The introduction of VAT on private schools’ fees has helped them pull ahead of state schools at A-level, experts have said.
Privately educated students outperformed their state school peers in their A-level results last week, with their share of A and A* grades increasing to 48.6 per cent.
The gap between private and state schools, where just 25.4 per cent of entries achieved the top two grades, has increased in the last year, according to data from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual).
Last year, 48.1 per cent of pupils at private schools and 25.2 per cent at state schools got As and A*s.
While both state and private school students increased their share of the highest grades this year, the gap between them rose from 22.9 to 23.2 percentage points.
Neil Roskilly, an education consultant and former chief executive of the Independent Schools Association, said a number of “middle-ranking” private schools have closed since the introduction of VAT on school fees in last year, which is “changing the picture”.
He said schools that have survived the 20 per cent levy on fees “are often doing very well in the league tables and getting the highest results”.
Parents have largely borne the costs of the changes, according to the Independent Schools Council, which said fees rose by 22.6 per cent on average in the year to January 2025.
VAT changes ‘add pressure on private schools’
Roskilly said fee increases have raised parents’ expectations, led to more complaints and piled pressure on teachers to help children achieve higher grades.
He said he expected to see a similar increase in top grades at private schools when GCSE results are published on Thursday.
Mergers and takeovers have risen in the past year since the changes have piled financial pressure on some schools, he said.
He added that smaller schools that take a “holistic” approach to learning that is less focused on grades are being taken over by large schools where new leaders are expecting better results.
Another factor that is believed to be playing a role is the differing experiences of these pupils during the Covid pandemic lockdowns that began in 2020.
Roskilly said private schools were able to put in online systems and mental health provisions to support students to continue their learning more easily than state schools, giving them an advantage.
By contrast, the gap between private and state schools achieving grades of C and above at A-level has narrowed to its lowest level since 2022.
Independent schools increased their share of these grades from 89.2 to 89.4 per cent in the past year, while state schools had a larger rise from 76.2 to 76.8 per cent.
Roskilly said this may be linked to private schools kicking out fewer under-performing pupils than state schools as they look to protect their sources of income.
“Some of those [state-funded] multi-academy trusts are pretty ruthless when it comes to that kind of thing, and they’re all just worried, focusing on the grades at the end of the day, which is a shame,” he said.
State schools face ‘shoestring’ budget
Sam Tuckett, associate director at the Education Policy Institute, said the most affluent children are most likely to get A and A* grades, and that the introduction of VAT on fees may be pushing some of the less affluent families out of the sector and into state schools.
Billy Huband-Thompson, head of research and policy at the Sutton Trust think-tank, said state schools are trying to achieve great A-level results “on a shoestring budget”.
He said: “There’s an ingrained disadvantage gap between those from higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds in terms of what they achieve. State schools continue to face a very challenging funding environment.”
Four out of five senior state school leaders expect to make cuts in the coming year, according to polling commissioned by the Sutton Trust.
Dr Stephen Burley, headmaster at King’s High School, a private school in Warwick, said some private schools have reported a more “transactional” relationship with parents since the pandemic, but the “pressure from parents for their students to achieve has always been there”.
He said the funding per pupil in the independent sector is roughly double that in the state sector, which facilitates smaller class sizes and more “tailored” learning.
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