VAT rules
What does VAT Notice 701/30 say about education?
Short answer
VAT Notice 701/30 is HMRC's guidance on education and vocational training. It explains who counts as an eligible body, which supplies are exempt and which are standard-rated. It was last updated on 27 January 2025 for VAT on private school fees. It does not reflect the St Patrick's ruling, which HMRC dealt with separately in Brief 9 (2026).
What the notice covers
| Topic | In brief | Our guide |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible bodies | The list of organisations that can supply exempt education, and the non-profit conditions | Eligible bodies |
| Education and vocational training | What counts as education, and the meaning of vocational training | Is education exempt? |
| English as a foreign language | Commercial EFL providers are eligible bodies for EFL only | English language providers |
| Private tuition | Exempt when a sole trader or partner teaches personally | Not covered here. See the notice |
| Examination services | Exempt in set circumstances depending on who supplies whom | Not covered here. See the notice |
| Funded vocational training | Exempt to the extent funded by the Department for Education and similar bodies | Not covered here. See the notice |
| Closely related goods and services | Accommodation, catering, transport and trips supplied with exempt education | See below |
| Private schools | Standard-rated since 1 January 2025 | Not covered here |
Vocational training
The notice defines vocational training broadly. It covers training, retraining and work experience for paid employment and for voluntary work in areas such as education, health, safety, welfare and charity work. Vocational training is only exempt when an eligible body supplies it or when it is funded, so the definition matters mostly for those two routes.
Closely related goods and services
When an eligible body supplies exempt education, goods and services supplied alongside it can also be exempt if they are for the direct use of the learner and necessary for delivering the education to them. Examples the notice gives include accommodation, catering, transport, school trips and field trips.
Some things are never closely related, including sales to staff, shop sales, vending machines, uniforms, sports clothing, admission charges and personal services charged separately.
Standard-rated examples
The notice says education from a provider that is not an eligible body is standard-rated unless private tuition, examination services or funded training applies. It gives tutorial colleges, computer training, secretarial colleges and correspondence colleges as examples. The notice does not deal with private delivery partners teaching HNCs, HNDs or English language courses for universities and colleges. After St Patrick's, some of those providers may have an argument that their teaching was exempt, but HMRC's guidance has not changed.
Other topics
- Educational conferences, seminars and symposia count as education.
- Research by eligible bodies has its own rules and is often outside the scope of VAT when publicly or charitably funded.
- Youth clubs are covered by a separate notice, VAT Notice 701/35.