I’ve sent my daughter here because we wanted to carry her all the way through so that she would get to know all the teachers and all the pupils, so she wouldn’t feel that pressure of going into another setting. 

It is now putting pressure on us as parents to see if we can actually afford it. 20 per cent is a lot of money – it is a big jump. People with lots of money will be fine, but families on the cusp will have to look at state schools.

We just have the one daughter here at the moment, but it makes you think ',should we have another one, can we afford to have another one now?'. 

If we have another one, maybe we can’t afford to send her to this school; if we don’t, then maybe we could, just about.” 

One in five kids at private school is SEND, some of them are then going to have to go to state school, and the reason we took them out in the first place is because mainstream didn’t work. We were actually advised to put our child into private education.

We moved up to Yorkshire because of the quality of the state schools and when the state schools are turning round to you and saying 'we can’t cope', we don’t have a choice, and now we’re being penalised for it. 

Labour can charge an extra 20 per cent and say they will add 6,500 teachers, but it won’t change the fact the education system is broken. 

For my family, it won’t make a difference what decision we make to the children being here, [but] it will make a difference to lifestyle. We won’t go to the butchers to buy our meat, we’ll go to Aldi, we’ll cut things to make sure that the gap we need to find will be found elsewhere.

I have concerns about where the children will go if people can’t afford to stay in these schools. There are struggles with class sizes in state schools as there is and now there will be an influx of people.

We don’t all live in mansions on Duchy Road – we make cuts to sacrifice for our children. Most people who send their kids to private school won’t be impacted, but the few who need it the most will be impacted the most. 

I think all schools should be improved and I think all schools should be lifting up to the highest they can be. If they want to save some money, get rid of Ofsted and scrap SATS.

I don’t agree with it. These aren’t people that are multi-millionaires, it is people that are working hard to give their children better lives. It is going to worsen an already broken system.

I think that it is completely wrong. Even though we are not using state schools, we still pay our taxes which are used for state schools. After 14 years of Tories the state education system is in an absolute state of disrepair. 

Prior to the election, our parents shared some concerns around the implementation of Labour’s VAT policy and the continuity of their child’s education. The reality is, most private schools are small schools serving their local community as a charity largely run by parents and many of these are the schools that will likely have to close. 

If there is a new tax on hard-working aspirational parents, we will be the first modern democracy in the world to impose such a tax on education.

We remain concerned for the many families and hard-working teachers who are likely to be affected. Therefore, I hope that the government reconsiders this issue in the months ahead. 

As a school leader who has supported the education of children for a long time, I am sympathetic to these concerns. However, at Brackenfield School, we are in a very fortunate position in that our pupil numbers continue to grow and we are part of schools' group, Forfar Education, who are investing in our school facilities and resources for the benefit of the children.

As with any General Election, there will inevitably now be a period of exploration. We will continue to prepare thoroughly for what may come, to continue to ensure our fees remain affordable for our families, and make sure we carry on communicating effectively with our QE community as more information becomes available.

Sylvia Brett, principal of Harrogate Ladies’ College, said:

There is still a lot of detail surrounding the policy that hasn’t yet been confirmed, however we’re continuing to communicate with parents and support them in every way we can. 

We’ve already made assurances that fees for next academic year will remain fixed and we will continue to do everything we can to mitigate the impact of this policy on parents and the school.

We still do not yet know when or how exactly VAT will be imposed. It will lead to fees rising – here and in virtually every other independent school – but the Ashville Board will do everything in its power to ensure that fee increases are minimised as far as they can. We will of course continue to keep our parents informed as and when further information emerges.

We are hopeful to be able to absorb some of the costs the imposition of VAT will bring, but the new Government's policy will clearly have an impact on the independent school sector. 

Our parents are very supportive of BGS and appreciative of our open communication as we plan together for the future. There is optimism amidst the current uncertainty.