They said private school VAT would set off a school places crisis. Now we know they were wrong, writes Bridget Phillipson

That's why it's so encouraging that more families than ever before received an offer at one of their preferred schools. That's good news for parents, good news for children, and a reminder that our school system continues to deliver.

But it's also worth being honest about what some people predicted would happen, and what the evidence now shows.

A year and a half ago, the headlines were apocalyptic with claims that ending the VAT tax break for private schools would overwhelm the state sector. We were told parents would flood into state schools and places would become harder to secure.

These were not fringe views, but repeated loudly and confidently by commentators, columnists and opposition politicians from the Tories to Reform, who not only claimed they were certain this government had made a catastrophic mistake but reflected vested interests along the way.

Today's data shows those predictions were wrong.

The proportion of families receiving an offer at one of their preferred schools is at its highest level since records began. Fewer children are missing out on a preferred school place than at any point in the last decade.

Class sizes and pupil-teacher ratios remain broadly stable. And this month, we confirmed the government has already recruited over 4,600 of the 6,500 additional teachers we promised in the places that need them. Fewer teachers are leaving the profession than at almost any point on record, and a 13% rise in people choosing to train to teach.

These are not the signs of a system under pressure, but of a system finally rebalancing to the needs of the vast majority of kids who go to state schools and getting stronger for the families who rely on it.

Private school pupil numbers remain well within the range seen over the last twenty years. Independent schools had been experiencing closures long before this policy was introduced and in some years before VAT was applied, closures were actually higher than they are today.

I want to be direct about something else. Private schools have chosen to operate as independent fee-charging institutions. With that independence comes responsibility for their own financial management. It is not the job of taxpayers to subsidise institutions that did not manage their finances responsibly, any more than it would be in any private business.

This policy will raise £1.8 billion a year by the end of the decade. We are already raising more money than we expected and that is money going to the 94% of children educated in state schools - children who deserve the best teachers, the best opportunities and the best possible start in life.

Every parent wants their child to have choices and opportunities. Our job is to make sure those opportunities don't depend on how much money their family has or where they happen to live. That means investing in the schools that educate the vast majority of children and making sure every family can be confident there is a good local school for their child.

Behind every one of those offers is a child starting school in September with somewhere to go, something to look forward to, and a fair shot at what comes next. That's what opportunity for all looks like, it’s what Labour in government looks like, and we won't be deterred.

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Bridget Phillipson is the Secretary of State for Education.

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