Two thirds of colleges and schools have had to cut extra-curricular activities and student support services due to crippling 16 to 19 funding cuts, a damning survey has found.

This was one of the main findings in a report published by the Sixth Form Colleges Association today, based on a survey of 341 college and school leaders, with mental health support, employability skills, and careers advice hardest hit.

Teaching of modern foreign languages and science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) were also found to have been seriously undermined.

The research was done on behalf of the eight organisations, including SFCA and the Association of Colleges, behind the Support Our Sixth-formers campaign geared at securing a significant increase to the national funding rate for students.

The SFCA said these problems had come about because sixth form funding was cut three times since 2011 and had not been adjusted to account for inflationary pressures or cost increases.

“Funding for 16 to 19 year olds is now 21 per cent lower than the funding for 11 to 16 year olds,” today’s report said.

“Sixth form funding in England sits at the bottom of a funding chasm.

“In addition to being out of step with the resources made available to educate younger children, the average funding for 16 to 19 year olds in the state sector is 50 per cent less than the average university tuition fee of £8,977 and 71 per cent less than the average sixth form fee in the independent sector.”

The survey found that 67 per cent of those who responded to the survey had been forced to reduce student support services or extra-curricular activities.

“Fewer clubs and events reduces the scope for young people to develop. Our cohort is among the most deprived and the reduced life experiences that they receive is heart-breaking,” said one college principal.

There have been cuts to extra-curricular activities such as educational visits, sport, and music and drama.

Support services have also been drastically reduced, leaving respondents less able to teach students the employability skills they need.

A further 50 per cent dropped courses in modern foreign languages as a result of funding pressures, with A-levels in German, French and Spanish the main casualties.

Over a third dropped STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) courses.

To address this, the Support Our Sixth-formers campaign, which was first launched in May is “calling on the government to increase the national funding rate for each sixth form student by £200 to £4,200 in the forthcoming Budget”.

Other concerning findings from today’s research included that more than three quarters of schools and colleges (77 per cent) were teaching students in larger class sizes and half had reduced the delivery hours of individual courses.

Two thirds (66 per cent) had moved from a four to a three subject offer as standard.

And almost three quarters (72 per cent) did not believe the amount of funding they would receive next year will be sufficient to provide the support required by students that are educationally or economically disadvantaged.

“Our survey shows that sixth form students are not getting a fair deal – these young people deserve to have their education adequately funded,” said Bill Watkin, chief executive of the SFCA.

“The government’s planned investment in post-16 technical education will do nothing for the vast majority of students who are pursuing academic courses – we urge the Chancellor to boost funding for all sixth form students in this month’s budget.”

David Hughes, boss of the Association of Colleges, said the results highlight that “our young people are in danger of getting short-changed compared with previous generations”.

The education secretary has been accused of putting more talk than action into growing apprenticeships amongst ethnic minorities.

Justine Greening repeatedly told the education select committee that the Department for Education has had a “big focus” on encouraging “a higher proportion of BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] young people going into apprenticeships”, during a recent session.

The current picture for BAME representation is bleak.

DfE apprenticeship starts figures do not include ethnicity with an age breakdown, so FE Week looked at the ESFA’s national achievement rate tables and found that just eight per cent of England’s young apprentices are BAME.

In the rest of FE, 23 per cent are minorities, who make up 18 per cent of the country’s total population (see tables).

The DfE was unable to identify a single actual policy to create more BAME apprenticeships since 2015, when we asked what the minister meant by “big focus”.

A spokesperson could only identify one target, set two years ago, to increase the proportion of BAME starts a fifth by 2020, and pointed to one employers’ network with just 27 members that supposedly promotes diversity.

“Justine Greening has fallen into the age-old trap of simply reannouncing something that was thought of two years ago, and which there apparently has not been much progress on since,” said the shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, in reference to the 2020 target.

“Talk is cheap and delivery is difficult, but let’s see some beef from this rather than rhetoric,” he added.

The DfE claimed it is “making progress”, but such efforts as it is making are proving slow: the proportion of all-age BAME apprenticeship starts increased by less than one percentage point in 2016/17 on 2015/16, according to provisional figures.

It drew attention to the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network, launched nine months ago by former skills minister Robert Halfon, who now chairs the very committee which grilled Ms Greening.

However, FE Week understands the group only meets four times a year and has so far been used as a platform for employers to share best practice, rather than to produce solid policy proposals.

The network’s 27 members pale into insignificance when compared to the 20,000 or so employers that are eligible to pay the apprenticeship levy, for instance.

According to the DfE, the group’s members are “committed to encouraging other employers to promote diversity in apprenticeships and to championing apprenticeships in BAME communities”.

Andy Forbes, a co-founder of the BAME Principals Group, who leads Conel College in London, told FE Week that “there appears to have been a lot more talk than action in this area so far”.

“Last February, Mr Halfon launched the network, but we haven’t heard anything about how this work is progressing,” he said.

He said that his own organisation is “ready at any time” to help the education secretary “turn aspiration into action and get the ‘big focus’ that is so urgently needed”.

