Labour’s hitting private schools with Ofsted bills up to three times higher in its latest raid on the independent sector. The Mail has more.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will take an axe to the discount private institutions currently enjoy for visits by the schools watchdog.
Two thirds of the inspection costs are currently subsidised by Ofsted, who visit around half of England’s 2,496 registered private schools every year.
But this will be swiftly removed by Ms Phillipson this week, in an announcement which will arrive less than a year after Labour dramatically hiked VAT on private schools.
Since the tax raid on schools last year, more than 50 institutions across England have signalled their intent to close.
On top of this, the numbers of private school pupils have also dipped by 11,000, flying in the face of Labour’s own predictions that only 3,000 pupils would be forced to drop out as a result of the policy.
Such figures have sparked fears over the potential future consequences for the increased Ofsted costs, with the burden potentially hitting the pockets of parents across the country.
The Education Secretary’s move comes amid her battle to succeed Angela Rayner as the Labour Party’s deputy leader, with a tighter grip on private schools likely appeasing her to Labour’s Left-leaning members. …
Official figures showed pupil numbers in private schools in England fell to 582,477 in January 2025 compared with 593,486 the previous year. …
Ofsted inspections at private schools in 2024/25 cost £6.5 million, according to figures set out by then-Education minister Stephen Morgan. But only £2.2 million of that was recovered in fees charged by the watchdog.
Worth reading in full.
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