Access to Further Education

Jayne Kirkham Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

I want to raise awareness of the transformative role of further education in remote coastal communities, like mine in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle in Cornwall. Despite the talent, ambition and resilience of our young people, parts of my constituency continue to experience persistent deprivation. Nine neighbourhoods rank among the most deprived in the entire country. But amidst that deprivation, our local further education sector is helping to change lives and create opportunity. Cornwall college, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted, is a shining example. It is a vital cog driving our economic engine, equipping young people with the skills that they need to succeed, and providing employers with the workforce required to unleash the Cornish Celtic tiger.

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

There is another further education college in Cornwall: Truro and Penwith college. Does my hon. Friend agree that transport, and getting children in rural and coastal areas to colleges and work placements, is a major issue?

[Perran Moon]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. In Cornwall, we have had significant issues with bus services to our colleges. We really need the Government to help with that.

Cornwall is on its way to an industrial renaissance as a strategically significant economic frontier. We are seeing exciting developments in critical minerals, including tin, lithium and tungsten, as well as in geothermal energy and offshore wind. Those sectors are creating good jobs that are vital to the national interest, and will help us to transition away from a fossil-fuel-based economy.

With that in mind, I warmly welcome the launch this September of the new Engineering Mining Academy. This is a partnership between Cornwall college and Cornish Metals. It brings together two of Cornwall’s crown jewels to train the next generation of engineers and mining professionals, and will ensure that young people can benefit directly from the return of the mining industry to Cornwall. This is exactly the kind of collaboration we need if we are to seize the opportunity to deliver growth in every corner of the country.

However, we cannot let staffing challenges, or cuts to dedicated student bus services, which my hon. Friend just mentioned, threaten those opportunities. Recruitment and retention are especially difficult in remote coastal areas, where there are profound housing and transport pressures. Unless we address workforce shortages, we risk undermining the FE institutions that are providing the skills on which our future economy depends. Cornwall’s FE colleges are playing their part, but we need the Government to step up and provide the funding settlement that our FE colleges deserve.

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[Josh MacAlister]

I do, and it is only possible with the funding that I was setting out that the Government have secured.

Funding per student aged 16 to 19 will have increased by over 12% in two years. That comes at a time of significant growth in student numbers. As a result, total 16-to-19 funding will increase from £7.6 billion in 2024-25 to over £9 billion in 2026-27, which is a material increase. This is timely because of the current challenge we face of the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training. The number is too high, and the consequences are serious.

The Government have a comprehensive plan for further education and post-16 education and skills overall to support young people into rewarding careers and tackle high rates of young people not in education, employment or training. As well as technical excellence colleges—specialist further education colleges in England designed to deliver high-quality training in priority sectors—we are introducing the new V-levels, which will sit alongside T-levels as the technical route and A-levels as the academic route, which Members will be familiar with.

The youth guarantee is this Government’s commitment to ensure that all young people can access education, training and apprenticeships, employment support or work opportunities. We are supporting 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships and offering a £2,000 hiring payment for small businesses. This is complemented by the jobs guarantee, which provides eligible young people with a guaranteed six-month paid job, helping them gain work experience, skills and a route into sustained employment.

The hon. Member for Runcorn and Helsby highlighted the need for capacity in FE. Demographics mean that this is a national challenge, but we expect 67,000 additional 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to enter the post-16 system in 2028, which is very soon. That means we are investing £570 million to create the space that is needed in FE. Post-16 providers that are not in mayoral strategic combined authorities—I believe that the hon. Member’s constituency is not—have been able to bid for the construction skills capacity fund, the outcome of which will be revealed very shortly.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) raised the variation in the cost of payments per pupil. High-cost 16 to 19 courses do receive more money. For example, engineering attracts 73% more funding than base cost classroom courses.

The hon. Member for Gorton and Denton (Hannah Spencer) was right to highlight the problems with the apprenticeship levy as was. We are making big changes to make it less bureaucratic for small businesses, in particular with the growth and skills levy. My hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) highlighted issues with transport, as did many other Members. He was right to say that bus access is integral to opportunities at further education colleges. I know that from my own constituency.

[Jayne Kirkham]

I would just like to highlight a point of inequity. Mayors sometimes subsidise buses for young people aged 16 to 19, which means that young people in urban areas are better set than those in rural areas where the councils cannot afford to do that and young people have much further to travel.

[Josh MacAlister]

As a Cumbrian MP, I know that problem all too well, and I know that many in Cornwall experience that too. We are building back our bus system in this country. There have been significant increases in funding for local authorities to build back that bus system. We do need to go further on it, and I completely recognise the connection that has been drawn by my hon. Friend.

The hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) asked about funding. About 70% of FE funding comes from the Department for Education through the funding for post-16 courses. Earlier in my speech I set out the 12% increase over the last two years. Because that is such a large proportion, I recognise the other issues with adult skills budgets, but overall FE college funding is going up as a result of all of that.