Exclusive:Edinburgh state secondaries inundated with applications ahead of VAT private school fee charge

Parents of private school pupils are inundating state secondaries in Edinburgh with applications for places, it can be revealed.

New data shows there have been 144 applications for places at council-run schools in the Scottish capital since June from families with children in private schools, of which 120 were for secondaries and 24 for primary.

Applications have been made in Edinburgh to move students from private to state secondary schools. Picture: PA | PA

A further 32 general enquiries have been received about high school places in Edinburgh from parents of pupils in the independent sector, and six have been in relation to primaries. It comes as private schools across Scotland confirm the scale of their fee rises ahead of the ending of their VAT exemption next month.

Edinburgh City Council previously reported it had received about 150 enquiries between June and September, with roughly half thought likely to become applications. The latest figures from the local authority show far more are now translating into applications.

Lorraine Davidson, chief executive of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, said: “The illogical and flawed plan to tax children’s education is already adding to the strain on state schools, increasing teacher workload and leaving children unable to get a place at their local school.

“Taxpayers are having to foot the bill to educate more pupils in the state sector, and in many cases pay significant transport costs to ferry them to schools miles from where they live.”

Forecasts for the number of pupils across Scotland likely to move from private schools to state schools has varied from 900 to 6,000.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted the bulk of the reduction in enrolments will not come from existing students, because “parents will be more reluctant to disrupt their education”, but are more likely to be “prospective future new students” who will not now attend private schools.

Emails recently revealed by The Scotsman showed alarm bells were ringing behind-the-scenes at a few councils about "pinch points" in specific communities and year groups. Some education authorities have changed their school admissions policies as a result.

In Edinburgh, the local authority recently began collating the data in relation to enquiries and applications.

It is expected that any influx to state schools is likely to be most acute in the Scottish capital, where about 15 per cent of pupils attend independent schools - a far higher proportion than other areas.

Edinburgh City Council has previously denied claims its schools will struggle to cope because they are already “fit to burst”, insisting it has capacity for a further 12,700 pupils.

However, a report to the authority’s education committee meeting last month said there were not always enough places to meet demand in some catchment areas.

It is understood a report on secondary school capacities will be brought back to the committee in January for further review, to help establish a revised planning capacities model for August 2025.

Councillor Joan Griffiths, Edinburgh’s education convener, said: “We are focused on giving children and young people living in Edinburgh the very best start in life, regardless of where a child’s school journey may have started.

“We are monitoring enquiries and applications for school places while continuing to review capacity in our schools, so that we can strategically manage any rise in requests for places within schools.

“The council approach is to continue to apply existing placing policy to all placing requests which prioritise catchment schools for catchment pupils.”

It comes as several more major independent schools in Scotland revealed whether they would be passing the full 20 per cent VAT rate onto parents.

Michael Burrowes, head teacher of St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow, said: “St Aloysius’ College will be implementing the full 20 per cent VAT increase on all college fees from January 1, 2025.

“Our current financial position, impacted by increases in employer costs, National Insurance contributions, National Living Wage and inflation, particularly energy costs, necessitates passing on the complete VAT charge to parents. This increase will not apply to Kindergarten fees.”

Loretto School in Musselburgh said: “While the school is required to apply VAT at 20 per cent on its fee income from that date, we will now be able to recover some of this.

“Accordingly, the Board of Governors has approved a VAT-related discount on our fees for spring and summer 2025, enabling us to only pass on the equivalent of 17 per cent of this education tax to our parents.”

Robin Macpherson, head of Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen, said: “As well as the education tax, we need to consider the overall impact of the budget on the independent school sector.

“Our ability to absorb VAT was impaired by the increase in National Insurance costs, and as we have already made significant reductions in cost since Covid, there was limited scope to do more. We were therefore only able to absorb 1.2 per cent of the VAT overall.”

The Glasgow Academy confirmed there would be no increase to tuition fees for the 2024/25 academic year as a result of the implementation of VAT, with the decision taken “to provide stability and reassurance to families allowing them to plan and budget with confidence”.

Fees for the 2025/26 academic year will rise by 5.75 per cent from August 2025.

A spokesman said: “The Glasgow Academy has been preparing for the implementation of VAT on tuition fees over the last 12 months and has undertaken a thorough review of our operations to ensure we remain efficient and cost-effective.

“The review rigorously analysed every aspect of financial planning with the intention of minimising the impact of VAT on tuition fees, managing costs prudently and maintaining the high standards of teaching and facilities that our pupils deserve.”

Dollar Academy | contributed

In a recent letter to parents, Dollar Academy said that whilst it must add 20 per cent VAT to fees from January 2025, it will simultaneously reduce fees to achieve a net increase of 13 per cent for parents for the remainder of the academic session.

The school said: “In arriving at this figure, a careful balance was struck between supporting our families as best we can in this difficult moment whilst also ensuring the academy remains properly resourced to continue to provide a highly sought-after education for years to come.”

One of the buildings of the Gordonstoun School, in Elgin, in the Scottish Highlands where Britain's King Charles III was a pupil. Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images

The Scotsman previously revealed that Gordonstoun in Moray was raising its fees by up to 15.67 per cent, while parents of pupils at the Mary Erskine School and Stewart’s Melville College have been asked to pay 16.2 per cent extra from January. Edinburgh Academy is hiking fees by 18 per cent, and there will be a 15.2 per cent increase at St George’s, also in the Scottish capital.

Fettes College in Edinburgh said its prices would go up by 7 per cent, while George Watson’s College has told parents its fees will rise by 15 per cent.

The UK Treasury has said: “We want to ensure all children have the best chance in life to succeed. Ending tax breaks on private schools will help to raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities for next year, such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers.”

Applications for S1 catchment places in Edinburgh schools must be submitted by December 24, for those wishing to start in August 2025.

The council said those looking to apply for school places that are not for P1 or S1 should apply directly to the school or visit the council website for information and submit an enquiry.