.

Those who dismiss political threats would be wrong to assume this is empty rhetoric. Politicians seem determined to ignore the current subsidy afforded to taxpayers by the private education of 600,000 pupils and the £5.1 billion of taxes already paid by our schools. Labour also suggests schools can afford VAT fee increases and accommodate loss of charitable benefits. The sector says no, not in the current economic climate.

Independent schools across the UK are world-renowned. Why would a political party commit such an act of national self-harm? Labour representatives assume that independent education blocks social mobility. Yet around a third of pupils across ISC schools benefit from some kind of discount – many of these are from double-income, striving families spending their own money on their own children. We say our sector is an engine of social mobility for such families.