The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) is the established voice of dedicated sixth form education and the hub of a national network of sixth form providers.
455 school and college leaders have written to
@bphillipsonMP
urging her to pause the plan to defund applied general qualifications such as BTECs.
@Jacqui_Smith1
#ProtectStudentChoice
First 4 pages below - too many signatures to tweet!
The moment we DID IT!! So, so proud of all of our brilliant partners - staff and students at schools, colleges, and unis,
#ProtectStudentChoice
coalition members, activists, and everyone concerned about this huge issue for young people and social mobility.
Thank you to David Willetts for doing a sterling job holding government to account in the Lords yesterday for their shambolic plan to de-fund BTECs. The only sensible option left is to
#protectstudentchoice
.
A thrill to be in the room as
@AndyBurnhamGM
lays out his vision for true parity between academic & technical education… which entails support for
#protectstudentchoice
. “BTECs will have to have a role in this system. We are very worried about the plans to defund BTECs.”
The government wants to remove most applied general qualifications like BTECs. Today, 11 education bodies have signed a joint statement urging
@educationgovuk
to think again and
#ProtectStudentChoice
. Find out more here:
We've written to
@GavinWilliamson
today with our
#ProtectStudentChoice
campaign partners to say as clearly as we can: Don't scrap BTECs. Read the story and the letter here:
We welcome the decision by the Government to change course and award A level and GCSE students the grades they were given by teachers, in the absence of a workable statistical model.
118 MPs and peers, including 3 former Education Secretaries, have signed a letter to
@nadhimzahawi
to
#ProtectStudentChoice
, saying that “Removing the vast majority of BTECs will lead to students ... dropping out of education altogether." Read it here:
📣 Big
#ProtectStudentChoice
news! 📣
The debate on our petition will take place in Parliament on Monday 18th July at 4.30pm. If you are one of the 108k who signed the petition - or if you wish you had been - contact your MP and ask them to attend
Good to see
@AngelaRayner
highlighting 16-19 underfunding in today's debate "At 16, children should have new opportunities ahead of them, but too often those are lost. Some £1.2 billion has been slashed from the 16-to-19 education budget, hitting sixth forms and colleges"
Education funding is reduced sharply at the age of 16. We are calling on the government to take action against the underinvestment in sixth form education and
#raisetherate
Huge congratulations to our Chief Executive Bill Watkin who received his CBE at Windsor Castle today! Best wishes Bill from the
@SFCA_info
team and all of our members. You have made, and continue to make, an outstanding contribution to education.
We're pleased that DfE has listened to
#ProtectStudentChoice
and delayed the withdrawal of funding of BTECs by 1 year. But funding should not be withdrawn for any BTEC unless there is clear evidence that it's not valued by students or employers.
"For a government that's committed to 'levelling up' opportunity, scrapping BTECs feels like a very very strange decision" - SFCA's James Kewin explains on
@BBCr4today
why it's urgent to
#ProtectStudentChoice
'The particular pressures on post-16 funding are huge' says
@CarolineLucas
. 'I have two fantastic sixth form colleges in my constituency
@BHASVIC
&
@varndean
The
@LondonEconomics
report shows there has been a 22% decline in post-16 funding.'
Extraordinary scenes in the House of Lords last night when peers delivered impassioned speeches to
#ProtectStudentChoice
and then won key votes to amend the government’s misguided plans for BTECs.A huge thanks to peers from the campaign coalition for their support. 1/5
The process for calculating this year's
#Alevelresults
appears to have fundamentally failed, based on our survey of sixth form colleges.
@educationgovuk
and
@ofqual
must now revert to teacher-assessed grades. Read why here:
25 organisations representing students, teachers, parents, employers, schools, colleges, and universities all agree: we need a real pause to BTEC de-funding in order to
#protectstudentchoice
and keep opportunities open to disadvantaged young people.
A missed opportunity from
@educationgovuk
this evening. Instead of accepting Lords amendment to delay defunding of BTECs, ministers persist with unrealistic timescale for an unwanted plan.
