The annual inflation rate for education was 7.5% in January, while it was up 2.4% in January alone. This was to be expected after VAT was added to private school fees from 1 January.

Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot said: ‘Inflation is on the rise once again, with the headline CPI figure coming in at 3.0% in January, following what had been a slight downturn to 2.5% in December.

‘Some of this uptick is owed to VAT being added to private school fees,’ he added. ‘Steep increases in transport costs, particularly in air fares, and food were also major factors behind the rise. More concerningly core inflation, which doesn’t include the more volatile food or energy prices, ticked up to 3.7%, from 3.2% in the prior month.’

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