Local authorities involved in a pilot supporting looked-after teenagers and care leavers have told the government the programme has reduced “the potential cliff edge” of support when they leave school, strengthening calls for funding beyond March 2025.
An evaluation of the first year of the pupil premium plus post-16 scheme, published on Friday, showed councils were spotting “signs” of increased engagement and more awareness of education, employment or training (EET) options amongst disadvantaged over-16s.
Funding for the programme, which was extended to 153 local authorities this May in receipt of nearly £14 million, ends at the end of next March.
Local council representatives have called for “certainty” over future funding after the report outlined positive outcomes in young people in the long-term such as improved attendance, retention in post-16 settings and an increase in young people choosing EET options.
The research evaluated and surveyed three cohorts of local authorities which obtained access to the funding when the government expanded.
Cohort one comprised of 30 local authorities that received the pilot funding in 2021/22, the second group entailed 28 councils receiving funding in 2022/23, and a subsequent 94 local authorities funded in 2023/24.
Call for certainty
The post-16 pupil premium plus trial was launched in 2021, calling for local authorities to appoint “virtual school heads”, to work with colleges, training providers and social workers to improve outcomes for looked-after children and care leavers aged between 16 and 18.
The original £3 million pilot ran from October 2021 to March 2022 with an allocation of £900 per pupil – less than half the £2,345 per pupil for those on the pre-16 scheme. Under 16s are currently funded £2,570 per child in care.
A report last year evaluating the six-month pilot – phase one – called for a long-term evaluation of the scheme, an extension to apply to all local authorities and an extension of funding to over 18s and provision beyond FE colleges.
The Department for Education subsequently expanded funding to a further 28 councils in autumn 2022 and to all English local authorities the year after. The scope of the programme was also extended to all looked-after children and care leavers in 2023/24, not just those in general FE colleges.
A further extension was announced this May, awarding a total of 153 authorities with allocations for 2024/25. The extension provided £13.84 million for the period running from April 2024 to March 2025. Per child funding for this financial year is not detailed.
Last year, DfE applied a 15 per cap to 58 local authorities already in receipt of funding, meaning their funding would not drop by more than 15 per cent compared to the last year. For 2024/25, DfE removed the cap and “all allocations will be calculated using the same formula.”
The Local Government Association, representing local authorities, urged the government in its Autumn budget for more certainty on funding.
In its budget submission to the Treasury, it called for “certainty over children’s and young people’s funding streams due to end in March 2025 to protect services ahead of the Spending Review.”
Perceived barriers
Following a survey of 120 “virtual school heads” (81 per cent response rate), 85 per cent across all three cohorts had used, or planned to use the funding to “enhance or expand” on an existing offer for disadvantaged teens.
In the early days of the pilot, the report found most virtual school heads had prioritised money to increase staffing capacity “particularly in post-16 settings”.
After the first year, most councils had delivered or planned to deliver training for college staff and then social workers. This included educating on trauma and attachment, role specific training, and information about the post-16 education landscape and transitions.
They also used the money for careers guidance, course equipment, workwear and also theatre trips and sports to bridge the “opportunity gap” between vulnerable teens and their peers.
Participants praised the scheme for creating good engagement with post-16 providers but found the main perceived barriers to be the turnover of social workers, not receiving student data from education providers and low engagement from the students.
Some virtual school heads added that they saw an increase in engagement from students since receiving funding, which the report suggested may become “less of a barrier over time”.
Pupil premium ‘massive help’ to FE
The report concluded that the programme was viewed “very positively” by virtual school heads and is seen as “as reducing the potential cliff edge in terms of support for young people when they reach 16”.
One post-16 lead from the first cohort to receive pilot funding said: “Obviously in a secondary school, they get the pupil premium plus as a matter of course, plus any other funding, and then suddenly it all just goes. So, I think it’s been a massive, massive help to FE, to have that allocation of money to support the learner in whichever direction they want to go to.”
The report outlined a table of short-term, interim and long-term outcomes for each of the three cohorts allowing for the lag in funding for each group of councils.
It found that by now, all three cohorts have an “improved understanding of the post-16 landscape by virtual schools/children’s social care.”
In the interim, by the end of the 2024/25 year, all participating councils would have “tailored interventions in place to support attendance”.
Long-term outcomes for young people – expected by the end of 2025/26 for the first two groups of funding recipients and the end of 2026/27 for cohort three – included improved attendance, increased engagement, retention in post-16 and more agency and voice in the decisions made.
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