Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of education funding for sixth form students.

We recognise that every young person should have access to an excellent education which is why we announced in the last spending review that we will continue to protect the base rate of funding for 16 to 19 year olds until 2020. We are continuing to provide disadvantage funding (over £500 million in 2017/18) and other uplifts in addition to the base rate of funding for programmes that are more expensive to deliver.

In addition we have announced funding increases to strengthen education for 16 to 19 year olds in key respects. We are offering further funding to support institutions to grow participation in level 3 maths (an extra £600 for every additional student), and to pilot extra support for post-16 basic maths.

We are making a substantial investment in technical education for 16 to 19 year olds, rising eventually to an additional £500 million a year when T Levels are fully rolled out. Our commitment to the 16 to 19 sector has contributed to the current record high proportion of 16 and 17 year olds who are participating in education or apprenticeships since consistent records began.

The department works closely with HM Treasury in considering spending on 16 to 19 education. We are actively exploring the efficiency and resilience of the further education sector and will be assessing how far existing and forecast funding and regulatory structures enable high quality provision.