Labour will today [Tuesday] warn that the Conservatives have
presided over five years of decline in post-16 education,
exposing Boris Johnson’s empty rhetoric on creating opportunities
as analysis shows students from poorer backgrounds are losing out
on training places fastest.
Labour analysis shows the number of further education students
has declined by a quarter since 2015, with the number of younger
and poorer students declining fastest. Since 2015, the number of
learners from the most deprived backgrounds has declined by
nearly a third, rising to almost 40 per cent among learners under
age 19.
On a visit to Swindon College, Labour’s Shadow Education
Secretary, , will call on the Government to stop neglecting the
further education sector and recognise the essential role
colleges have to play in enabling young people and adults to
develop the skills needed for our economic recovery and future
economy.
Labour’s analysis also shows the number of further education
colleges has fallen by a quarter, with numbers of full-time
equivalent staff dropping by over 9,000.
This decline in the number of FE students, colleges and staff
comes as the Conservatives have slashed spending on 16-19
education by £710 million since 2010, a reduction of 21.0 per
cent in real terms, which has taken training opportunities away
from thousands of young people.
, will highlight the key role colleges have to play
in our economic recovery, restating Labour’s calls for a smarter
version of the furlough scheme to include training, along with a
‘Jobs Promise’ to provide opportunities for young people age 16 –
24 to access quality education, training or employment after six
months of being out of work, employment or training, after
analysis has found half a million young people could face
long-term unemployment by 2022.
, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Education,
said:
“The Conservatives have weakened the foundations of our further
education sector, exposing their empty rhetoric on creating
opportunities and undermining young people’s life chances.
“The ability to train and retrain will be essential to securing
our economy, yet successive Conservative governments have
hollowed out the infrastructure needed to reskill workers after
this pandemic.
“With unemployment rising, the Government should heed Labour’s
call for a ‘jobs promise’ to avoid a lost generation of young
people.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
·The number of young learners under 19 has
declined by a third with total learner numbers declining by a
quarter.
Source: Further education and skills, England 2015/16 -
2019/20 https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3595957e-9202-44f4-b33d-952f9050f1eb
·The number of FE Colleges has declined 26%
from 335 in 2015/16 to 266 by 2018/19.
Source: Higher and further education institutions' from
'Education and training statistics for the UK
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/571cc1b1-2b45-45c7-ac95-964ca686eecf
·The number of FE staff has declined by over
9,000 from 60,097 to 50, 689
Source: Higher and further education institutions' from
'Education and training statistics for the UK
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/cbe3d827-e674-4729-8342-3669cee3ddb5
The number of learners from the most deprived backgrounds
has decline by nearly a third since 2015/16: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a452b287-efe5-40cc-8f73-1dbf4439f2cd
·Among 16 – 19 year olds the number of
learners from the most deprived backgrounds has nearly
40%: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7ddab7d9-bfa0-48ea-baf1-0c2209ab050c
·Number of younger students declining fastest:
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3595957e-9202-44f4-b33d-952f9050f1eb
·Expenditure on 16-19 education fell from
£6.39 billion in 2010-11 to £5.68 billion in 2017-18, a reduction
of 11.1% in cash terms and 21.0% in real terms.
Source: House of Commons Library 16-19 education funding in
England since 2010 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn07019/
·Labour’s jobs promise would
guarantee young people out of education or work for six
months a training or job placement: https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-unveils-jobs-promise-plan-as-new-analysis-shows-potential-scale-of-unemployment-crisis/