#ProtectStudentChoice
coalition will continue to make the case for common sense to prevail
We've done it - so thankful to the brilliant peers on all sides who've come together to say
#protectstudentchoice
and agreed
@LordBlunkett
's amendment to delay BTEC defunding by another 3 years. It's up to
@educationgovuk
to do the right thing and accept the amendment on Monday.
Great to see the excellent
@EmmaHardyMP
at the APPG for sixth form education today. A great supporter of
@WykeCollege
and
@WilberforceSFC
and now a national champion of sixth form education in her role as shadow education minister:
Watch
@EmmaHardyMP
make a powerful case at education questions to
#RaisetheRate
of funding for 16-19 education to at least £4,760 per student - a recommendation backed by the cross-party
@CommonsEd
:
While you are in the business of myth-busting, why not make it clear that more than two types of qualification are available? Airbrushing BTEC students from results day is desperate stuff
#ProtectStudentChoice
Later this week, students will receive their A level and T Level results.
With the return of pre-pandemic grading, there's been speculation about what this might mean for those wanting to go to university.
We're busting some of the myths 👇
Lord Sainsbury's attempt to bounce
@UKLabour
into abandoning its pledge to pause the scrapping of BTECs should be ignored. He should perhaps pause and review if publishing a report that sets out an expensive way of increasing NEETs was a good idea.
@bphillipsonMP
@Jacqui_Smith1
🆕 Former prime minister Gordon Brown and T Levels architect Lord David Sainsbury have urged the new Labour government to 'ignore' the party’s promise to pause and review the Conservatives’ controversial bonfire of BTECs
It is deeply disappointing that
@UKLabour
has reneged on its pledge to pause the defunding of applied general qualifications. This decision is bad for students, bad for social mobility and bad for the economy. Full response below.
#ProtectStudentChoice
Citing
@SFCA
figures
@CarolineLucas
lays bare the impact of funding cuts on schools and colleges.
'The only way to address the funding crisis 16-18 education is to
#RaisetheRate
'
'An increase in the funding rate of at least £760 per student will have specific outcomes'
Delighted to see
@EmmaHardyMP
is returning to her role as shadow FE and universities minister - a stalwart supporter of sixth form colleges and
#RaiseTheRate
and a joy to work with.
Thanks to the coalition of campaign partners who worked with colleges, schools, parents, students and MPs to help
#RaisetheRate
. This, combined with pension coverage and subject uplifts, is a welcome first step to giving 16-18 ed the funding it needs
@sajidjavid
@GavinWilliamson
360 heads, principals, and trust CEOs have written to
@educationgovuk
to say
#ProtectStudentChoice
- and give us more than one year to prep for the loss of most of our BTEC courses. Devastatingly reasonable; we await a response.
Great story on damning report into T levels
@Ofstednews
- more evidence that the
@educationgovuk
plan to scrap most BTECs is reckless unworkable. As a minimum ministers need to pause and review.
#ProtectStudentChoice
Breaking: Damning review of T Levels reveals ‘many’ students drop out after being 'misled' onto flagship qualifications, as teachers struggle with the ‘complex’ courses
Ofsted calls for rethink of plan to axe BTECs amid 'teething issues' with replacements
The
#RaisetheRate
funding impact survey is published today:
Please share with your local MPs and urge them to support our fight to raise the funding rate for sixth form students in this year’s spending review.
The
@guardian
editorial team are right: "It is shocking that we have reached this point." No A level would be subject to a 4-month review of its continued existence behind closed doors.
#protectstudentchoice
: pause the defunding of applied generals/BTECs.
We are looking forward to the
#RaisetheRate
debate in Westminster Hall next week. Make sure your local MP has Tuesday 25th February 2.30pm in their diary. An excellent opportunity to make the case for more investment in 16 to 18 education to support our young people.
A major piece of good news in the fight to
#ProtectStudentChoice
today:
@dianabarran
has listened to the passionate arguments of peers including Lord Baker and Lord Blunkett, and DfE will now only axe a "small proportion" of BTECs. Read our response:
We're officially at 2/3rds of the way on the
#ProtectStudentChoice
petition - but we only have 13 days to reach 100. Can you help safeguard BTECs for young people?
