Written question asked by Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 30 July 2026. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Thursday, 30 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.
Boarding Schools
- Question
-
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 8.2 per cent fall in the number of boarding pupils at independent schools recorded in the 2026 Independent Schools Council’s annual census, published on 24 June; and whether they plan to review the policy of applying VAT to boarding fees as a result of this figure.
- Answer
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The decline in pupil numbers is not out of line with expectations given the removal of the VAT exemption, population decline and historical trends in private schools. There are no plans to make any related policy changes.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- HL2181
- Session
- 2026-27
- Subjects
- Boarding schools
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-07-30 15:59:01 +0100
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/lords/2026-27/HL2181
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/lords/2026-27/HL2181
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/lords/2026-27/HL2181