A court has ruled that parents who object to paying a new tax on private school fees have the option to educate their children at home, dismissing a legal challenge brought by a group of low-cost Christian schools.
The Court of Appeal rejected arguments that adding 20% VAT to independent school fees would violate the rights of parents to provide their children with a faith-based education. The judges, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lady Justice Falk and Lord Justice Singh, found there was no prohibition on the UK government taxing education and no guaranteed right to education of a particular type beyond the state sector.
“We acknowledge that the measure may have a serious impact on the [parents] if they are unable to afford private education which accords with their religious convictions,” the ruling stated. “But it is important to bear in mind that they have the option of home schooling if free education in the state sector is not acceptable to them.”
The appeal was launched by families and leaders from four schools: the Wyclif Independent Christian School near Caerphilly, Emmanuel School in Derby, the Branch Christian School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and the King’s School near Eastleigh in Hampshire. They were supported by the Christian Legal Centre.
These schools represent a different model from the typical high-fee independent sector, charging between £3,000 and £12,000 a year compared with annual fees that can range from £16,000 to £30,000 elsewhere. They often rely on donations, volunteers, and teachers working for lower pay.
The appellants had argued that the VAT policy would make such small faith schools unviable, depriving children of their right to an equivalent religious education. The court, however, upheld a previous High Court ruling, finding the government had justifications for not creating exemptions for certain types of schools from the tax.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said the group would apply to appeal to the Supreme Court. “We will keep going in the courts but we also need politicians to recognise the deep injustice of penalising parents who simply want to bless their children with a comprehensively Christian education,” she said. “Not everyone can home educate, and low-cost Christian schools are already being forced to close under the weight of these policies.”
She accused the government of centralising control over schooling and making it “increasingly difficult for parents to shape their children’s education.”
Legal experts suggested the outcome was anticipated. Ane Vernon, a partner at Payne Hicks Beach specialising in education, said the ruling was “perhaps not a surprise” given the government’s manifesto commitment and the difficulty of challenging tax measures. She noted the judges’ suggestion on home schooling “may address the human rights law argument in principle but it is likely to leave a bitter taste for many parents, for whom home schooling is neither practical nor comparable to the educational environment they have chosen for their children.”
