Independent Schools: Girls-only education under threat

Donna Stevens, chief executive of the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA), called Labour’s policy a “step backwards for equality” as she said girls’ schools improve pupils’ life chances and “break glass ceilings”.

A lack of places in all-girls’ state schools could mean parents who cannot afford higher private school fees as a result of the policy are forced to choose a co-educational school instead, leaders have suggested.

Stevens warned the change, which came into effect in January, may lead to the girls’ school sector shrinking and choice being “eroded”.

Speaking to the press at the GSA’s conference in Manchester last year, Stevens said there is a lack of girls’ schools in some areas of the country, including Scotland, and even in areas where there are state girls’ schools they can be “packed” and difficult to get a place at.

The education chief highlighted to the press that Kilgraston School, a private school in Perthshire, Scotland, has closed its doors and she speculated that the VAT policy “might have been the final straw there”.

She said: “Let’s say all independent schools are affected exactly the same across the sector – because of the fact that girls’ schools are more prevalent in the independent sector than the state sector – the girls’ school sector will shrink overall and the co-ed sector will grow.

“So therefore the choice will be eroded for girls.”

Kilgraston School, located on the edge of Bridge of Earn and founded in 1930, closed permanently on 13 August last year. It was determined that the school was no longer financially viable after a planned sale fell through.

It had been a boarding and day school for girls aged five to 18. It also had a co-educational junior school for girls and boys aged five to 12. Kilgraston, a listed building, was later put up for sale, with Savills marketing it on the instruction of the Trustee in Bankruptcy for the educational establishment.

In October last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in her Autumn Budget that 20 per cent VAT would be applied to private schools in the UK from this January.

The UK Government has estimated that its policy to apply 20 per cent VAT to private schools in the UK will raise £460 million this year, rising to £1.7 billion by 2029/30.

Addressing more than 150 heads of girls’ schools at the two-day conference in Manchester last year, Alex Hutchinson, president of the GSA, warned that Labour’s VAT policy could have a “seismic impact” on girls’ life chances.

Hutchinson, head at James Allen’s Girls’ School in Dulwich, South London, called on heads to “stand up and fight” for private schools so women can still access an “outstanding” girls-only education.

Speaking to the media following her speech, Hutchinson said: “There will be individual families, hard-working families, where school fees were just about affordable, and school fees now costing in the region of 20 per cent more, they’ve become unaffordable. That is going to be a fact.”

She added: “If a family themselves find that they can no longer afford the fees, then that choice to educate their daughters in all-girls’ schools may be removed because there is no local all-girls’ state alternative.”

Hutchinson said girls’ schools are “absolute beacons around the promotion of gender parity”.

She added that the GSA’s purpose is “to have schools that are designed for girls” and she said in their schools “there’s no such thing as a boy subject”.

Stevens added that data and research “shows time and time again that it [girls-only education] does improve girls’ life chances and break glass ceilings”.

On the VAT change, she said: “I think we would say that this policy is a step backwards for equality.”

In Scotland, two Edinburgh single-sex high schools announced last October that they are merging to become a single co-educational model. Stewart’s Melville College for boys and The Mary Erskine School for girls will become one school at the beginning of the 2026/27 academic year. The new mixed-sex school will be called Erskine Stewart Melville.

On average, the UK Government expects private school fees to increase by around 10 per cent as a result of the introduction of VAT. It has also predicted that 35,000 pupils will move into UK state schools over time, and a further 2,000 will leave private schools to be educated at schools abroad or at home.

Asked about the VAT policy on talk radio station LBC last year, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson did not provide a figure for the number of private school pupils who had applied to join state schools between July and September.

She told presenter Nick Ferrari: “There was an organised campaign during the General Election campaign by various parents’ groups to register for places even when they themselves conceded they had no intention of taking up that place, which I think is not a great way of approaching things.”

Asked why her government was introducing the change, Phillipson said: “We were consistently clear during the General Election about our intention to do so, and the need for investment in our state schools is urgent.”

She added: “I know our state schools have been under enormous pressure and have had to deal with it, and maybe they could provide some advice to the private sector on how to manage their budgets more effectively.”

An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “The government has made difficult decisions on tax now to fix the foundations and increase investment in public services and the economy, to rebuild Britain and unlock long-term growth.

“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 break down the barriers of opportunity for children and young people across the country.”

This article first appeared in The Scotsman’s Independent Schools Guide, published on Saturday 15 February 2025