Education secretary cites admissions data for England, saying Labour is ‘rebalancing the system to focus on 94% of kids in state schools’ Adding VAT to private school fees has failed to trigger an exodus of pupils into the state sector despite widespread speculation that it would, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said. The Labour government applied 20% VAT to private school fees from the start of 2025. They had previously been exempt from the tax.