Private schools are already becoming “even more elite” ahead of Labour’s VAT raid, with boarding fees shooting up by 9pc. Average boarding school fees rose by £3,453 in the last academic year to a record high of £42,459, figures show. The number of boarding school students fell by 1,429 – or 2.2pc – from 66,115 to 64,686, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC) show. The total number of new pupils joining private schools dropped by 2.7pc, the steepest fall since the education body started collecting data in 2011. The proportion of pupils in private education in England has fallen from 7pc in 2013 to 6.6pc today, according to separate Department for Education data. Headteachers said the figures showed middle-class parents were already being priced out of private education and said Labour’s plans would further concentrate the proportion of those who are able to afford to send their children to independent school. The ISC, which represents almost 1,400 private schools, said a sharp rise in fees caused by the imposition of VAT risked “a far more acute shock to the system”. Labour’s plan to end the VAT exemption for independent schools would add an extra 20pc to fees, raising fears...