Loughborough College CEO John Doherty has raised the profile of a debate on further education funding in Westminster today (Monday 21 January) with Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan and Edward Argar, MP for Charnwood, which was generated by a #LoveOurColleges petition.
In the approach to the 2019 spending review it is hoped today’s debate will add momentum to calls, including through the #LoveOurColleges campaign, for further education college funding to be increased to sustainable levels.
The campaign was launched by the Association of Colleges - which represents almost 95% of further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges in England – and the petition emerged as a result of work from students at Hampshire’s Brockenhurst College during October’s inaugural Colleges Week.
Colleges Week was designed to raise awareness following an Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report indicating an almost decade-long lack of growth in spending in a sector which educates and trains 2.2 million people every year in England and the Week included a Parliament Square rally with principals, staff and students from across the country in what education unions described as “unprecedented” action.
The Loughborough College CEO also wrote to Nicky Morgan and Edward Argar in autumn ahead of the Week, to seek their continued support for Loughborough College and the wider FE sector. In his letters at the time, he said: “The lack of investment in the education and training of [people] reaching working age, and of adults throughout their working lives and beyond, not only impacts learners but also their families, communities, employers and the economy. Our growing population is increasingly unable to acquire the skills needed for the country to compete on the global stage.
“The IFS has revealed that for the past decade, post-16 education outside universities has been ‘the sector most squeezed’, bearing the brunt of almost continuous real-term cuts and the introduction of no fewer than 27 major reforms.
“As an FE institution, Loughborough College is required to deliver a wide range of teaching and training including apprenticeships, A levels, Applied General Qualifications, Levels 4 and 5 qualifications, the Post-18 HE provision, the National Retraining Scheme and Maths and English GCSE retakes.
“FE colleges have become increasingly efficient in response but per student spending in our sector is now around 8% lower than in secondary schools and has fallen by around 12% in real terms since 2010. FE teachers’ pay has fallen in real terms by 25%."