Professionals dont know either. Its luck of the draw and a lot of contributors to this thread have had to fight it out at a tribunal....most appear to have lost. Thats why it is important to ask those who have reclaimed, how. Also to find out what went wrong with those that had a hard time.
If the community get this right, all schools can then give rock solid strategies rather than sell only the hope of a lower training cost. Remember, the difference in reclaiming £15,000 / £20,000 of vat, is the difference to getting UK training or US training. Or adding an FI ticket to your CPL, or a whole bunch of Jet Ranger hours etc.
The vat question is that important. I do not think it is good that all trainees consult their various accountants,across the country. All researchingthe same question,and all coming out with random answers. Surely one or two national strategies would confound the attempts of the vat man in winning the appeals.
Not wanting to become a bother on this thread, I will let you know how my plans develop in a few weeks time.