The future of post-16 education is “on a cliff edge”, Labour has said, with sixth form and further education colleges facing possible closure as the Treasury pushes for savings as part of the upcoming spending review.
The Department for Education is currently locked in intense negotiations with Treasury officials over the 16-19 sector which is the biggest unprotected part of the DfE’s budget and therefore vulnerable to future cuts.
Schools funding is largely protected but the government has already signalled its intention to close down some post-16 colleges and an area review is under way which ministers hope will result in “fewer, larger, more resilient and efficient colleges”.
Labour claims that analysis of figures from the House of Commons library suggests that funding for sixth form and FE colleges could face cuts of £1.6bn, endangering half of sixth form colleges and a third of FE colleges.
Earlier this year, George Osborne called on all departments with unprotected budgets to draw up plans for a 25% or 40% cut by 2019-20. According to Labour, a 25% reduction in the post-16 sector would save £1.62bn – which is equivalent to the total budgets of four in 10 colleges.
A Conservative source dismissed the figures as “back of the fag packet nonsense,” and “Labour scare-mongering”; but it is widely acknowledged that the sector is fragile.
Colleges say they are already on “starvation rations” as a result of funding cuts of 14% in the previous parliament, which has meant that key subjects have had to be dropped, classes have enlarged and enrichment studies have been scrapped.
The shadow education secretary, Lucy Powell, said: “It is simply not possible to build a 21st-century economy on falling investment in education. Yet this government is putting post-16 education on a cliff edge, harming opportunities for the next generation and holding our young people and our country back.
“Before the last election, Labour committed to protecting the whole education budget from the early years to 19, because we value the entire journey of a child through education, including early years and post-16. Under the Tories, these areas face cuts, putting four in 10 colleges under threat of closure.”
John Widdowson, principal at New College Durham, an FE college responsible for the education of 2,500 16-18 year-olds, said: “At the moment we are a college that’s been able to maintain a good financial position. We’ve spent some time today looking at the options. If the cuts hit us on the scale we think they might, it’s going to have a major impact. It will affect the number of taught hours that students have and the range of options and choice.”
David Batten, the principal of Barrow-in-Furness sixth form college, said cuts to funding and rising costs – including spiralling employer pension contributions – meant subjects including Spanish, design and technology, music technology and religious studies had already been culled.
“We have made many efficiency savings already … but we are getting to the point where the funding available for sixth form students, which is less than that available for a school pupil and far less than that for a university undergraduate, is simply not enough to offer a good education to students and to keep a small sixth form college running”, Batten said.
James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association said: “This is a deeply worrying report and confirms our fears that some sixth form colleges could be wiped from the educational map after the spending review.
“Funding for 16-19 year olds – already significantly lower than for younger students – has been cut three times since 2011, and it seems certain that further reductions will be made next year.
“Our funding impact survey published in August showed that 72% of sixth form colleges have already been forced to drop courses and 76% have reduced or removed extra-curricular activities.”
According to Kewin, sixth form colleges outperform school and academy sixth forms while educating more disadvantaged students and receiving less funding. “And yet the government is simultaneously committed to reducing the number of sixth form colleges through the area review process, while increasing the number of school and academy sixth forms to meet its manifesto commitments.
“Rather than punishing sixth form colleges through a combination of funding reductions and area reviews, the government should use the spending review to protect the sector that is delivering the best result for students at the lowest cost to the public purse,” he added.
A government spokesperson defended the department’s record on post-16 education. “We have protected the schools budget and ended the unfair difference between post-16 schools and colleges by funding them per student, rather than discriminating between qualifications.
“We have provided sufficient funds for every full-time student to do a full timetable of courses regardless of institution – and increased support for those who successfully study four or more A-levels and large TechBacc programmes.”
