The Independent Schools Council (ISC) has said it will launch legal action against the government’s decision to impose VAT on independent school fees.
The council, which represents more than 1,400 private schools in the UK and abroad, reached its decision after a board meeting held on Thursday.
Human rights barrister David Pannick KC will lead the challenge, which will be brought on behalf of parents.
It comes after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, confirmed in the budget that 20% VAT would be applied to private schools from January, with the government estimating it could raise £460m next year, potentially rising to £1.7bn by 2029/30.
Julie Robinson, the chief executive of ISC, said: “This is a decision that has not been taken lightly and has been under consideration for many months.
“At all points throughout this debate, our focus has been on the children in our schools who would be negatively impacted by this policy.
“This focus remains and we will be defending the rights of families who have chosen independent education but who may no longer be able to do so as a direct result of an unprecedented education tax.”
The government predicts that private school fees could rise by an average of 10% due to the introduction of VAT.
It projects that about 35,000 pupils will transfer to state schools over time, as well as an additional 2,000 students leaving private institutions, including international pupils. European diplomats have called for the international institutions to retain the exemption.
The German and French ambassadors to the UK, Miguel Berger and Hélène Duchêne, said international schools were distinct from British private schools because the option of transferring to the British state sector was not always realistic for their pupils.
“For expats coming here for two, three or four years wanting their children to go back to the national system, their only option is to go to these schools,” Berger said.
He told the Times: “We would really like to see the British government recognise the importance of these schools – not only for our political and cultural relations but also for the people this will affect.”
Meanwhile, a total of 37,000 pupils leaving or never entering the sector equates to about 6% of the current private school population, the government said.
On Wednesday, the government said it would increase the funding allocated to the continuity of education allowance (CEA), which supports mobile military and diplomatic families with boarding school fees for their children, before the imposition of VAT on private schools next year.
It came after warnings from staff they could quit the armed forces if they were not given help before the VAT changes. But the ISC remains concerned about the impact of the VAT policy on small faith schools, specialist arts and music provision and on thousands of children with special educational needs and disabilities in private schools.
The ISC has said the legal case will focus on claims of breaches of the European convention on human rights and the Human Rights Act 1998. It will be separate from other litigation but the ISC will be liaising with these other third-party groups. A pre-action letter about plans for high court action will be issued to the government shortly.
Earlier, members of a campaign group opposing plans to apply VAT to private school fees targeted Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, with personal abuse, accusing her of aping the tactics of Nazi Germany and labelling her a “vile hag”.
A series of messages on the private Facebook group run by the campaign body Education Not Taxation: Parents Against School Fee VAT (ENT), seen by the Observer, levelled personal attacks on Phillipson.
One message read: “1930s Germany targeted the Jewish minority on the basis of their perceived privilege Bridget Phillipson. Just like you going after the 500,000 children in private school. Who cares though eh? Firstly they are only 7%, and secondly, they are not Keir Starmer’s kids.”
