David Benson

Transcript

00:00It's not possible for us to cut the 20% of cost out the way we operate.

00:07Hello my name is David Benson and I'm the head teacher of Mill Hill School which is a large

00:12independent school in North London but I was previously the head of Kensington Aldrich

00:16Academy which is an all-ability comprehensive state school in West London. So why has Labour's

00:22policy to introduce VAT on school fees cut through so much of the election? I think it's simple,

00:27education is a massive priority for all parents and anything that reduces choice or reduces

00:35quality is going to stir up strong emotions in parents from all sides of the spectrum. Secondly

00:42how could the policy impact the state schools? Well as a state school head teacher who's moved

00:47into the independent sector I'm afraid it is going to have very significant impacts

00:52on both sectors. Just ask anyone working in London local admissions authorities right now

00:58and they will tell you that parents are peeling away from independent schools and joining waiting

01:02lists for state schools and that is displacing other pupils often from poorer backgrounds who

01:08live further away from the school. And how has my experience changed my perspective on this? Well

01:13it's simple, if you think that private schools are full of very privileged very entitled young

01:18people with you know vast wealth that is simply not the case. The majority of families at this

01:25school and schools like it are making very significant sacrifices and they won't be able

01:29to absorb big increases in fees easily and schools just it's not possible for us to cut

01:3520% of cost out the way we operate and I say that as someone who's run state schools and

01:39private schools it's really challenging and going to have a negative effect on the system overall.