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Sources · Abolishing private schools

This house would abolish private schools.

Fact bank v1 · 12 cards

  1. APS-01Mostly true

    “Only about 7% of children go to private schools.”

    Roughly right. Official figures show 6.3% of pupils in England were at independent (private) schools in January 2026. For the whole UK, the government puts the share at about 6%.

    In England that is 560,300 pupils, and the number has now fallen two years in a row. The IFS found the UK share stayed at about 6 to 7% for at least 20 years up to 2023. The share is lower in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland than in England. The well-known 7% figure comes from older reports, such as Elitist Britain 2019.

    “Pupils in independent schools account for 6.3% of the school population.”
    Department for Education (Explore education statistics, GOV.UK)·Schools, pupils and their characteristics: academic year 2025/26Government / parliament · 4 Jun 2026 ↗

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  2. APS-02True

    “Privately educated people hold far more than their share of top jobs, such as two thirds of senior judges.”

    Confirmed for 2019: a study that year found 65% of senior judges went to private schools, compared with 7% of the whole UK population. Across all the top jobs it looked at, 39% of people were privately educated.

    The Social Mobility Commission and the Sutton Trust checked the school backgrounds of more than 6,000 people at the top of many fields. Privately educated people made up 59% of permanent secretaries (the most senior civil servants), 57% of the House of Lords, 52% of top diplomats and 29% of MPs. Some groups were much lower, like 5% of men's international footballers. Many of these leaders went to school decades ago, so the figures partly show the past.

    “Senior Judges were the most rarefied group, with two thirds attending private schools and 71% graduating from Oxbridge.”
    Social Mobility Commission and the Sutton Trust (GOV.UK)·Elitist Britain 2019: The educational backgrounds of Britain's leading peopleGovernment / parliament · 24 Jun 2019 ↗

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  3. APS-03Mostly true

    “Private schools spend about twice as much on each pupil as state schools do.”

    Close. In 2022–23, average private school fees (after bursaries) were £15,200 a year. That is nearly 90% more than the £8,000 spent on each state school pupil. In 2019–20, fees were more than double state school spending.

    The gap has grown a lot. In 2009–10, fees were only about 40% higher. One thing the extra money buys is smaller classes: private schools have about 9 pupils for every teacher, compared with about 18 in state schools. Fees vary widely. Famous schools like Eton can charge over £30,000 a year, while some others, such as some religious schools, charge under £10,000.

    “This is £7,200 or nearly 90% higher than state school spending per pupil, which was £8,000 in 2022–23”
    Institute for Fiscal Studies·Tax, private school fees and state school spending (IFS Report R263)Independent research institute · 11 Jul 2023 ↗

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  4. APS-04True

    “Private school pupils are far more likely to get into top universities than state school pupils.”

    Confirmed: 58.6% of private school pupils who took A levels went to a 'high tariff' university by age 19. For A-level pupils from state schools and colleges, it was 26.9%.

    High tariff universities are the ones whose new students have the highest entry grades. Together they take about a third of students. These figures do not take pupils' grades or family background into account. A 2019 report said private school pupils applying to university were seven times more likely to get into Oxford or Cambridge than pupils from non-selective state schools, and twice as likely to get into a Russell Group university.

    “58.6% of pupils who took A levels in Independent schools participated in high tariff HE by age 19”
    Department for Education (Explore education statistics, GOV.UK)·Widening participation in higher education: academic year 2024/25Government / parliament · 9 Jul 2026 ↗

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  5. APS-05False

    “Private schools pay no VAT on their fees because they are charities.”

    Not any more. Since January 2025, private school fees in the UK have had VAT added, a 20% tax. From April 2025, private schools in England that are charities also lost their 80% discount on business rates (a tax on buildings).

    The government expected VAT on fees to raise £1,505 million in 2025–26, rising to £1,725 million in 2029–30. Schools can claim back VAT on things they buy, so on average they owe about 15% of their fee income. When a council pays for a child's place because the child's special needs plan requires it, the council can claim the VAT back. Many private schools are still charities: the new rules took away these tax breaks, not their charity status.

    “all education and boarding services provided by a private school or connected person will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%”
    HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)·Private school fees: VAT measure (tax information and impact note)Government / parliament · 30 Oct 2024 ↗

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  6. APS-06Mostly false

    “Putting VAT on school fees has caused a mass exodus of pupils from private schools.”

    There has been a fall, but not a mass exodus. Pupil numbers at independent schools in England fell by 1.9% to 582,500 in January 2025, then by 3.8% to 560,300 in January 2026. They are still 6.3% of all pupils.

    Pupil numbers in all schools are falling too, mainly because fewer children were born, so not all of the drop is down to VAT. But private school numbers fell faster: 3.8%, against 1.2% for all schools. The government predicted 37,000 fewer private school pupils across the UK in the long run, about 6%. A 2018 survey for the Independent Schools Council had suggested a much bigger fall of 90,000. The official count of independent schools in England still went up by 41 in the year to January 2026, but that count includes every kind of registered independent school.

    “The number of pupils in independent schools has decreased by 3.8% to 560,300, declining for the second consecutive year.”
    Department for Education (Explore education statistics, GOV.UK)·Schools, pupils and their characteristics: academic year 2025/26Government / parliament · 4 Jun 2026 ↗

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  7. APS-07Mostly false

    “State schools don't have room for the children who would leave private schools.”

