Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential (a) funding and (b) capital investment implications for her policies of trends in the number of 16-year olds entering further education in Southampton Itchen constituency.

Funding for the number of 16 year olds entering further education in Southampton Itchen constituency is part of the 16 to 19 funding allocations, which uses student numbers from the previous year as a basis for the calculation. To support providers that have exceptional increases in the number of students, compared to their allocation, the department announced in year growth funding ahead of the GCSE results on 22 August. Details of the funding are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-funding-in-year-growth-for-2024-to-2025/16-to-19-funding-in-year-growth-for-2024-to-2025.

Capital investment to support the demographic increase in 16 to 19 learners has been available through the Post-16 Capacity Fund, which provides funding to schools and colleges. This includes projects by Itchen Sixth Form College to ensure enough capital capacity in schools and colleges to accommodate the additional learners. It has made available £238 million in capital funding since 2021.

All future funding commitments are subject to the Spending Review.