George Watson’s College principal Lisa Kerr

George Watson’s College in Edinburgh is launching a fundraising appeal to help parents after an “unprecedented” drop in pupil numbers following the Labour government’s introduction of VAT on fees, The Times has reported.

The co-educational school, which caters for children aged from three to 18, said 50 pupils had either left or decided not to join at the start of the 2024-25 academic year as a result of the tax policy, so it is launching a fundraising appeal within the school community to support parents struggling with the fee increases.

The school’s principal Lisa Kerr said: “There will be significant negative consequences for all children, since many will be forced out of independent schools and already strained state schools will see an unexpected influx of pupils in underfunded classrooms where teacher recruitment is already a problem.

“Adding VAT to that will push many families to breaking point so we will be launching a fundraising campaign to support our aim that no child should immediately have to leave Watson’s because of his new tax. I hope that many Watsonians will feel able to support that.”