Loughborough College is calling on the Government to address the funding crisis in Further Education in this morning’s budget.
The College is backing the ‘Mind the Skills Gap’ campaign, organised by the Future Skills Coalition, to highlight the important role the further education sector plays in giving people the skills they need to enter the job market.
“When the Skills Minister opened our world-class T-Level Centre last week, he said Loughborough College was his dream of how skills should be across the United Kingdom,” said Jo Maher, Principal and CEO.
“The Government’s current funding model for Further Education and lack of investment in people and skills needs to improve to support the Minister’s dream. We ask the Chancellor to act now to boost skills, employment, and growth.”
The College’s call for increased funding for the further education sector comes ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Budget and as college finances remain below what they were in 2010 in real terms according to figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Funding cuts mean spending per pupil in 2024-25 will be around 5% below 2010-11 levels, and for adult students, it is 22% below 2009–10 levels.