Mark Dawe, the boss of the AELP, has not been impressed by the government’s attempts to hit its own target.

“We have to say that in terms of matching the rhetoric, the initiative has been a bit slow to get off the ground especially in terms of engaging providers with the employer links in areas with significant BAME populations,” he said.

“It’s another example of the social mobility agenda, including tackling the disability employment gap, where we would hope to see more action.”

In its 2015 ‘English apprenticeships: Our 2020 vision’ document, the DfE said it would ensure its youth-employment campaign included “targeted material for BAME audiences”, and that it would work with local enterprise partnerships to encourage employers to diversify their workforce with BAME apprentices.

The DfE said its relatively recent ‘Get in go far’ campaign, which “featured apprentice role models from diverse backgrounds”, was one measure that helped.

It is also currently working with local partners to develop approaches to increase representation in apprenticeships at a local level, the spokesperson claimed.

Read Nick Linford’s editorial thoughts on Ms Greening’s claims here

Three local authorities have been told by Ofsted that their provision of adult and community learning ‘requires improvement’.

Birmingham City Council and Swindon Unitary Authority both slipped from grade two to grade three in reports published this week, while Kettering Borough Council kept its grade three rating.

Swindon Unitary Authority’s adult community learning service was inspected on September 26. Although staff from the council take responsibility for strategic leadership, quality assurance and providing guidance to learners, all the courses are provided by eight subcontractors.

However, Ofsted found managers and leaders were not monitoring closely or being sufficiently critical about the quality of provision delivered by subcontractors, or making sure improvements are being carried out.

Tutors were also criticised for not taking the abilities and aspirations of learners into account  or setting clear objectives for developing skills and knowledge, while managers do not set high enough standards for the quality of assessment or collect information on learner destinations and the impact of courses on learner progression.

However, the service – which is mainly used by learners from disadvantaged communities on non-accredited courses to improve their communication, English and mathematics skills – was commended for its “well-considered curriculum” taking into account skills shortages, gaps in learning and community needs and providing a “safe and welcoming environment” to help learners progress.

Birmingham City Council provides accredited and non-accredited programmes at entry level, level one and level two through the Birmingham Adult Education Service (BAES). The service provides over 2,000 courses annually from 10 main centres and 60 partner venues.

 During its inspection on September 26, Ofsted found that managers had “an inflated view of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment” with learners left unprepared for their next steps despite high achievement rates, while data collected on learner outcomes is “too positive and does not support meaningful analysis or the production of specific improvement actions”.

It also found that senior managers are not held to account sufficiently, with senior leaders in governance roles criticised for not requesting performance reports or knowing “enough about the quality of provision” to set improvement goals.

The service was commended for creating a “harmonious learning environment” with well-qualified tutors and well-behaved learners,  but Ofsted warned not enough was being done to raise awareness of online safety or the dangers of radicalisation.

Kettering Borough Council’s adult and community learning service retained its grade three ranking when it was inspected on September 20.

The quality of lessons at Kettering Borough Training was described by Ofsted as “not consistently good enough” with too few learners achieving their planned qualifications or targets and not enough help to make sure learners are able to take part in additional training programmes.

Although the service does give “good support and care” to help students address their barriers to learning and develop in confidence, managers were said to not monitor performance well enough to raise standards.

Elsewhere in the sector, employer provider Nestor Primecare Services dropped from a grade three to four. Now known as Allied Healthcare, and one of the country’s largest providers of domiciliary healthcare staff, the service was found to have “no key strengths” when it was inspected on September 19.

Management was criticised for an “abject failure to challenge themselves and their teams to deliver high outcomes”, with weaknesses identified in safeguarding, teaching, learning, assessment, governance, quality assurance and student guidance.

 Stratford-upon-Avon College also dropped from a grade two to three after an inspection on September 19 found the college did not consistently create good teaching or outcomes for learners, with teachers behaving inefficiently in planning, teaching and assessments.

Ofsted accused senior leaders of not providing governors with enough information to allow them to be held to account, although it acknowledge achievement rates were high with most learners and apprentices developing a good range of skills.

Also inspected on September 19, Grantham College climbed up the rankings from a grade three to a grade two, with improvements noted in the standards of teaching, learning and assessment and learner outcomes.

The Lincolnshire-based college was commended for good partnerships with local and regional employers, although Ofsted warned that too many students were on work placements that were not linked to their studies or being monitored effectively and assessments of mid-year grades were not always reliable.

Reading-based independent learning provider BPP Holdings Limited kept its grade two ranking at an inspection on September 26, as did four colleges which received short inspections: Kingston Maurward College in Dorset (inspected October 10), EMBS Community College  in Oxford (inspected October 4), Adult Education In Gloucestershire (inspected October 3) and Lincolnshire-based Community Learning in Partnership (inspected October 4).

The head of the Commons education select committee wants a “wholesale review” into why Ofsted is yet to inspect a single subcontractor more than a year after the rules changed.

