The figures released yesterday by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimate that spending will fall by over 13% between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the fastest rate since at least the 1950s.

The cuts will affect all levels of education including the Further Education sector, with the funding for tutorials and extra-curricular activities in FE facing a 85% cut. Careers services also face a £ 200m cut on their budget at a time when youth unemployment has risen to almost 1 million.

Responding to the figures, Toni Pearce, Vice-President of the National Union of Students (NUS), warned: "The Government is asking young people to shoulder the burden of paying for an economic crisis they did not create."

Pearce added: "Young people increasingly have nowhere to turn as unemployment continues to rise and education opportunities are restricted. The Government must invest in education now or the consequences for the future could be dire."

Apostolos Kostoulas