Education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has today announced that an extra £160 million is to be invested in further education (FE) in the next academic year. In response, Natspec’s CEO, Clare Howard, said,
“This additional funding for further education is very welcome. It’s a clear signal from government that they recognise the importance of FE and the contribution of colleges in helping them deliver on their missions. We are pleased to see that some of the funding is specifically targeted at disadvantaged young people and those who are continuing to study English and maths. Significant numbers of these young people will have a special educational need or disability (SEND) and this extra funding will enable more of them to succeed in FE.
The extra money will help specialist colleges with some of the recruitment and retention issues they face in relation to the specialist job roles that are vital to the success of young people with SEND. Specialist colleges face a particular challenge in relation to pay, with teachers paid £5,000 less than in other colleges and £15,000 less than schools. Whilst the additional money won’t close this gap, it will prevent it widening further. There is now a need for government to address the problems caused by the lack of sufficient high needs funding, where college students receive less than 10% of the high needs budget despite 26.3% of EHCP holders being aged 16 to 25.
We look forward to hearing the detail to follow this announcement and will continue to press for fair funding for young people with SEND in the FE sector.”