National Audit Office report on Investigation into university technical colleges

Today the National Audit Office (NAO) publishes a report on university technical colleges (UTCs). UTCs are a type of free school that focus on providing technical education, mainly to students aged 14 to 19.

This investigation sets out the facts about the UTC programme. It covers how the programme has progressed and the financial and educational performance of UTCs. The investigation also examines the Department for Education’s plans to improve UTCs.

The key findings of this report relate to:

• The number of UTCs that have opened, and the number that have subsequently closed as UTCs
• What capacity UTCs are operating at
• The financial position of UTCs and formal intervention by the Education and Skills Funding Agency
• How much has been spent on the UTC programme
• How Ofsted rates UTCs compared with other secondary schools
• What proportion of students from UTCs go on to become apprentices, compared with other secondary schools
• What the Department for Education’s plans for improving UTCs are