by Parents were asked to provide evidence that they can no longer pay private school fees to secure a place at a state school.
An email sent by Buckinghamshire council, seen by The Telegraph, showed a mother saying her daughter was turned down by two local secondary schools because they were “full”.
She was then asked to prove her financial situation so that her daughter could be considered for another school in the area.
The mother, who asked not to be named, applied for a place at two schools through the council’s online portal amid fears she could be priced out of her daughter’s private school due to the Government’s VAT raid.
The email from Buckinghamshire council said: “Unfortunately, we are unable to offer any places at your chosen school(s) as they are full”.
The email continued: “In this circumstance, we would normally recommend that [the child] remain in his current school. However, if you can provide evidence that you can no longer fund the independent school fees, please let us know and we can allocate a non-priority local authority.”
Councils are not allowed to ask for parents’ financial status
All children in England between the ages of five and 16 are entitled to a free place at a state school.
The Government’s school admissions code also states that local authorities may, in some cases, seek additional information from parents if schools are oversubscribed.
However, the code states that councils must not request information about family financial status, criminal convictions, language ability, disabilities or medical conditions.
Buckinghamshire council’s website claims it has received a “large number of applications” for schools in Aylesbury and High Wycombe, and that schools are currently oversubscribed.
Data from the council shows that only five out of 38 state secondary schools in Buckinghamshire had places available for Year 7 students at the latest count in July, while only four had spaces for Year 8 and three in Year 9. .
It comes amid concerns that some local councils could be inundated with applications for state school places if parents are priced out of fee rises as a result of the decision to add VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent to private school fees from the 1 January 2025. .
The Government has backed estimates drawn up by the Institute for Fiscal Studies which predict up to 40,000 private school children could be pushed out under the plans.
However, education figures have warned that there are likely to be large regional variations, with the biggest rise in inquiries for places in councils with a range of top grammar schools.
Schools absorb part of the cost
A number of leading private schools announced last week that they would raise fees from January when the tax hike comes into effect.
Eton College was the first to announce it would pass on the full 20 per cent VAT to parents, meaning fees will rise to £63,000 in January.
Others have decided to absorb at least part of the cost. St Paul’s School, in central London, announced a 9 per cent fee increase from January “as a result of ongoing efforts to keep costs down”.
The parent who received the email from Buckinghamshire Council told the Telegraph that her daughter’s private school had also opted to clear part of the VAT.
The school announced it would raise fees for senior pupils by £1,200 from January, although the mother said she feared it would choose to raise them again later – which would cost the family.
Council apologizes for ‘choice of language’
A spokesman for Buckinghamshire council said it wanted to “apologize for the choice of language” and insisted it did not reflect any formal policy.
Anita Cranmer, the council’s cabinet member for education and children’s services, said: “We believe this wording was taken from individual correspondence rather than formal policy and we apologize for the choice of language; we are happy to confirm this directly with the family and will not seek personal financial information from them or any other Buckinghamshire family.
“The intention was to seek confirmation in this case if the family was giving up on the child’s current school place and if they would definitely be looking for a school place ‘in the year’ even though their preferred school is full, or if they would stay at their current school which often happens when families are unable to get a place in a chosen school.”
She added that Buckingham Council had “seen a higher number of ‘a year’ applications from families with children in the independent sector in recent months”.
“We have been able to offer a place to some children from independent schools in their school of choice where they have applied ‘in the year’, but this is not always possible, as in this case. If a family still wants to move from their current school provision despite not being able to get a place at the school of their choice, we would explore a non-priority offer at a school with space,” she said.
“We have resources in our schools across the county but it varies in some areas; as a result we can offer some, but not all, families their preferred location if they ask to move ‘year round’.”
‘The education tax will be a disaster’
Greg Smith, the Conservative MP for Central Buckinghamshire, told the Telegraph: “The financial assault on parents who send their children to independent schools from the Labor Government will force thousands of children out of the private sector and crowd the state system.
“It is the Government that must find the money to ensure that the state sector will be able to deal with this influx of students.”
Damian Hinds, the shadow education secretary, told the Telegraph: “Labour’s education tax, introduced right in the middle of the school year, will be a disaster.
“Thousands of pupils from independent schools and the state sector will be priced out of not being able to absorb them, and the Labor Government has no plan to mitigate this, parents, teachers and pupils will pay the price in the end.
“This new Labor Government will be held to account for them.”
A government spokesman said: “We want to make sure every child has the best chance in life. Ending tax breaks for private schools will help raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities next year, such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers.
“Private sector fees have risen by around 75 per cent since 2000 and the number of children in independent schools has remained stable, so we do not expect the end of private school tax breaks to have a significant impact on the sector states.”
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