7th May 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
This week schools and colleges have approached the education secretary to warn that the growing funding gap between under 16s and sixth form pupils risks students’ futures. Sixth-forms students attract about £1000 less each year than younger pupils, a disparity which teachers fear will leave them without the resources to cultivate talent amongst older students.
The evidence brought to the attention of the education secretary comes from Department of Education figures, which show that last year the mean funding for secondary school students was £5,620, whilst for sixth-formers it was £4,645. The Association of Schools and College Leaders have also made comparisons with the funding practices of independent schools, which reveal that such schools spend more rather than less on sixth-formers as they prepare to leave school.
In another blow to sixth-forms, the government has announced further cuts, which could see funding for Sixth Formers drop to below £4,000. For many schools this will mean bigger A’ Level class sizes, and will result in less popular subjects such as foreign languages being dropped all together.