Colleges call for equal funding for 14–16 students amid surge

School-age students are funded at a lower base rate if they study at a college

School-age students are funded at a lower base rate if they study at a college

Younger teenagers studying at further education colleges should be funded equally to their peers in schools and have access to public transport and free school meal subsidies, according to a new report.

College enrolments of 14 to 16-year-olds have surged by nearly a third in four years, but funding inequalities could limit places as demand grows. 

Findings of a two-year study, published today by the Association of Colleges (AoC) and IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, have prompted calls for 14-16 cohorts in colleges to be funded at the same rate as their peers in schools. Younger teenagers should also have access to free school meals and subsidised transport in line with their sixth-form-aged peers.

Figures show the number of students aged 14 to 16 studying in colleges has risen gradually since 2020/21 to just over 10,000 last year from a pandemic-low of 7,790 in 2020/21. In 2016/17, there were under 14,500.

Over 150 students were interviewed for the research, alongside 12 former students, 36 teachers, 20 parents and 10 14-16 leads.

Young people include those on alternative provision (AP), some of whom have been excluded from school or disengaged from mainstream education, electively home-educated (EHE) students who attend up to 16 hours per week, and full-time direct entry (DE) students who have chosen to study at college.  

While DE student numbers have remained similar between 2016/17 and 2023/23, students joining through the AP route have declined by 68 per cent over that period. EHE students enrolling at colleges has doubled.

The overall number of providers with five or more 14-16 students on all routes dropped considerably from 179 in 2016/17 to 111 in 2023/24.

Funding inequity

Despite this growth, funding limitations threaten the viability of this provision. The AoC has called for better local planning and funding parity between school-based and college-based 14-16 provision, including support for transport and free school meals to “ensure equal access”.

Direct entry students aged under 16 at college are funded at the lower 16-18 rate by the government. This means a school would receive the key stage 4 base rate of £5,995 per student, whereas a college receives £4,843 based on 2024 rates. 

“There is inequity in funding between mainstream and college-based key stage 4 provision. Access to any funding for addressing vital additional support needs, travel and free school meals is limited or not available,” the report states.

For “expensive” AP provision, researchers said schools and local authorities can be hesitant to fund places before they are filled. However, colleges said it wasn’t “financially viable” to run AP provision without a planned cohort, which is challenging because teaching can start at any point in the year.

AoC’s director of education policy, Cath Sezen, explained that while AP funding can be higher for colleges than in schools, “groups are small by design as the students often need a lot of support.”

Trends over the last five years revealed that over half of college-based 14-16 year olds were consistently from the two most deprived quintiles.

Just over half (55 per cent) of 14-16 students in colleges studied at level 2 in 2020/21, up from 35 per cent in 2016/17. Over that period, the proportion of students studying at level 1 and entry level declined from 63 per cent to 43 per cent.

Going from ‘the problem’ to ‘the best’

Students interviewed for the report said it gave them life skills and an interest in technical subjects. 

One student told researchers: “School was just horrible for me. I need to be on my feet doing things and so when it got to the breaks, I would just be like charging around and then I’d get put in isolation … [Going to college] I went from being the problem to being of the best just like that.”

The report found at least 75 per cent or more learners transitioned to post-16 education each year between 2016/17 and 2020/21.

Most progressed to level 2 courses, while around 20 per cent consistently progressed to level 3.

The percentage of students progressing into apprenticeships slightly declined from 10 per cent in 2016/17, dipping in the subsequent years, but rose again to 9 per cent in 2020/21.

Researchers also called for further research into tracking student destinations and outcomes over time to develop a better understanding of the impact of college-based 14 to 16 provision.

A former pupil referral unit student, who studied English, maths and a sport qualification at college, commented: “Being at college is a lot better than mainstream. I don’t think I’ve been this good in [education] since, like, primary. My mum said that she’s realised like a difference in my behaviour and how I am just as a person.”

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