Emergency School Fees Support for UK Children

Aim

Providing short-term, means-tested support to help UK children stay in their school for one more year and avoid disruptive mid-year moves.

Who we are and why we’re doing this:

The Association for Families of Independent Schooling (AFIS), is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company supporting families with children in independent schools across the UK. AFIS works to champion parental choice, widen access, and advocate for fair and balanced representation of independent schooling families within the UK education system.

AFIS is independent of political parties and lobbying groups and is committed to promoting a balanced, evidence-based national conversation about independent education.

We are a national membership organisation and MEMBERSHIP IS FREE for families and schools. afis.org.uk

Since launching in December 2025, we have heard from many parents facing financial pressure part-way through the school year as a result of VAT on school fees and wider cost-of-living increases. Many families feel they have limited options and are seeking practical support to maintain educational continuity for their children. At this stage, changing schools is often impractical and highly disruptive, particularly during examination years or where specialist support is involved.

While fiscal changes may be announced in advance, education systems operate on fixed timetables, with notice periods, examination years, specialist provision, and oversubscribed schools all constraining families’ ability to move without harm.

The aim of this fundraising campaign:

This appeal is about protecting children from unnecessary mid-year disruption.

We’re not trying to fund private education long-term. Instead, we’re offering short-term help so children can stay in their current school for one more year, giving families time to recover financially or plan a calm, orderly transition at the right point in the school cycle.

“This is an emergency created by educational timing as much as cost,” said Michelle Daniells, CEO of AFIS. “When a major financial change takes effect mid-academic cycle, families’ real choices are constrained, and it is children who bear the disruption. Our focus is on protecting educational continuity and giving families the breathing space to plan properly.”

Since AFIS was launched in December last year, AFIS has received a growing volume of enquiries from parents seeking advice and support as they face sudden financial pressure. While AFIS has always intended to establish a School Fees Support Fund to provide hardship grants, doing so sustainably takes time within existing revenue streams.

“What we have heard from families has underlined the need for an immediate, transitional response,” Daniells added. “This appeal is designed to provide short-term stability, so families are not forced into rushed decisions that can have lasting consequences for children’s education.”

"While VAT on school fees has now been in place for around twelve months, most families plan their children’s education many years in advance. Over the past year, many parents have taken extensive steps to absorb the additional costs, drawing on savings, increasing working hours, reducing household expenditure, and exploring alternative options, in order to protect their children from disruption. For a growing number of families, however, these measures are no longer sustainable, and the financial pressure is now becoming acute."

The team behind AFIS includes parents, Head Teachers, education experts and students.

How your donation will be used:

Funds raised will provide targeted, means-tested support to families in genuine hardship.

To make sure support is fair and responsible:

• Applications are professionally assessed by an independent bursary specialist
• Support is time-limited and targeted
• Schools are informed so support can be co-ordinated and, where possible, matched

To ensure the highest standards of integrity and transparency, AFIS is establishing a strategic partnership with an independent bursary administration specialist to oversee the professional assessment of applications. All support will be targeted, means-tested, and time-limited, with schools informed of applications to enable coordinated support and, where possible, matched funding through existing bursary schemes.

Every donation helps provide stability now, reducing family distress and preventing rushed decisions that can have lasting effects on children’s education.

The Scale of the Challenge:

AFIS estimates that up to 15,000 children could face educational disruption this year, with an average additional cost of around £2,500 per child, indicating a total potential impact of £35–40 million.

This project successfully funded on 12th May 2026