| SPOTLIGHT |
Sixth-form colleges may need to look seriously at options for shared services, federations or mergers as well as continue to scrutinise costs in the face of a tough funding climate, the Sixth Form College Commissioner has said.
Peter Mucklow, also National Director for Young People at the Education Funding Agency, said funding issues in the context of a demographic downturn and strong competition would continue to present challenges to many sixth-form colleges over the next few years.
He added: “Governing bodies and Principals will wish to explore structural changes which will sustain high quality education for their communities and, where appropriate, adopt them before their institution experiences financial difficulties.”
Mucklow warned that structural change on a small scale or on a single institution-to-institution basis might be insufficient or sub-optimal in the longer term.
He said his team had worked closely with the Further Education Commissioner, the Skills Funding Agency, 2 general FE colleges, 3 sixth-form colleges, 2 local authorities and the Local Enterprise Partnership in North and East Norfolk and North Suffolk to look at more radical area-wide options to address viability and improve standards for students.
The report from this project, which examined potential responses to declining student numbers and funding issues, can be viewed here.
“This has produced a positive outcome and the college governing bodies and Principals are now leading proposals for change. This approach offers a new approach to structural change which there is scope to replicate more widely,” the Commissioner said.
The Education Funding Agency has some limited support funds available to help colleges determine how to reduce costs or achieve structural change. Applications must be made by 30 September 2015.
In his review of the 2014/15 academic year, Mucklow said sixth-form colleges continued to be “successful and resilient overall”.
He noted that the proportion of sixth-form colleges rated as good or outstanding overall by Ofsted stood at 83%. Only three colleges were currently rated as inadequate overall.
Mucklow said in the next year the Education Funding Agency would do more to support “and where necessary challenge” colleges which are not in formal intervention but where financial and educational data showed a risk of future failure unless action was taken.
“This will start with a closer dialogue with those colleges,” he said. “Where necessary, we may then ask a college to consider taking action for example to strengthen its governing body, or initiate a cost review or a structural review. However, decisions on what action to take will remain clearly with the relevant governing body."
