Colleges will be allowed to reduce English and maths teaching hours for re-engaged young people in a bid to tackle the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). Education secretary Lucy Powell today announced the proposed change after pledging to take “immediate steps” to remove barriers preventing colleges from enrolling young NEETs. Speaking at the Association of Colleges (AoC) conference, Powell said she would overhaul funding arrangements and reconsider English and maths requirements that she believes are discouraging colleges from taking on disengaged young people. Despite promising to “break down and remove” the barriers, the education secretary set out no specific measures or timetable for delivering the changes, instead asking college leaders to bring her ideas and proposals. However, following her speech, the Department for Education revealed more flexibility on English and maths requirements for NEETs is on the way. Around 40 per cent of students begin post-16 study without a GCSE grade 4 in English and/or maths. The current condition of funding policy forces 16 to 19-year-olds without a grade 4 in English and maths to continue studying the subjects. It is often criticised by colleges for driving repeated resits. Colleges are required to offer resit students 100 hours each of English and/or maths teaching, to be delivered at any point in the academic year. The DfE said the government’s proposed change will “significantly flex the number of hours of English and maths that re-engaged NEET young people would be expected to study in college”. Remaining hours will be able to be delivered “one-to-one or in small groups, making it easier for colleges to re-engage and rebuild confidence up for young people who are NEET”. No further detail has yet been released, including how officials will define students who can benefit from this flexibility or how many hours will be in scope specifically. The move would appear to in part mirror the approach taken for students with education, health and care (EHC) plans, where the minimum hours of teaching can be delivered in a different format, such as small group or embedded learning. For all other students currently, alternative forms of teaching such as small group tuition or online support “should be delivered in addition to the minimum teaching hours”. ‘Unforgivable’ NEET numbers Powell was speaking days before the release of Alan Milburn’s report into why nearly one million young people are NEET. She told delegates it was “unforgivable” that almost 150,000 of those were 16 to 18-year-olds, adding that the government needed to act now rather than rely solely on longer-term reforms. “Instead of sitting at home, we need to get them into college and doing an apprenticeship. I want us to reach them with an exciting and new, engaging offer,” she said. She outlined funding uncertainty as a major obstacle, pointing to the lack of guaranteed funding for every student enrolling during the academic year and how late colleges learn their funding rates for the following year. She also criticised requirements for high levels of English and maths teaching, which she said could disengage the NEET young people colleges were being asked to reach, alongside financial disincentives for enrolling students at risk of dropping out. Powell argued that while English and maths were important foundations, “we cannot let the perfect become the enemy of the good”. “These kids aren’t doing any English and maths at all if they’re at home in their bedroom scrolling on their phones,” she said. She promised to create “the right incentives, not the wrong ones” to encourage colleges to offer more practical and work-based courses to young people who had “checked out” of education altogether. However, she offered no other detail on how funding rules would change, calling instead on colleges to provide their own solutions. “Bring me your ideas, bring me your plans that can make this a reality,” she said. “You know what works, so tell me, and you know what doesn’t, so tell me that as well. “My promise to you is to put colleges not at the back of the queue, but at the heart of that mission.” Powell also sought to reassure the sector over devolution, promising to work with colleges to ensure they could “thrive and grow” under the new arrangements. AoC chief executive David Hughes welcomed Powell’s recognition of the funding barriers facing colleges, adding that guaranteeing in-year growth funding permanently would be a “game-changer”. He said the guarantee of funding in-year growth for young people made before the start of this academic year had already helped colleges enrol thousands of additional young people who might otherwise have become NEET. Hughes added that the Milburn report and the devolution changes are opportunities for colleges to “step in as systems leaders”. His team are also “looking forward to working with her and officials to improve policies pre- and post-16 to help more young people achieve good English and maths skills and to ensure Ofsted judges colleges fairly for their inclusive learning approach”.