Shropshire colleges attack cuts in sixth form funding
Post-16 education is being put at risk because of successive government funding cuts, say Shropshire College principals.
The warning comes as a survey by the Sixth Form College Association (SFCA) warned that some colleges were being forced to drop courses in languages and sciences amid fears the system is "under serious threat" from funding cuts.
The poll, carried out by SFCA, also revealed a third of college leaders believe their institutions would not be able to operate after 2020 without more investment.
Fiona O'Brien, principal of New College Telford, said financial pressures had forced the college to drop Spanish from its curriculum, although it would continue to offer French and German, as well as a full range of science subjects.
Mrs O'Brien said that while the Government was investing in schools, this was coming at the expense of further education colleges which did not have their budgets protected in the same way.
"The schools which have sixth forms are able to divert some of the extra money they have been given for the under 16s, but we aren't able to do that," she said.
Martin Ward, principal at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, said his organisation had faced cuts of about £1 million a year since 2011.
He said the college has managed to protect its curriculum and still provides 45 A-level courses, and Shrewsbury Sixth Form and New College Telford were now looking at forming a "federation" with some shared services to save money.
Mr Ward said that because post-16 education funding is not ring-fenced it has felt the brunt of government cuts.
Echoing Mrs O'Brien's comments, he said: "There is a view that education is ring fenced by the Government therefore funding to sixth form colleges is protected but it is not.
"Because we are the one bit of the education budget that is not protected when cuts are required from education it is the post-16 budget that gets cut."
Mr Ward called for government protection for the post-16 budget. He said: "I think there needs to be some kind of political support for post 16 education."
A spokesman for Telford College of Arts and Technology, said the changes meant that colleges were having to look at different ways of working.
