Children’s Commissioner report on the college sector

• Colleges across England helping students outside of their core role and providing support for mental health, poverty, and wellbeing, often because other services cannot meet demand
• Delays and gaps in information sharing between schools and local services is leaving young people heading to college without the support they need at a critical transition point
• Funding pressures and rising need are limiting colleges’ ability to help, with 90% of college leaders saying funding limits their ability to provide additional support, and a third unable to meet EHCP requirements due to the funding not matching need
• Children’s Commissioner is calling for urgent action on data sharing, joined-up systems and funding to ensure all young people thrive in post-16 education

Delayed or incomplete information sharing between schools and local services is leaving colleges without the key insights they need to support young people effectively, limiting their ability to meet young people’s additional needs and prepare them for a life beyond education, the Children’s Commissioner has warned.

Yet despite this inconsistent information sharing, a new report from Dame Rachel de Souza has revealed how colleges across England are providing support to young people facing challenges with poverty, mental health, and transport at a pivotal time in their lives, as they transition from school and move into employment. 

The new report provides for the first time a national picture of resources, staffing and challenges facing the college sector in England. College leaders listed student attendance as a key barrier to providing support, with two thirds listing it as a top concern. Additionally, 44% of leaders were concerned about low student engagement.

Leaders highlighted how attendance issues that arose at school could persist into college. Despite the legal requirement for young people to continue education or training until 18, the Commissioner is concerned that the number of NEET young people may be an underestimate given the large number of young people registered in college, but with poor attendance.

Dame Rachel’s report on further education and sixth form colleges, released to mark Colleges Week, shows much of the support provided by colleges is being stretched to its limits by funding pressures, gaps in wider local services and rising need.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said:

“Colleges are an important part of the education system, helping young people at a pivotal moment in their lives as they move towards adulthood and the world of work.

“For the first time, we have a national picture of how colleges are supporting young people, often going beyond their core role to help with challenges outside the college grounds. But too often, colleges are left picking up the pieces when information is not shared properly by schools and local services – making it harder for colleges to help young people succeed from day one.

“If we are serious about breaking down the barriers to opportunity, we need a system that works together for every child. Young people themselves have told me how much they care about building a good future for themselves, so we must listen to young people’s experiences to ensure a smooth, successful move into adulthood and employment for every young person.”

Today’s report, Setting young people up for success – College sector report: The Children’s Commissioner’s School and College Census, builds on Dame Rachel’s previously published Children’s Plan, a state of the nation of England’s mainstream schools based on responses from around 90% of school leaders, and her subsequent report, Special and Alternative Provision Sector Report: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Census, which evaluated responses from special and alternative provision settings.

Across England, 644,000 young people aged 16 to 18 studied in colleges in England during the academic year 2024/25, with an additional 49,000 young people of the same age undertaking apprenticeships through colleges, so 33% of the age group are in further education and sixth form colleges.

Most other young people in this age group were in state-funded secondary schools (24%), employment (8%) or higher education institutions (12%) – while just under one in 10 (9%) were officially recorded as not in education, employment or training (NEET). The remainder were in independent schools, apprenticeships or special schools.

Colleges play a vital role in many young people’s educational journeys, acting as the primary pathway for post-16 education and passage into higher education or employment. They also play a central role in a number of government priorities, including reducing the number of NEET young people.

The Commissioner’s report found that colleges are playing a critical role in proving strong pastoral, personal and practical support, often stepping in to help students with help where other services fall short.

Key findings include:

• Most colleges provide mental health support: Access to Children’s Mental Health and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) was a significant concern among college leaders, with 79% citing it among their top concerns – yet despite limited resources four in five colleges employed a mental health counsellor and more than half had access to an Education Mental Health Practitioner.
• Colleges leaders were more worried about their own funding than schools leaders were about theirs: More college leaders (70%) were worried about their own funding than secondary schools (51%) – one of the biggest disparities between colleges and schools. 90% of college leaders said funding limited their ability to provide additional support, with a third saying it prevented them meeting requirements of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
• Transport affordability and availability impacted students’ opportunities: Almost a third (31%) rated transport as a top concern for children in their local area, substantially higher than secondary schools (10%). More colleges ranked poverty in the local area among their top concerns than secondary schools, showcasing the need to level the playing field for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

David Hughes, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges, said:

“I am so pleased to see the Children’s Commissioner shine a light on the extensive role colleges play in providing great pastoral support to their students. The work they do recognises the mental health, poverty and wellbeing needs of their diverse body of students. 

“I am also very pleased to see this report published during Colleges Week 2026. It’s a week in which we celebrate the fantastic work of colleges and the impacts they have in helping people realise their ambitions and aspirations.

“The barriers facing the college sector are well known to all across further education, but often fail to register in wider policy circles, so it’s heartening to see this report set them out so explicitly. Colleges are consistently asked to do more with less, and despite immense funding and resource pressures, they offer strong support young people from all backgrounds, no matter what their circumstances.  

“I agree with the findings and recommendations set out in the report; colleges across the country already do an incredible job. But with adequate funding, affordable student transport, data sharing for school to college transition, and a sharp focus on national data and evidence gathering on college students, they could do so much more to ensure every young person has a successful transition to adulthood.”

The college sector has faced some of the deepest spending cuts in the decade since 2010, while at the same time meeting growing demand with the number of 16 to 18-year-olds in England growing by 300,000 (around 16%) between 2018 and 2025.

The Commissioner has warned without a more coordinated, better funded system young people will continue to face unequal access to education and training depending on where they live.

In her report, the Commissioner has set out a series of recommendations aimed to ensure young people can access, participate and thrive in further education colleges as part of a successful transition to adulthood, including:

• Improving the school to college transition for young people to prevent disengagement as young people reach college, and to stop young people from becoming NEET. Regular reviews of EHCPs in preparation for transition out of school should ensure plans are up to date, relevant and shared with colleges.
• Providing more funding for colleges and local services to support children’s additional needs through extending the pupil premium to include young people in post-16 education in addition to existing 16 to 19 funding. This additional funding should be targeted to support the young people who need it most.
• Ensuring transport for young people is affordable, especially for children in low-income households and children in rural areas with limited transport links so young people across the country can travel to college easily.
• Renewed focus on national data for colleges with clear evidence of what works to help all young people in post-16 education with concerns around mental health and worries about attendance and participation in college.

Findings from The Children’s Plan: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Census, Special and Alternative Provision Sector Report: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Censusand The Big Ambition are available online.