Education Not Taxation:
Parents Against School Fee VAT

Education Not Taxation is a grassroots, volunteer-run group who campaigned against Labour’s tax on independent school fees and now campaign as a voice for education choice across the country.  

We are not a party-political group, and nor are we a business.  We are just volunteers who don’t want to see children forced to leave the schools they know and love.  We want to strengthen choice, so that all parents are encouraged, not punished, to give their child the right education for them.  Collectively we have different political preferences and life experiences, but we are united by these deep concerns.

The Labour Government launched their tax on education as a top priority.  Despite the Prime Minister’s claim that there was “no evidence” that schools would close, over 100 schools have closed at least in part due to VAT (as at January 2026).  This forced 25,000 children to find another school, on top of thousands more children forced to leave their schools because their parents couldn’t afford VAT on top of school fees.

Though this tax is in place, our fight continues.  We want all schools to thrive, and we won’t get there by pitting schools against each other as the Government have done.

In 2026, our priorities are to:

1) Make the case to MPs and Lords to repeal this tax after the next General Election, and support alternatives to how education is funded and provided.  We will help parties develop new education policies that embrace choice and innovation to help more children in both state and independent schools access to the education that best meets their needs.  

2) Highlight the harms of this policy.  We are monitoring school closures and other consequences of Labour’s tax on education.  We have over 25,000 parents across the country who identify these impacts in both independent and state schools and share their stories.

3) Advocating for parents in this new world. We have all been touched by this policy by making ends meet to pay the higher fees, taking a child out of their school or seeing entire schools close down.  

We do not charge parents, or schools, for our work.  We just do what’s right.