IFS report on education funding cuts - AoC's response

A new report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies released on Monday 17 September highlights: 12% real-term cuts to per student funding for 16 to 18-year-olds 45% real-terms cuts to adult education and apprenticeships over a longer period 27 major reforms to further education introduced in the last ten years Association of Colleges – representing almost 95% of further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges in England - has released the following statement in response: “This IFS report shows how difficult it has been for colleges over the last ten years, with further education bearing the brunt of a decade of real-terms cuts in education. Colleges in England educate and train 2.2 million people a year. A decade of almost continuous cuts and constant attempts at reform has led to fewer adults in learning, less teaching hours for sixth formers (15 hours a week in England compared with 25 hours on the continent), and inevitably a growing population which is not acquiring the skills the country needs them to have to secure prosperity post-Brexit. If government is serious about competing on the global stage once we’ve left the European Union, real-terms investment is needed, urgently.” Julian Gravatt, Deputy Chief Executive, Association of Colleges.