Private schools' bid to overturn Labour's VAT raid THROWN OUT as fears of closures skyrocket

This includes children and families at faith schools, and families who have sent their children with special educational needs to private school.

Sophie Kemp, head of public law at Kingsley Napley, representing the claimants, said: "This is a disappointing decision for the claimants, who are carefully considering the court's judgment.

"It was important to challenge VAT on school fees, which both the government and the court recognised had a discriminatory impact on children at religious schools as well as significant impact on children with SEN.

"The court felt that it was not able to interfere because of the leeway it must give to Parliament. Unfortunately, this doesn't help the claimants, who must now weigh their options."

In their written judgment, Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Newey and Mr Justice Chamberlain said: "As we see it, the fundamental difficulty with the claimants' case is that the clear evidence they rely on (which is now materially agreed) shows not only how bad it might be for them if they had to transfer to the state sector, but also how bad it currently is for many of the 1.1 million children with SEN who are already being educated in that sector."

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Judges added that lawyers for the Government had "acknowledged not only the existence but also the scale of the problem."

"They agree with the consensus view that the main thing required to remedy it is further funding on a very large scale," the judges said.

Just days ago, the Prime Minister said Labour's choice to slap VAT on school fees was a "tough but fair" choice - but revealed the money raised from the levy would fund housing, not state schools.

The 20 per cent raid, according to a report by School Management Plus, has left 24 UK independent schools facing closure or possible closure since January 1.

Ben Snowdon, headteacher at Emmanuel School in Derby, an independent Christian School that was part of the legal challenge, said: "The consequences of this policy will be devastating for independent Christian schools and many other low-cost independent schools across the country.

"It is especially concerning to parents who are not from affluent backgrounds and who have children with special education needs.

"At Emmanuel School we share the Government's desire to ensure that all children have access to high-quality education, but we’re deeply concerned that the Government's VAT proposals will hinder this aim."

Fellow headteacher Caroline Santer, of The King's School in Eastleigh, Hampshire, said: "This unjust legislation has already had a devastating impact on the independent school sector, causing many children to leave their schools and even many schools to close.

"Regardless of the outcome, we will continue to provide in the best way possible for our children and support our families by appealing against this judgment."