Further education sector left to run on fumes, MPs say

The further education (FE) sector has been “left to run on fumes”, MPs have warned, as they call for more funding and action to tackle “stagnant” pay.

The Commons Education Select Committee has also said the policy that currently requires students who fail to achieve a grade 4 in GCSE English or maths to resit is not working for the majority, and urged the Government to change it to offer three routes for students.

The committee’s report on FE and Skills said the Government must retain applied general qualifications (AGQs) such as Btecs alongside A-levels and T-levels, after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson paused planned funding cuts to AGQs last year.

T-levels require “urgent reform” MPs added, and recommended the introduction of smaller sized T-level qualifications and that the Government should launch a national awareness campaign to improve recognition.

Education Committee chair Helen Hayes said: “Successive governments have rightly talked up the FE and skills sector as an engine for economic growth across the whole country, but it’s an engine that’s been left to run on fumes.

“Fifteen years of real terms funding cuts and stagnant pay have left colleges struggling to recruit and retain teachers who earn far less than their peers in schools. Far from receiving the parity of esteem it’s been promised in the past, FE continues to be treated like the Cinderella of the education system.”

FE saw funding per student fall significantly between 2010/11 and 2019/20, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said earlier this year.

The Chancellor pledged £1.2 billion a year for FE by 2028/29 at the Spending Review, which the IFS said would take FE spending to its highest level since 2014/15 in 2028/29, but still below 2010 levels.

The extra funding should be adjusted each year for inflation and rising FE student numbers, MPs said in the report. The report also calls for FE and sixth form colleges to be exempt from paying VAT on their expenditure.

The median salary for college teachers is currently around £38,000, the report said, around 15% lower than the median salary for school teachers.

College teacher pay decisions can be “fragmented and underfunded”, MPs said, and called for a statutory pay review body to be established similar to the one for school teachers. This pay review body would make pay recommendations for college teachers.

The Department for Education (DfE) should also commit to closing the pay gap within the current Spending Review period, the committee said.

Anne Murdoch, senior adviser in college leadership at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Any hope of achieving economic growth without a strong FE and skills sector is pure fantasy.

“Despite this, sixth forms and colleges have been underfunded and undervalued for years, with funding per student still below the level it was in 2010. A significant number of colleges are in financial difficulty, while being staffed by teachers earning less than their school counterparts.”

The report further recommends the establishment of three alternative routes for those who need to resit English and maths GCSE post-16: firstly, support for resitting English and maths GCSEs for those with a “realistic prospect” of achieving a grade 4; secondly, for English and maths content to be built into the curriculum of vocational courses so students taking them may be exempt from resitting; and finally, support for students who are unlikely to achieve a grade 4 in GCSE resits to take an alternative functional skills qualification.

MPs also recommended the DfE commits to an independent review of Skills England within two years of it becoming operational. Skills England became operational earlier this year as an arms-length government body that will identify skills gaps and drive improvements. It replaced the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, which was a non-departmental public body.

“Skills England was welcomed as a good idea on paper by leading voices in British industry, but doubts have crept in over its independence from Government. We are clear that if an independent review finds that Skills England doesn’t have the autonomy it needs to assert genuine influence, then it should be established in law to guarantee its powers,” Ms Hayes added.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said sixth form colleges have managed to close the pay gap for teachers through current collective bargaining agreements, but “the best way to ensure it remains closed, and all staff in sixth form colleges get a fair deal, is to ensure that 16 to 19 funding keeps pace with school funding”.