In July 2024, the UK Government announced that they will charge 20% VAT on all private school fees from January 2025. While we disagree fundamentally with this decision, and we are working with our membership bodies to do what we can to support their efforts to get this changed, we are being told it is very unlikely that this will not go ahead as announced. We do appreciate therefore that this is unwelcome news, will have an impact on you, and we have tried to do what we can to partially mitigate for this mid-year increase.
In the lead up to the announcement we had already began scrutinising our finances and reducing our costs for the 24 / 25 school year where possible, whilst remaining firm that it will not have a negative impact on the student experience at Bishopstrow College.
For example, we have investigated whether we could take advantage of any tax recoveries possible. However, currently there is a lack of clarity from the government on these specifics, which we can see is due to the speed of implementation.
We have now largely completed our analysis of our costs, understanding what we might be able to reclaim, reduce, or do differently, and identified that we can reduce our fees by 5%. Once VAT is therefore added to this new ‘net’ figure, our new fees from January 2025 will increase by 14%.
You can view our adjusted fees here: www.bishopstrow.com/admissions/fees/
We understand that this information is significant and may take some time for you to process and discuss with your families. Please know that we are here to support you and are always available to speak with or answer any questions you may have. We normally require one term’s notice but will accept half a term’s notice if you feel that this increase is not sustainable for your family.
We, alongside the rest of our colleagues in the international education sector, will continue to challenge the imposition of VAT, and, along with independent school associations, will continue to lobby the Government to stress the detrimental impact of the policy on pupils, parents and schools. If you would like to provide any comments that you would like us to include in our response, please communicate these directly to me or Josephine Velthoven, on Charlie.freer@bishopstrow.com or principal@bishopstrow.com
To help with some of the questions you may still have about what this means for you and your family, you are welcome to discuss the VAT on fees with our Registrar directly on admissions@bishopstrow.com
Kind regards,
Charlie Freer
Director, Inspiring Futures Education