Watch
@EmmaHardyMP
make a powerful case at education questions to
#RaisetheRate
of funding for 16-19 education to at least £4,760 per student - a recommendation backed by the cross-party
@CommonsEd
:
.
@PhilipHammondUK
missed the opportunity to
#raisetherate
today - he must do so in next year's spending review. Time to review priorities: £420 million to fix potholes but nothing to educate 16 to 18 year olds? And will the £400 million for 'extra bits of kit' apply to colleges?!
Confirmation today that £ rate for 16+17 y/olds = £4,000 for 7th year in a row. Not good enough
@educationgovuk
- since 2013 costs have rocketed, gov has demanded more and the needs of students have evolved. Spare us the warm words and pet projects – it’s time to
#raisetherate
Absolutely beautiful day for the launch of
#6thformmatters
on the House of Commons terrace! We can’t wait to introduce our volume of fresh thinking on the future of sixth form education to the world this afternoon.
The
#RaisetheRate
letter from MPs is covered in today's Guardian,
@halfon4harlowMP
on 16-18 education: "funding this age group properly must sit at the heart of a 10-year plan and be a major priority in the forthcoming spending round.”
"It's important to understand the bad things we've done in the past" so that we don't repeat them - which is why we have a duty to listen to calls from the
#BlackLivesMatter
movement and teach both Black history and the history of British colonialism.
#SFCASummerFestival
Great work from
@StDomsSFC
principal Andrew Parkin on
@timesradio
telling
@hugorifkind
why the process for awarding A level grades this year has failed and what this means for students. Lets hope someone at
@educationgovuk
'gold command' was listening...
It's important to be clear:
-This pause only applies to a small no. of technical quals due to be scrapped in 2024 (c. 40k enrolments)
-It does not apply to applied general quals due to be scrapped in 2025 or 26 (c. 300k enrolments)
Time to review the pause.
#ProtectStudentChoice
🚨 NEW: I've just announced a pause and review of the defunding of BTECs
By doing so, we will:
✅ Support BTEC students
✅ Commit to roll out T-Levels
✅ Conclude the review by the end of the year
The government has just announced that it will
#RaisetheRate
in 2020/21 - well done to all coalition partners, colleges, schools and MPs that helped to achieve this. £190m will not raise it high enough (detail tbc) but it ends 7 year freeze
Great question from
@Y_FovargueMP
at
#PMQs
today highlighting the impact of cuts and underfunding of sixth form education, and ending with a call to
#raisetherate
.
These are issues that apply to all sixth forms nationally. It's time to
#raisetherate
Confirmation today that free school meals will be available to 16-18 year olds in colleges over the summer (although at a lower rate than schools). Huge thanks to sixth form APPG Co-Chairs
@DianaJohnsonMP
and
@JasonMcCartney
for pursuing
@educationgovuk
on this important issue.
TODAY IS THE DAY: The
#protectstudentchoice
debate takes place at 4.30pm in Westminster Hall. If you want to keep BTECs in place for future students, it's not too late to ring/email your MP and ask them to attend!
The
#ProtectStudentChoice
petition has just hit 90,000 signatures! We have 3 days to secure the last 10,000 - WE CAN DO THIS! Please sign and help us to ensure that students can study BTECs in the future:
Here's
@Thelma_WalkerMP
using stats from our Funding Impact survey to highlight cuts to MFL, to STEM subjects, and to extracurricular and support activities as a direct result of funding pressures
#EduQs
Keeping the pressure on! Look out for principal of
@sfcsapply
Martin Sullivan and excellent students on
@BBCNews
at Six setting out what this year's A level fiasco means to them. Hope you are watching
@ofqual
@educationgovuk
SFCA is very pleased that government has recognised the extraordinary work our teachers do, and has for the first time extended funding for a salary increase to all colleges, alongside schools.
Huge thanks to
@DanielZeichner
, who today paid tribute to
@LR6FC
and asked the govt to do the right thing,
#protectstudentchoice
, and keep BTECs. The response? Kids can do the T level transition programme instead…which has a 14% rate of progression to T level!
We are thrilled to have
@miss_mcinerney
as one of our contributors to
#6thformmatters
, and to have her speak to us at the launch today about the history of sixth form education and why we can’t take it for granted - particularly when it comes to our teaching workforce.
