In particular ASCL hope that this review will result in the removal of the funding anomaly whereby full-time 16-19 year olds in their third year of post-16 education (typically referred to as “year 14”) are only funded at 82.5% of full-time students in year 12 and 13. This is despite these students often taking exactly the same courses and indeed often having higher needs.

ASCL is also concerned that this review is constrained by being within “existing fiscal policy”. This treats post-18 education funding as a “zero-sum” game where any gains by one part of the education and training sector are at the expense of another. We firmly believe that the education sector per se deserves more funding in absolute terms. In addition, given the demographic increases over the next ten years (with some estimates predicting an approximate extra 350,000 18-20 year olds by 2030), the fiscally constrained parameters of the review could mean even more damaging consequences for our young people and economy.

Read the full response here.