Parity of funding between 5-15 and 16-18 education needed

Funding for 16-18 education could have been £1.2bn higher over the course of this parliament by sharing the increase in the 5-15 budget across the whole 5-18 phase, according to a new report published by IPPR today.

The report shows that funding for 16-18 education fell from £7.7bn to £7bn over the course of this parliament, so sharing the increase would have offset the widening in the gap between pre and post-16 funding.

With the participation age rising the report highlights that there is a need for a much more coherent upper secondary education phase in England, and that an effort must be made to close the funding gap between pre-16 and post-16 education.

The report predicts what the funding landscape would look like in the next parliament, based on the parties' plans.

There is a small difference in the education funding proposals of all three parties on 5-15 education, according to the analysis in the report. In nominal terms, the 5-15 budget is expected to increase under all parties as the Conservatives plan to increase it in line with rising pupil numbers and Labour and the Liberal Democrats plan to protect the budget against inflation. However per pupil funding will fall (in real terms) under both proposals - inflation will eat away at funding under the Conservative plans while rising pupil numbers will mean that there will be less money available for each student under the Lib Dem/Labour plan.

The report also shows, however, that on funding for 16-18 there is a larger gap between the parties' plans. The Lib Dems and Labour would freeze the 16–18 budget in real terms, while the Conservatives would not protect the post-16 budget, which would equate to a predicted real-terms cut of 13.4%, representing a £900m gap between the Conservative and Lib Dem/Labour plans.

Louise Evans, Senior Research Fellow at IPPR said:

"The funding gap between pre-16 and post-16 education means that a single, more coherent upper secondary phase in our education system is much harder to achieve. With the participation age rising, and in order to see more young people leaving education having completed a broader, stretching programme of study over a four- or five-year period, we must look at how we can close this gap.

"At the moment post-16 education still often feels like an add-on, and this feeling is exacerbated by inconsistent funding, a fragmented institutional landscape and narrow expectations of curricula.

"We must rethink the foundations of upper-secondary education as the current system is so fractured and incoherent that it undercuts the potential of institutions and individual young people alike. We must look to build an educational system that England's young people need and deserve. This requires Government to have a clearer vision of the upper secondary phase, with a consistently broader curriculum and more coherent approaches to funding, institutional choice and accountability across the age range."

The report takes a rare system-wide view and makes the case for a well-defined upper-secondary system in England that would ensure a broad, stretching programme of study for all students over a four-year period. From September this year, young people will be required to stay in education or training until 18, which the report highlightsas a rare opportunity to achieve cross-party consensus on the purpose of England's upper secondary education and what changes may lead to system-wide improvement.

The report outlines ways in which the future of our upper secondary education could be reshaped, including:

" a clear vision and agreement on an overarching upper secondary curriculum

" improved progression advice with a real choice of institution at 14

" an accountability system which encourages responsibility for a learner across the whole period, up to the age of 18 or 19.

" clearer local oversight of upper secondary provision to be able to deliver the vision

" fairer funding across the phase.

Notes to editors

The new report - Moving on up: Developing a strong, coherent upper secondary education system in England – will be available from Thursday 26 March from http://www.ippr.org/publications/moving-on-up-developing-a-strong-coherent-upper-secondary-education-system-in-england

Table 10.4 can be found on page 60 of the report.

The report's recommends include:

• Definition: Government should commit quickly to a definition of upper-secondary education, using it consistently to drive coherence in policymaking.
• Vision: a shared, driving vision of the purpose of upper-secondary education in England capable of guiding the system and bringing breadth, stretch and coherence to young people's experiences.
• Curriculum: Any future government must move towards one overarching curriculum entitlement that is reflected in the learning of all young people.
• Learning & experience : all young people should be expected to leave upper secondary education having achieved much broader and more demanding programmes of study than they do currently.
• Vocational education: There should also be only one overarching curriculum or standard for those on a vocational path during their upper-secondary education, whether primarily college or work-based.
• Work-based courses: All those on an apprenticeship or work-based course should be required to spend one or two days in and those on vocational college-based courses should be expected to spend one day a week in the workplace.
• Apprenticeships: Should be reserved for those aged 25 and under.
• Structured progression advice: Students and parents should receive advice about the expectations of upper secondary education
• Choice of institution: Students should be given information about other local institutions with the choice to 'opt out' and apply to another institution
• Local oversight: combined authorities should be able to appoint education commissioners with oversight of all upper secondary provision in the area and be able to request the devolution of funding for upper-secondary provision
• Employers: Employers should be given a consistent role in
• curriculum design at a national level.
• Parity of funding: funding must become more equalised across the whole upper-secondary phase if the coherence and breadth of learning programmes are to be supported over the four years
• Funding transparency: The next government must be more transparent and consistent with information across the upper-secondary phase, (on average per-pupil funding & post-16 pupil projections).
• Data: Further sophisticated data should be collected and made openly available to show how cohorts of young people are progressing over the entirety of their upper-secondary education

In the 2013 cohort (almost 650,000 16-year-olds) 67.2% had attained level 2 (5 GCSE A*-C or equivalent) at 16, 59.1% had level 3 (2 A Levels or equivalent) by 19 and 27.6% had no basic level of attainment.

Contacts

Sofie Jenkinson, 07981 023 031, s.jenkinson@ippr.org

Danny Wright, 07887 422789, d.wright@ippr.org