September arrives with its usual flurry—new uniforms, fresh timetables, parents half-wishing for another week of summer but mostly relieved the house has quieted down. But the return to school should also be a moment for reflection. What exactly are we sending our children back into? And are we, as a society, doing right by them?

As a long-serving school governor and Chair of Finance at an Independent school, I see both the potential and the pressure facing our education system. In the state sector, budgets are stretched, recruitment remains a challenge, and SEND provision is creaking under the strain. In the independent sector, many schools are doing exceptional work—but are bracing themselves for a very real threat: the imposition of VAT on school fees.

Let me be clear: this proposal is not just flawed—it is counterproductive.

The argument from proponents is that VAT will somehow level the playing field. In reality, it will do the opposite. Many parents—especially those at smaller, less elite independent schools—scrimp and sacrifice to afford fees. They are not the super-rich. They are teachers, NHS staff, small business owners. If VAT is added, thousands will be forced to pull their children out of independent education.

And where will those children go?

Into the state system—which, we are constantly told, is already at capacity. This isn’t ideology. It’s simple maths. Every child who leaves the independent sector and enters the state sector costs the taxpayer between £6,000 and £10,000 per year in funding. If even 5% of independent school pupils switch sectors, the policy becomes fiscally negative. It is a false economy, driven more by resentment than reason.

Moreover, many independent schools offer substantial bursaries, partnerships with state schools, and outreach programmes. That ecosystem—quietly doing public good—is at risk of collapse.

Let me put it plainly: this is not just a tax on private education. It’s a tax on parental choice, on educational diversity, and ultimately on the public purse.

As schools across the country reopen their gates this term, we should be focused on standards, behaviour, teacher retention, and safeguarding—not on class warfare dressed up as fiscal reform.

To those in government—and those who seek to form it—my message is simple: if you want to improve British education, look at the whole picture. Don’t punish the parts that are working. Don’t drive families out of choice and into cost. And don’t make education a battlefield when it should be a ladder.