WITH education or training now compulsory for young people until the age of 18, sixth form colleges are a valuable step towards preparing the next generation for the world of work or university.

While much of the focus recently has been on university funding, with fees set to rise to £9,250 from autumn 2017 and maintenance grants being scrapped, the strains facing the sixth forms that lead students into higher education may have been overlooked.

Recent figures released in a report by the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) show that funding cuts are putting pressures on sixth form colleges and costs are increasing, resulting in courses being cut.

While young people from Tynedale have to travel further afield to get to a sixth form college, the district’s four high schools have their own sixth forms which offer A-level subjects and vocational courses for students after completing their GCSEs.

And at the start of this academic year, the sixth form at Haydon Bridge High dropped childcare, law, BTEC sport and agriculture as post-GCSE options due to insufficient interest.

With the report showing that funding for sixth formers in England is 20 per cent lower than the funding for 11 to 16-year-olds and 47 per cent lower than the average university tuition fee, it is easy to see why sixth forms are struggling to maintain a range of courses.

The quality of the education offered in sixth form to 16 to 19-year-olds is also criticised in the report, with the 15 to 17 hours of tuition and support they receive being called “uniquely narrow and short” compared to the high performing education systems in Shanghai, Singapore, Sweden and elsewhere.

And students who decide to leave their school in Tynedale and make the journey to attend Northumberland College or Newcastle College to do courses could be seeing even greater cuts to their education than those who decide to stay in school.

The report, which was released this month by SFCA, shows that 66 per cent of sixth form colleges have already dropped courses as a result of funding cuts and cost increases, and a survey revealed that 90 per cent of sixth form colleges are either extremely concerned or concerned about the financial health of their college.

In response to the details in the report, the Department for Education said: “We have ended the unfair difference between post-16 schools and colleges by funding them per student, rather than discriminating between qualifications.”

But the report outlines that because of the VAT ‘learning tax’ on sixth form colleges which are not 16-19 academies, last year the average sixth form college was left with £385,914 less to spend on the front line education of students.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association said: “This report should act as a wake-up call to the government.

“The message from the most effective and efficient providers of sixth form education is clear – more investment from Government is essential if sixth form colleges, school and academy sixth forms are to continue providing young people with the high quality education they need to progress to higher education and employment.

“A review of sixth form funding is urgently required to ensure it is linked to the realistic costs of delivering a rounded, high quality curriculum. Failure to do this risks turning sixth form education into a narrow and part-time experience. That would be bad for students, bad for society and bad for the economy”.