Readers’ forum: Are educational services for football clubs VAT exempt?

My client trades as a limited company and has never registered for VAT on the basis that her services are mainly exempt and the non-exempt sales are less than the VAT registration threshold. Her clients are professional football clubs and her services are to train and help young academy players to pass their GCSE and A Level school exams. She also teaches English to young players from overseas where English is not their first language.

Her fees are apparently partly funded by government grants being paid to the football club and she mainly invoices the football clubs but also the separate academies set up by some of the bigger clubs. Her letter of engagement is with the club or the academy and never with the players.

My question is simple: is she correct that her services qualify as educational supplies that are exempt from VAT?

Query 20...