Sixth form students should have same £250 increase in funding per student as universities

This week the Education Secretary announced a minimum £4,800 for every secondary school student. In September, the maximum university tuition fee rises by £250 to £9,250. For reasons that no-one in government has explained or justified, the funding for sixth form age students has been stuck at £4,000 since 2013 and this is not due to change until 2020. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Sixth Form College Association (SFCA) and AoC have jointly written to the Education Secretary arguing that DFE needs to act now because the current drop in funding at age 16 restricts the number of hours and teaching and support that has no educational justification. There is a wide and ever growing gap between the funding made available to educate sixth formers and the actual cost of delivering a high quality curriculum. The funding levels mean that most young people only receive around 15 hours of teaching and support a week. The 25 hours a week that is envisaged for T levels should be an aspiration for everyone. As a first start, DfE should use the current underspend in the 16 to 18 budget to add £250 to the 16 to 18 funding rate - the same increase that is going into university-level tuition this September. Joint letter to Rt Hon Justine Greening MP.pdf Joint letter to Rt Hon Justine Greening MP.pdf (PDF,100.96 KB)