AN INDEPENDENT school has announced measures it will take to support parents as VAT is set to be applied to schools for the first time.

Ballard School in New Milton will initially absorb 100 per cent of the costs of this new measure, which was a part of the Labour Party manifesto and will be implemented from January.

From September 2025, the school will introduce a phased increase in parental contributions to cover VAT over the coming years.

The school said it is hoping to limit the overall impact on parents by covering four per cent through claiming back the VAT the school itself pays on goods and services.

The spring and summer terms’ fees for 2025 will remain the same as the autumn term, with the school writing to parents with their plans as soon as the announcement was made.

Headmaster Andrew McCleave said: “The governors and the leadership team have been discussing and planning for this for a considerable time, with the aim of supporting families, allowing them to plan effectively, and so reducing the disruption to our children’s education.

“Careful financial management and planning from the school’s board of governors and leadership team over a number of years means the school is in a strong financial position which has enabled us to support our community in this way.

“As well as absorbing the full impact for two full school terms, we will continue to support parents by only increasing fees incrementally over time to ensure our pupils’ education is not disturbed and ease the burden on hardworking families.

“We know many make tough choices to send their children to Ballard, and we are determined to help all our families through this.

“As a charity, any surplus is reinvested back into the school and the opportunities we provide for our pupils, and that will continue to be the case.

“Our commitment remains unwavering: to provide a holistic and inspirational education for our pupils and to support the whole school community, in line with our charitable aims.

“We deeply appreciate the support and trust our families place in us, and whilst there are challenging times ahead, they can be assured that we will stand together and remain a resilient and supportive educational community for many, many years to come.”

For more information, visit the Ballard School website.