Colleges plan to focus catch up funding on maths tuition, survey finds, but warn over budget squeeze

Every school and college in England was promised more money under last October's spending review to support young people's recovery from the impact of the pandemic.

The Department for Education (DFE), pledging billions of pounds of investment over three years, outlined an £800m allocation aimed specifically at age 16-19 students.

This would see them benefit from an additional 40 hours of education across the academic year, it argued, equivalent to one extra hour a week in school or college.

Now, under surveys to see how colleges plan to extend teaching time, the Association of Colleges (AoC) found more than half of settings intend to boost maths provision.

Other key focuses were on support with study skills and mental health and wellbeing.

The pledge from the DfE would take full-time college students' minimum learning hours from 540 to 580 annually.

Such intentions, and improving young people’s numeracy skills, has been a priority for the Conservative government and is a stated ambition of prime ministerial hopeful Liz Truss.

The findings have been welcomed by numeracy charities, championing the life and employability skills maths confidence can bring.

Sam Sims, chief executive of maths skills charity National Numeracy said: “Half the working age population the UK has the numeracy levels of a primary school child, so we welcome colleges’ plans to boost maths provision for 16 to 19-year-olds.

“Not only is numeracy highly valued by employers, but the confidence and skill to understand and work with numbers is essential in everyday life, at home as well as at work, and never more so than during this cost-of-living crisis.”

Pitching herself as the "education Prime Minister" earlier this summer, Ms Truss outlined a six-point plan to "get Britain's education system back on track".

The leader hopeful has often spoken of how maths skills can improve people’s life chances, recently pledging to to drive up the quality of maths teaching.

Writing in The Yorkshire Post Ms Truss, who grew up in Leeds and was educated at Roundhay School, said she had seen "too many children held back by low expectations and poor educational standards".

The DfE, making the announcement over recovery funding last year, described it as a “landmark investment”.

Then education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: "Our mission is to maximise the potential of every single young person, regardless of their background, circumstances or the ways in which the pandemic has affected them.”

The AoC however, has warned that recent rises in further education (FE) funding are being "swallowed up" by soaring energy prices and inflation, coming after a "decade of cuts".

College coffers face major challenges, said AoC senior policy manager Eddie Playfair. He said: "This welcome additional funding comes at a time of unprecedented cost pressures across college budgets with insufficient growth to cover them.

"In this first year, we have asked for a high level of flexibility, particularly where colleges are already above 580 hours for all full time 16 to 18-year-olds.

“Our survey of how colleges are planning to use the additional 40 hours per year for 16 to 18-year-olds shows that colleges welcome the additional funded hours and will do their best to ensure that they benefit students in a range of different ways.

"Some 62 per cent of college students are already getting more than 580 hours per year and will not need the extra 40 hours to reach the new minimum.

“Over half of colleges are planning to offer additional maths teaching and many are hoping to offer extra work-related learning, targeted support, academic enhancement, personal and social development and enrichment.

“Colleges are already facing serious recruitment challenges and, since this funding was announced, the cost-of-living crisis has hit hard, creating further budget pressures.

"This marginal extra funding is unlikely to deliver all the support students need.”