Schools on brink as ‘cliff edge’ funding drop looms

Ministers have again been warned about the devastation that the looming “cliff edge fall” in funding for 16 to 19 education is likely to have.

It comes as a number of schools have revealed to SecEd this week just how much they are having to cut from their overall school budgets in order to survive.

This newspaper has been told of budget reductions ranging from £150,000 to £200,000 a year, with a number of headteachers reporting severe problems post-16 that are resulting in a curtailing of curriculum provision and significant staffing reductions.

There has been deep concern in the sector for some time after the coalition government’s decision to “protect” 11 to 16 education funding in 2010 left the 16 to 19 budget vulnerable to wider austerity measures. A move to a system of per-student rather than per-qualification funding post-16 has left many specialist or expensive courses vulnerable.