The Labour Party will exempt state boarding schools from its plans to tax independent school fees, following pressure from the State Boarding Forum, part of the Boarding Schools Association.

In the first climbdown the party has made over the tax policy, a Labour source has confirmed that 32 state boarding schools will not be subject to the levy.

David Walker, director of the Boarding Schools Association, said: “Young people would potentially have their education interrupted. They are going to state boarding schools for stability… they are having a brilliant education. The last thing they want is for it to be disrupted.”