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Robin Hood only knew Nottingham.

Government has national data.

If you are going to tax some families more heavily on the assumption they are wealthier, you should first be confident that the measure you are using is a reliable indicator of wealth.

Association For Families Of Independent Schooling (AFIS) C.I.C. analysis suggests there are approximately:

▪️ 680,000 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙨 (top 10%) 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚    𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨

▪️ 172,000 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟰 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆.

Yet much of the public debate surrounding VAT on school fees and the removal of business rates relief rested on a simple assumption:

Independent school family = wealthy family.

Some will argue the Government knew exactly what it was doing.
Others will argue these policies were driven by ideology, redistribution, or views about the role of independent education.

That debate will continue.

But whatever the motivation, two questions remain:

𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝, 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨?

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚?

The evidence shows that wealth, privilege and disadvantage cannot be reduced to a simple choice between "state" and "independent".

School type is a poor proxy for wealth, privilege and disadvantage.

And if school type is not a reliable measure of wealth, why is it increasingly being used to justify different treatment, exclusion from opportunities, or assumptions about children and young people?

This is exactly why AFIS launched the BEYOND SCHOOL LABELS campaign.

Children don't choose their schools.

Yet school type is increasingly being used as a shortcut for assumptions about wealth, privilege, disadvantage, opportunity and entitlement.

We believe children and families deserve better than being judged by a simplistic binary label.

It is why AFIS has launched its BETTER PREPARED: 2026–2029 programme.

Before the next election, we want independent schooling families to be BETTER REPRESENTED so they can be BETTER UNDERSTOOD.

We want policymakers, journalists and the wider public to be BETTER INFORMED about the realities of independent schooling and the families who use it.

So, we are challenging assumptions with evidence.

If you support our goals, we'd love you to join us and add your name to the Beyond School Labels petition.

Become a free AFIS member via our website.

Evidence should drive policy. Not stereotypes.