Should Scotland’s private schools lose their not-for-profit status?
Scotland’s independent schools are considered charities. These institutions pay no taxes on annual profits that are reinvested and enjoy other tax benefits, including gift grants for donations.
Two years ago, such schools lost their entitlement to charity discounts on their business rates—but were allowed to retain their nonprofit status.
At the SNP’s annual conference, members tabled a resolution calling on the Scottish Government to scrap the tax breaks and introduce a new levy on every student place in the sector.
We want to know: should private schools lose their non-profit status?
Vote now in our online poll:
The Herald’s Politics reporter, Kathleen Nutt, published this story this morning. Read more and other exclusives from our team at Holyrood here:
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Both Mr Yousaf and Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar received private education at Hutcheson’s Grammar in south Glasgow, where annual fees for 2023/24 are currently £16,177 for S1 and S2 students and £15,877 for S3 to S3 students amount to S6.
Mr Sarwar has come under repeated pressure for sending his children to the same school and not to a local government school.
Opponents of private schools say they perpetuate and perpetuate inequality in society by giving students whose parents can afford it an advantage through access to smaller classes, more personal academic support, more sports opportunities and other benefits such as provide the opportunity to build up informal social networks gain access to top jobs.
Proponents argue that fee-paying schools give parents and children more choice and can ease the pressure of enrollment on the state system. They also point out that many schools offer need-based scholarships to their students.
