skills white paper<\/a> last October had promised above-inflation increases, given rising numbers of 16- to 19-year-olds. Inflation is currently running at 3 per cent, and stood at 3.6 per cent when the pledge was made.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSixth form leaders have said the funding gap could threaten their ability to offer a broad range of subjects, hold down class sizes and pay staff competitively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They added that the timing of the announcement would leave them \u201cflying blind\u201d just as students are choosing their options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 0.5 per cent increase, which lifts per-pupil funding to \u00a35,133 next year, is the lowest since rates were frozen in 2021-22. Last year funding rates rose 5.4 per cent, significant above inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Unacceptable and unworkable\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Sacha Corcoran, principal at Big Creative Academy in east London, said the increase was \u201csimply unacceptable and unworkable\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She highlighted the \u201cever-increasing expectations put on post-16 provision to provide not just a quality education but a plethora of wraparound support and guidance for our young people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt a time when we have rising youth unemployment and over 10 per cent of young people in England are [not in education, employment or training], never has it been more important to invest in further education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis will continue to seriously impact the wellbeing and retention of staff, not just at the academy but across the sector, as this is not sustainable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe simply cannot deliver on all the expectations of Ofsted and the DfE, tackle staff workload, support our learners, manage estates, with the funding rate agreed. We are not magicians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Real-terms cuts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n The Institute for Fiscal Studies has reported that real-terms spending per pupil in sixth forms is now 18 per cent lower than 2010-11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Benedicte Yue, chief financial officer at the River Learning Trust, said the increase was \u201ceffectively a further cut when viewed against the backdrop of an 18 per cent real-terms erosion of sixth form funding over the last 15 years\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBenedicte Yue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe are being asked to deliver a 21st-century ‘skills revolution’ on a budget that has been systematically hollowed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe lack of adequate core funding leaves us with no levers left to pull other than increasing class sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis may put the viability of minority subjects at risk, which directly threatens the ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum the government claims to value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In October the government had promised \u201csignificant investment\u201d. It said it would ensure there was a real-terms increase in per-pupil funding in the next academic year to respond to the \u201cdemographic increase in 16 to 19-year olds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delayed announcement \u2018compounds pressure\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said the increase \u201cfalls well short\u201d of the government\u2019s promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn reality, this is a real-terms funding cut that will make it harder for our members to provide the high-quality education and personalised support that students need to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJames Kewin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cThis settlement will also make it more difficult to provide support and teaching staff with a competitive pay award.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kewin said the Treasury must make additional funding available \u201cto ensure that sixth forms receive a genuine real terms increase in 2026-27 – raising the funding rate by 0.5 per cent falls well short of that\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In previous years, the government has announced the base rate in December. This year the announcement was delayed until March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yue added that the timing of the announcement \u201conly compounds the pressure\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnnouncing a marginal increase now, while we are still waiting for our final sixth form statements, leaves school leaders flying blind at the exact moment students are making their critical post-16 choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou cannot build a world-class technical and academic pathway while the base rate fails to keep pace with the most basic inflationary pressures on staffing and resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
College leaders previously told FE Week that they were \u201cdisappointed\u201d with the lack of funding. They warned it could mean they have to divert funding from high-needs provision and staff pay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leaders say funding gap could threaten their ability to offer a broad range of subjects and hold down class sizes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":316072,"featured_media":243565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[324,210],"post-theme":[2425],"class_list":["post-243645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-funding","tag-sixth-form","post-theme-school-funding"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t
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