Robert Halfon, a former skills minister, made the demand days after chief inspector Amanda Spielman admitted that she too was worried by this lack of action.

“We need a wholesale review into subcontracting and whether it enhances or curtails quality apprenticeships,” he told FE Week.

“I strongly believe that Ofsted needs to make the inspection of subcontractors a priority.”

It is “wrong that so many subcontractors are not inspected”, he continued, as it is hard to know otherwise whether apprentices get the quality of training “they deserve”.

The rules appeared to change in September last year, when Ofsted inserted a line into its handbook to emphasise that it “reserves the right to inspect and grade any subcontractor and its provision as a separate entity”.

It said: “As part of the inspection, inspectors may inspect any provision carried out on behalf of the provider through subcontract(s) or partnership arrangements, including by subcontractors that hold additional direct contracts of their own.”

An FE Week investigation in July found that Ofsted had not directly inspected a single subcontractor in the subsequent 10 months. We went back to the inspectorate after Tuesday’s committee meeting to find out whether there’d been any progress in the last four months.

“We inspect subcontractors through main contractors, not separately. We believe this is the most efficient and effective way of doing so,” said a spokesperson, who refused to identify any specific inspections.

“However, we keep subcontractor data under constant review. If that data suggested a specific subcontractor inspection would be necessary, we would not hesitate to carry one out.”

Worse still, Ofsted appears to have no subcontractor inspections in the offing, and could not confirm any intention to change the situation.

Nevertheless, as of January this year, there were 1,200 subcontractors accessing £693 million in government funding. Of these, 161 had a contract worth over £1 million.

Ofsted has now collected more thorough data on around 500 subcontractors from the Department for Education.

The Skills Funding Agency had warned as long ago as 2010 that the subcontractor arrangement was “prone to mismanagement and abuse”.

However, Ofsted’s spokesperson insisted that the “most efficient and effective” way to proceed was by inspecting subcontractors through main contractors and not directly.

He also claimed the rule change in September last year did not amount to a change in policy, and that it had simply been to clarify that the watchdog could choose to inspect subcontractors, contrary to what Ofsted leaders had previously told FE Week.

Ms Spielman told the hearing that “there is a great deal we shouldn’t be comfortable about” with subcontracting.

She said Ofsted was looking at “how best to use” data on subcontractors, and “might” to decide to inspect “some” subcontractors.

“I’m not saying it’s a perfect model, but I am saying we get a great deal of information that helps us to identify many of the problems in the system,” she added.

She also admitted that Ofsted has “a number of concerns about apprenticeships and apprenticeship provision”, and expressed disappointment about the “deterioration” in the grades of FE providers.

Leading voices in FE have joined forces to demand more funding for the sector ahead of the autumn budget.

An open letter to the chancellor and signed by the heads of 10 unions and major learning bodies is calling for investment to create a “stable and well-resourced further education sector” that will boost social mobility and address skills gaps.

It warns that investment in “technical learning alone” is not enough to reverse the effects of previous cuts, and that flexible educational opportunities will encourage progression to higher-level post-school learning or employment and “build confidence and resilience, develop basic skills or return to education in later life”.

Philip Hammond, the chancellor, will deliver the autumn budget on November 22.

“Successive funding cuts have weakened our nation’s skills infrastructure and reduced the availability of learning opportunities for young people and adults,” states the letter.

“While the government has made welcome commitments to expanding technical education and apprenticeships, other areas of learning – many of which support the most vulnerable in our society – have been scaled back.”

This reflects wider concern that the government is increasingly focusing resources on apprenticeships, with the target of three million starts by 2020 still standing, and the development of T-levels seemingly at the expense of other traditional priority areas in FE, such as English courses for speakers of other languages.

The letter mentions thousands of talented staff who have left the sector as their jobs have been cut and their pay and conditions eroded.

“Unless we ensure that further education is well placed – and funded – to meet different needs, too many people will remain unable to access the qualifications and jobs which support higher productivity and economic growth,” it continues.

“There are few spending commitments which could have greater transformative potential – both for individuals and our economy.”

Separately, other FE associations are also putting pressure on the chancellor to remember the sector in his budget.

The Association for Employment and Learning Providers wants to review how non-levy apprenticeships will be funded after April 2019, while the Sixth-Form Colleges Association is demanding a £200 increase to the national funding rate for 16- to 19-year-olds.

University and College Union general secretary Sally Hunt was one of those who signed up to the letter.

“Cuts to further education have closed off vital learning opportunities, putting a cap on aspiration for too many people,” she told FE Week.

“In order to boost productivity and social mobility, the government must now ensure that the further education sector is properly funded to deliver whatever skills people need to get on in life.”

Other FE leaders to sign are Unison general secretary Dave Prentis, Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes, National Union of Students president Shakira Martin, Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton, and the joint general secretaries of the National Education Union Kevin Courtney and Mary Bousted.

Also undersigned are Holex director of policy Sue Pember, Third Sector National Learning Alliance chief executive Tim Ward, Learning and Work Institute chief executive Stephen Evans and Voice general secretary Deborah Lawson.