Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of charging VAT on independent schools on levels of usage of unregistered schools.

​Unregistered schools, by their nature, are unregistered and at risk of being unknown, therefore this is not possible to precisely ascertain.

It is an offence under Section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 for any person to conduct an unregistered independent school. Where the department finds evidence that a school is operating unlawfully, we will not hesitate to take action, working with the police, Ofsted and Crown Prosecution Service as necessary.

Anyone with intelligence or concerns relating to a potential unregistered independent school should read the department's guidance on reporting an unregistered school. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-an-unregistered-school. Any information they have can be sent to unregisteredschoolreferrals@ofsted.gov.uk.

The department has provided additional resources to Ofsted to inspect suspected unregistered independent schools. As a result, a team of dedicated inspectors has been working to identify settings and visit them to determine whether they are operating unlawfully as unregistered independent schools. Where schools are found to be operating unlawfully, Ofsted and DfE are taking action to ensure such settings cease operating unlawfully, working with other authorities as necessary.