New research by SFCA shows that calculated A level grades undershoot historical performance across 41 subjects in sixth form colleges. The algorithm has failed students.
New report: Understanding the funding shortfall in sixth form education published today by
@LondonEconomics
on behalf of
@SFCA_info
shows funding for 16-18 year olds needs to be increased by at least £760 per student, read here:
The letter signed by Lords Blunkett, Baker, Willetts, Johnson, Watson and Baroness Garden can be read below. The
#ProtectStudentChoice
coalition is very grateful for their support and the letter deserves more than a
@educationgovuk
boilerplate response:
Good speech today from
@DamianHinds
on the imp of extra-curricular activities - we know 67% of schools and colleges have reduced them as a result of funding pressures. More research welcome, but to really drive
#socialmobility
gov must start to fund 16 to 18 education properly.
Fantastic to see
@SeemaMalhotra1
urging the government to ‘pause and review’ the defunding of applied general qualifications in Parliament yesterday. This is what responsible policymaking looks like.
#ProtectStudentChoice
While some sixth forms only offer A levels, others - including colleges which are the largest employers in their towns - now do not know until Dec whether they can offer ANY of their current courses in 2026. Imagine if even one A level's future was under this threat.
It is deeply disappointing that
@UKLabour
has reneged on its pledge to pause the defunding of applied general qualifications. This decision is bad for students, bad for social mobility and bad for the economy. Full response below.
#ProtectStudentChoice
Here's
@SFCA_info
Bill Watkin on
@BBCTwo
@VictoriaLIVE
outlining the impact of the huge funding cuts to sixth form education. Our sixth formers deserve better, the government should take action to properly fund sixth form education.
.
@10DowningStreet
right to say that sixth form students need to be given skills they need to succeed - but why not invest while they are actually in the sixth form rather than wait until the age of 18?
#SupportOurSixthFormers
#TuitionFees
"In my 22 years of teaching, I've never seen such a negative feeling."
@PeaksColin
, principal
@WilberforceSFC
, on the travesty of students marked down through no fault of their own on
@Emmabarnett
's show this morning:
Great to hear fulsome and entirely deserved praise from
@imranahmadkhan
for
@CAPACOLLEGE
, which makes creative and performing arts available to all. We hope
@GavinWilliamson
does look into providing an adequate level of funding as promised.
#RaisetheRate
could be a good start.
Our deputy chief exec James writes today in
@FEWeek
to explain what happened in parliament this week and how jubilation turned to despair for supporters of
#protectstudentchoice
as it emerged ‘pause and review’ didn’t apply to applied general BTECs.
Today's excellent report from
@LondonEconomics
finds that funding for sixth form students must be increased by at least £710 per year - priority 1 in the SFCA election manifesto that is also published today
#RaisetheRate
:
Huge congratulations to
@NicDakin55
on his knighthood. As Chair of the APPG for Sixth Form Colleges Nic was a champion of 16-18 education and a great supporter of the
#RaisetheRate
campaign. An outstanding principal of
@JohnLeggottColl
, an outstanding MP, and an outstanding man
Great question from
@NicDakinMP
at
#TreasuryQuestions
: 'The national funding rate for 16-18 year olds has been frozen for 5 years. This is causing significant problems delivering for this key age group. Will the gov't do something about it before its too late'.
#RaisetheRate
Watch
@EmmaHardyMP
as she highlights cuts to courses, teaching hours, and pastoral support in FE, and asks the Minister to commit to no further cuts to FE. 👇
Well worth watching Lord Baker arguing that moving wholesale to T-levels before anyone has passed one is 'educationally totally and utterly unacceptable'.
Bill Watkin,
@SFCA_info
chief executive: it would be "entirely unjustifiable" to exclude sixth form students from the Covid catch up package announced today
"No individual student should see their dreams for the future slip away because of a statistical standardisation moderation system which is flawed and imperfect."
In an extended Friday Thought, our Principal Angela reflects on yesterday’s exceptional A Level Results Day. You can read more here:
@SFCA_info
#FridayThought