    Not true for the country as a whole. The IFS expected pupil numbers in England to fall by more than 700,000 between 2023 and 2030. That is more than all the children in private schools. In January 2026, England's schools of all types already had 112,200 fewer pupils than a year before.

    The government expects the VAT change to move about 35,000 pupils into state schools in the long run. That is less than 0.5% of UK state school pupils. But spare room is not spread evenly. Some areas have lots of private schools, and the fall began in primary schools: secondary school numbers peaked in 2024/25. So some places could still be short of space.

    “the state sector could easily accommodate extra pupils given that overall pupil numbers across England are due to decline by at least 100,000 per year”
    Institute for Fiscal Studies·Tax, private school fees and state school spending (IFS Report R263)Independent research institute · 11 Jul 2023 ↗

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  8. APS-08Mostly true

    “Abolishing private schools would cost taxpayers billions, because the state would have to educate all those children.”

    Broadly right. About 560,000 pupils go to private schools in England, and state schools spent about £8,000 on each pupil in 2022–23. At that rate, teaching all of them in state schools would cost billions of pounds a year.

    The real extra cost could be lower at first. Falling pupil numbers are leaving spare places, and the IFS says some extra pupils might fit in at fairly little cost. But the government works out costs using average spending per pupil. For the VAT change alone, it expects about 35,000 pupils to move, costing state schools about £270 million a year at the peak. Some children at private special schools already have their places paid for by councils, so they are part of state spending now.

    “If private school attendance drops, state schools will require extra funding to accommodate them.”
    Institute for Fiscal Studies·Tax, private school fees and state school spending (IFS Report R263)Independent research institute · 11 Jul 2023 ↗

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  9. APS-09Mostly false

    “Private schools give out lots of bursaries, so children from poorer families can go too.”

    Very few pupils get big help. Independent Schools Council figures, reported in 2019, showed just 1% of private school pupils had all their fees paid and 4% had more than half paid.

    The IFS says over a quarter of pupils get some kind of discount or bursary. But as the figures above show, only a few get more than half their fees paid. Average fees after discounts were still £15,200 a year in 2022–23. The IFS says private school pupils mostly come from families at the very top of the income ladder. The bursary figures are from 2019, so newer numbers may differ.

    “just 1 per cent of private school pupils currently have all their fees paid for, and just 4% have more than half their fees covered”
    Social Mobility Commission and the Sutton Trust (GOV.UK)·Elitist Britain 2019: The educational backgrounds of Britain's leading peopleGovernment / parliament · 24 Jun 2019 ↗

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  10. APS-10Mostly false

    “Private schools only get better results because their pupils come from richer homes.”

    Not only. Family background explains some of the gap, but not all of it. A government report on the 2015 PISA tests found higher scores in independent schools even after allowing for pupils' family backgrounds.

    PISA is an international test for 15-year-olds. The same report found grammar school pupils did better than independent school pupils in science and maths. It had fewer than 20 independent schools in its sample. It also warned that, because it did not look at pupils' earlier results, it could not show which schools teach better. The 2019 Elitist Britain report said private school pupils do better even when earlier results are taken into account.

    “scores are higher in independent schools and academy converters than in other school management groups within England, even after accounting for differences in socio-economic background”
    Department for Education (GOV.UK)·Achievement of 15-Year-Olds in England: PISA 2015 National Report (Jerrim and Shure, UCL Institute of Education)Government / parliament · 6 Dec 2016 ↗

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  11. APS-11Mixed

    “Private schools give children skills that make them earn more later in life.”

    Partly. Privately educated people do earn more on average, even compared with people who got the same qualifications. But most of the evidence suggests this comes mainly from contacts, know-how about careers and family background, more than from extra skills taught at school.

    Researchers call part of this 'sorting': families who choose private schools differ in ways studies can't fully measure. An IFS study found privately educated graduates had the highest typical earnings at age 30 of all the groups it looked at. If private schools do build skills, moving pupils to state schools could cost the economy. If the gap is mostly about contacts, moving them could instead reduce unfairness.

    “most of the current evidence suggests that higher returns to private schooling are likely to be driven by network and sorting effects”
    Institute for Fiscal Studies·Tax, private school fees and state school spending (IFS Report R263)Independent research institute · 11 Jul 2023 ↗

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  12. APS-12Mixed

    “Human rights law gives parents the right to choose a private school, so abolishing them would be illegal.”

    Partly. Human rights texts do protect parents' choices. The UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights says parents have a 'prior right' to choose the kind of education their children get. But the UK's Human Rights Act, which is part of UK law, only says the state must respect parents' religious and philosophical beliefs in schooling. It does not mention private schools.

    A UN treaty the UK joined in 1976 goes further: countries must respect parents' freedom to choose schools not set up by the state, and people's freedom to run schools that meet basic standards. The Universal Declaration was agreed in 1948 as a shared goal for all countries. When the UK signed up to the right to education in 1952, it accepted the parents' part only as far as it fits with good teaching and avoiding unreasonable public spending. That limit is still written into the Human Rights Act. No UK court has ruled on a full ban, because none has been tried.

    “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”
    United Nations·Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26Intergovernmental body · 10 Dec 1948 ↗

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