This week, Worcester MP Robin Walker spoke in support of reviewing the funding settlement for 16 to 19-year-olds education. Worcester is home to a number of very successful colleges who are working hard to deliver A-level and T-level courses, as well as the University of Worcester who continue to teach an excellent range of degrees.
Over the course of this Parliament the Government has increased skills funding by £3.8 billion of which £1.6 billion has been allocated to 16-19 provisions. As part of the Education Select Committee, Robin Walker MP oversaw the recent publication of the committee’s report on “The future of post-16 qualifications”. In this report, the committee felt that the while the variety of options for higher and further education had seen a welcome expansion, there needed to be a broader review of post-16 funding within the Department for Education with a focus on targeted support for disadvantaged students.
This conclusion was also repeated by a report from the APPG for Students which also highlighted that students needed more support if they are going to continue through and complete their degrees.
Speaking in the debate, Robin Walker MP said:
“I was very pleased, both as Chair of the Education Committee and as a local MP with a large university and many excellent colleges in my patch, to be able to serve on the inquiry and contribute to it. There are a number of strong recommendations, which I want to endorse, including more targeted bursary funding and an increase in the earnings threshold for the first time since 2018. I hope my right hon. Friend on the Front Bench will be able take some of those up.
“The two reports from the all-party group highlight several concerning trends for students, which look set to fundamentally alter how young people see the comparative value of different further and higher education routes. Where that increases the attractiveness of earn-while-you-learn approaches such as apprenticeships, it might in some senses be welcome, but where it reduces students’ ability to complete their courses or participate in the wider life of universities, including clubs, volunteering and community engagement, and where it risks increasing drop-out rates or requires students to spend so much time working that their studies and mental health suffer, it is a concern.
“Local students at the University of Worcester wrote to me with a number of concerns that they wanted to be raised in this debate. They point out that the cost of living is acutely affecting those who live on their maintenance loans and feel that a number of the existing schemes to support people with the cost of living specifically exclude students. They say that student accommodation costs have risen 60% in our area in the last decade, and 68% of students who responded to their survey say that they can no longer afford course materials. One third of students have considered dropping out because of finances, and one third—compared with the quarter highlighted in the all-party group’s report—have been left at the end of the month with less than £50 after rent and bills. They call for an increased student finance package and tailored cost of living support for students. In that respect, the recommendations of the all-party group are very welcome.
“The Education Committee has also heard concerns that students taking T-levels find that they cannot complete their courses because of cost of living pressures on their families; in many cases, they are transferring to apprenticeships to earn while they learn. I highlight the recommendation, which echoes the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous), about FE funding in our report “The future of post-16 qualifications”; I gently say to my right hon. Friend the Minister that the figure cited in the Government’s response—that there is an increase of 2.2% for the FE sector—is clearly not enough. I know that he will want to make the case to the Treasury for more, and I hope that he will use the reports from the all-party group to strengthen that case.
“I also highlight very briefly the Select Committee’s recommendation on allowing students and people in study to access the 30 hours of childcare. We think that that is an important part of the offer; it would ensure that people with parenting and caring responsibilities do not drop out of education and out of the opportunity to increase their earnings potential through upskilling.