When colleges were given the green light to recruit 14- and 15-year-old students in 2013, it was hailed as a game-changing moment for the sector.
But, for the first time since then, the number of colleges recruiting younger students has dropped, according to TES research. Overall enrolment rates across England have remained low, with the Association of Colleges (AoC) acknowledging the challenges of attracting younger students.
The number of colleges planning to recruit 14-16 learners in 2016-17 is just 18, down from the 20 that expressed their intention to do so last year.
Oldham and Newcastle colleges confirmed that they had stopped taking on younger students in 2016-17, while Central Bedfordshire College scrapped plans to expand its age range last year. John Leggott College was the only institution intending to offer 14-16 provision for the first time this year.
TES contacted the 18 colleges planning to recruit 14-16 learners this year. In the 14 institutions that supplied information, the overall number of 14-16 students enrolled increased slightly, from 959 last year to 1,065. But enrolment fell in four of the colleges - including Hull College, previously the institution with the biggest 14-16 provision. Its numbers dropped from 180 to 151.
Oldham College principal Alun Francis told TES that many of the younger students it recruited had been in need of intensive behavioural and emotional support, and might have been better served in alternative provision. “I thought we were letting students down,” he said.
‘FE providers can deliver extremely successfully’
This year, Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education is the biggest 14-16 recruiter, with the number of students increasing from 104 in 2015-16 to 163.
Debra Gray, principal of the Grimsby Institute Group, said: “The students get a full GCSE curriculum, plus hands-on vocational learning in an extended day and in class sizes of no more than 18....It is a real success story. It also proves that with the right vision and approach, FE providers can deliver extremely successfully to this age group.”
Catherine Sezen, the AoC’s 14-19 policy manager, said colleges had to think very carefully about whether recruiting young learners met their strategic objectives.
There are challenges around taking on 14-16s, she said: “Often, it is young people who have not been successful in school, because maybe they haven’t fitted in or they have a passion for music or engineering, which maybe wasn’t met in the school context... I think there may be questions over viability in terms of funding.”
This is an edited vesion of a story in the 30 September issue of TES. Subscribers can read the full version here.
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