Petition to increase college funding to be debated in Parliament #LoveOurColleges

A petition that has been signed by around 70,000 people will now be debated in Parliament on Monday 21 January.

The petition ‘Increase college funding to sustainable levels – all students deserve equality!’ was launched during a national campaign called #LoveOurColleges involving colleges up and down the country last October. Alumni of Barking & Dagenham College, including Shaun Escoffery, the Lion King actor, posted messages of support on social media.

• Further education is the only part of the education budget to have had year-on-year cuts since 2010.
• Funding for adult education has been cut by 62% over this period, and the last decade has seen total enrolments for adults drop from 5.1m to 1.9m.
• Meanwhile, funding for students aged 16 to 18 has been cut by 8% in real terms since 2010.

Yvonne Kelly, Principal & CEO of Barking & Dagenham College commented:

“Colleges such as ours educate about two thirds of all our 16-18 year olds. It cannot make sense for students that funding drops off so starkly from the age of 16, as well as for adult education.

“I pleased that this debate is putting college funding in the spotlight and hope that it will be a catalyst for change.”