As nine in 10 sixth form colleges are concerned about their financial health, the common practice of students pursuing four AS-levels before dropping their weakest subject for the final year is to be phased out, according to new research from the Sixth Form Colleges' Association (SFCA).
Three AS subjects as standard from next year
In recent years, students have been encouraged to enrol in four AS-levels in their first year in sixth form, then to abandon their weakest subject in their second and pursue their three best to A2-level.
The SFCA’s funding impact survey report, released today, disclosed that 66% of sixth form colleges have dropped courses as a result of funding pressures and over a third of colleges have dropped courses in modern foreign languages such as German, French and Italian. In addition over 50% of sixth form colleges have reduced or removed extracurricular activities such as music, drama and sport.
"Now that's hit the wider, extra-curricular activities because staff have got that much less time and energy," says Michael Hill, principal of Carmel Sixth Form College in St Helens.
"It tends to be the subject-based activities that suffer, like science club and debating society, which tend to be termly now rather than weekly."
Concerns over financial health
The report, based on responses from 80 out of 90 of all sixth form colleges, disclosed that 90% of colleges are concerned or extremely concerned about the financial health of their institution with 31% questioning their financial viability over the next three years.
Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “These findings reflect the experience of both schools and colleges across the post-16 sector. The level of funding provided by the government is simply inadequate and the situation is dire."
The SCFA comments that the sector has suffered three fund cuts since 2011 in tandem with rising costs in increased employer contributions to pensions and national insurance schemes.
“While the underfunding of 16-19 education affects all providers, the impact on sixth form colleges is particularly acute as they enrol more disadvantaged students and cannot cross subsidise from 11 to 16 funding as many schools and academies do.”
The report also noted that one “glaring inequality” between sixth form colleges and other sixth forms was the “absence of a VAT refund scheme”, which meant that sixth form colleges had on average £385,914 less to spend on education over the past year.
A wake-up call
SFCA chief executive Bill Watkin called the findings a “wake-up call” to the government and urged ministers to take action.
“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,” he said.
The SFCA’s report comes ahead of the autumn statement on November 23, which will set out the government’s spending plans over the coming months.