The Department for Education has announced that the rules relating to the maths and English condition of funding that were tightened in February 2024 have been amended again.
In February 2024, the rules stated that providers would have to offer a minimum of 3 hours per week for English and 4 hours per week for maths. This has now been changed to 100 hours across the year for each subject, which must be delivered as stand-alone, whole class, in-person teaching. The level of tolerance, that permits a certain proportion of students not to comply with the condition, will be reduced from 5% to 2.5%, so the full removal of the tolerance announced previously will now no longer be implemented.
The revised rules now also include flexibilities for students with Education Health and Care Plans, allowing providers to deliver the minimum hours in alternative formats, for example through small groups, one to one teaching or embedded learning.
Clare Howard, Natspec CEO, commented on the new rules by saying:
“It is helpful that new guidance has been published, as the rules announced in February 2024 would have had an overwhelmingly negative impact on students. It was important that changes were announced before colleges were asked to replace tried and tested approaches to English and maths with a delivery model that does not serve their learners.
We welcome the new flexibilities in the revised rules that will enable providers to determine the most suitable delivery model for English and maths for learners with EHCPs. Arrangements for measuring compliance and recording the minimum teaching hours will need to accommodate this flexibility, particularly in relation to embedded learning. We would have liked to have seen less prescription and more flexibility to enable providers to vary the amount and proportion of English and maths within programmes for learners with EHCPs to match their individual needs.
We also recognise that there are many learners with SEND without EHCPs who would also benefit from the flexibilities being afforded to those with EHCPs. We hope that DfE will monitor the impact of the changes and be prepared to allow providers more autonomy in delivering English and maths if learners with SEND are found to be disadvantaged by the new arrangements.
We will have to await the outcome of the Curriculum and Assessment Review to see how long these new arrangements stay in place. The panel’s recent call for evidence is likely to result in a range of alternative options for post-16 English and maths being presented. Government should not miss the opportunity for a radical rethink, particularly in relation to the needs of the third of young people who do not achieve at level 2 in these subjects by the end of key stage 4.”