The group representing the country’s top universities has called on the government to make sure colleges are better funded.
In its submission to the post-18 education and funding review, the Russell Group said the further education sector remains “underfunded”. The group is made up of 24 of the UK’s most prestigious and research-led universities, including the likes of Oxford and Cambridge.
It suggests that the apprenticeship levy could be "broadened out and used by colleges in delivering a wide range of valuable courses".
FE needs 'sustainable funding'
The submission states: “This wider consideration of the whole post-18 system is welcome. A rich and diverse mix of qualifications and providers, combining technical education as well as academic training, is essential to the country’s long-term economic health.
“The debate around funding should not be seen as funding either universities, or colleges, but rather a chance to look across the system and ensure we are ambitious for both. There is, for example, an opportunity to consider how the apprenticeship levy might be broadened out and used by colleges in delivering a wide range of valuable courses, and to help ensure that they also have a sustainable funding base for the future.”
Business calls for ‘skills levy’
In his speech to the Conservative Party conference on Monday, chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond announced that employers will be able to share a quarter of their apprenticeship levy pots with their supply chain.
Information subsequently released by the Treasury said the government will now set out a process to “seek views on the operation of the levy after 2020 to ensure it supports the development of the skilled workforce businesses need for the new economy”.
The apprenticeship levy was introduced in April 2017 and is paid by all employers with a pay bill of over £3 million at a rate of 0.5 per cent of total wages. In 2017-18 the levy raised £2.3 billion which can be spent only on apprenticeships.
Last year, the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) called for the apprenticeship levy to be transformed into a broader skills levy to help with wider training needs.
'Cuts have disproportionately impacted colleges'
Chief executive of the Association of Colleges, David Hughes said for the education system to be successful, it requires financial and political investment in all ages, stages and types of learning and training.
He added: "The government cannot think in terms of schools or colleges or universities; it must think about schools and colleges and universities and other providers.
"There is growing public support for FE colleges and the role they play in transforming lives, communities and economies. We welcome the Russell Group’s recognition and its call for meaningful investment after a decade of cuts that have disproportionately impacted on colleges. Theresa May announced this week that 'austerity is over' – investing in further education and colleges is her best opportunity to prove it.
"Our own submission to the post-18 review also echoed the need for the government to be ambitious, to be bold and to move beyond the traditional approach to higher education to ensure it is fit for purpose now and in the future. Colleges have an important role to play, alongside universities, in delivering that.”
What is the post-18 review?
Launched in February, prime minister Theresa May stressed the review would consider “the whole post-18 education sector in the round, breaking down false boundaries between further and higher education, so we can create a system which is truly joined up”.
It is led by the government, with input from an independent panel chaired by Philip Augar. Bev Robinson, principal of Blackpool and the Fylde College, is also on the panel.
Having gathered evidence, the panel will publish their report at an interim stage and the review will conclude in early 2019.
