Cuts to entitlement could harm social mobility

The Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) recently released their funding statement and statutory guidance arrangements for funding the education and training of 16 to 19 year olds in England for the 2011/12 academic year.

Although the 157 Group welcomes the overall funding increase of 1.9% we are very concerned about the large reductions in funding for what is known as the ‘entitlement’, said to have been made in order to fund more full-time programmes. In cutting funding for existing students to accommodate new ones the YPLA is ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’.

The ‘Entitlement Curriculum’ was introduced in the year 2000 to guarantee full time learners of school age access to tutorial support and a range of enrichment activities. Enrichment activities include the chance to take part in sport or a range of other social, cultural and recreational activities including challenges such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. These activities are widely regarded as an indispensible part of a proper education – one only has to look at the huge investments made in this area by the best public schools. However, the YPLA funding statement confirms that this entitlement will be reduced by 74% from 114 funded hours to just 30.

The YPLA claims that these reductions will enable £150m to be distributed to benefit the poorest learners via the disadvantage uplift. However, since the 74% reduction in entitlement will have saved around £650m for the YPLA, this still means a loss of around half a billion pounds from the front line.

The 157 Group’s belief is that enrichment activities help to shape the rounded individuals that HE recruiters are looking for – people who can talk about something other than their subjects and have participated in interesting extra-curricular activities. Cutting back on these activities disadvantages those from poorer backgrounds who are applying to higher status universities and could damage social mobility. Furthermore, enrichment activities for those on vocational programmes are generally used to support their main programme through industrial visits and attendance at trade shows, exhibitions or competitions. Enrichment activities help students to develop the soft skills that employers value such as working in a team and leadership skills. Cutting back on the opportunities that let young people build on these skills will ultimately lead to them being less well prepared for employment.

We see enrichment as a key factor in tackling disengagement, raising participation and providing young people with a rounded education. Funding reductions to the entitlement combined with the recent cuts to the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA), will impact heavily on young people from lower income families. The YPLA should be careful in its claims that cuts to entitlement funding will help increase investment in disadvantaged learners since the entitlement cuts will themselves lead to less access to opportunities.

The 157 Group welcomes Simon Hughes, in his new and important role as Advocate for Access to Education and it is encouraging that he is already looking to see how the impact of the EMA cuts might be mitigated. We do believe however that he will have his work cut out to ensure equal opportunities for all if we continue to see funding reductions in vital areas such as curriculum enrichment and tutorial support.

Lynne Sedgmore is executive director of the 157 Group, which represents 28 of the most influential colleges in the FE sector