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British Children Priced Out of Boarding Schools
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Sutton Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl blames fees of £65,000 a year and Labour's VAT raid
British families are being priced out of the country's boarding schools, with overseas pupils now filling almost 40% of boarding places, up from just over 20% in 2005.
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, said the schools are 'increasingly not British at all'. Writing in The Telegraph, he blamed rising fees and Labour's 'narrow-minded and mean-spirited' decision to put VAT on school fees.
From one in five boarders to two in five
Analysis of Independent Schools Council census data over two decades shows the share of overseas boarders has almost doubled since 2005.
Mainland China is the largest source of foreign pupils, with 10,959 children in British boarding schools in 2025, up from 4,753 in 2014. Hong Kong accounted for 7,226. Pupil numbers from India more than tripled over the same period, from 636 to 2,011, according to ISC figures.
British pupils' share of the boarding school population fell from 93% in 2014 to 88.7% in 2025. At Eton, about 10% of pupils come from overseas. At Harrow the figure is close to 28%. At Roedean it reaches 40%.
What the tax on fees has actually done
Labour put 20% VAT on independent school fees from January 2025. By that month, pupil numbers across private schools had fallen by nearly 11,000, or 2%, compared with 2024. Boarders fell faster, down more than 2,600, or 4%.
The ISC says the sector has now lost 30,000 pupils since the tax was introduced, the biggest reduction on record.
These schools are increasingly not British at all, but international. A major shift has taken place.
More than 100 school closures have been reported since the levy came in. Counts range from 62 to 107 depending on how a closure is defined. For context, independent schools in England were closing at a rate of about 77 a year before the tax existed.
International pupil numbers have also started to fall in the most recent ISC data, with Chinese enrolments declining. The long-term shift stands, but the overseas intake is no longer growing.
Who actually pays
The tax was sold as making the wealthiest pay. However, overseas families who can find £65,000 a year can usually absorb the VAT on top. A British doctor with two children, facing £130,000 a year, cannot, so the pupils who leave move into state schools that the taxpayer funds instead. The bill has landed on the British professional class, not the rich.
Sir Peter said pupils from abroad are 'outstanding and bring diversity', but added: 'This country's own families can no longer afford boarding school places in anything like the numbers that they once did.'
He retired as chairman of the Sutton Trust in 2024. The charity, which he founded in 1997 and largely funded himself, is now backed by companies, foundations, and donors, with income of about £7.06 million in its latest accounts. The ISC, which produces the census data, is funded by subscriptions from its roughly 1,400 member schools and has campaigned against the VAT policy.
Some schools have now begun offering fee discounts and incentives to bring British pupils back through the gates.
