VAT on school fees has led to a rise in overseas interest and even relocations as UK fees have jumped by as much as 22.6%
Wealthy British parents are turning to boarding schools in continental Europe as rising private school fees push families to look for cheaper options abroad.
German and Swiss institutions have reported rises in the number of queries from British parents who face higher fees at home, after the Labour government imposed 20% VAT on private education from January.
Jamie Perfect, the director of the International School of Bremen in northern Germany, said the school had been “inundated” with requests.
“The British market has always been our biggest competitor,” he said. “We’ve got a very competitive price compared with UK schools. We sort of had it before this happened, but now even more – on average we are about £15,000 less than a UK boarding school and our students get their own rooms. There is a market and it is getting bigger by the month.”
