23 March 2010
Sixth-form colleges produce the best-performing students in the 16–18 age group, although they receive less funding than school sixth forms, the National Audit Office has found.
An NAO report on value for money in the education of 16-to-18 year-olds, was published today. It found that on average students make better progress in institutions educating large numbers, whether in college or school settings, but sixth form colleges perform best of all.
The auditors said increases in the education budget for this age group, to £6bn annually, had resulted in more young people staying in education as well as higher academic achievement.
But the NAO said it could not conclude that value for money was being achieved throughout the sector. This was because of variations in arrangements for accountability, performance monitoring and intervention, where there is poor performance.
The NAO said there were clear arrangements for dealing with poor performance in sixth form colleges and further education colleges, but not in school sixth forms.
The report also found that performance and financial reporting requirements varied among different providers. Although many schools and colleges had improved their management of back-office costs through better procurement, many institutions still had a poor understanding of how to manage teaching costs, which account for more than 60% of schools and college costs.
NAO head Amyas Morse, said: ‘A number of issues will need to be addressed, including performance management and accountability arrangements, before I can conclude that value for money is being delivered across the board.’
The Association of Colleges praised the report as ‘valuable and insightful’. Assistant chief executive Julian Gravatt said: ‘The report rightly makes the economic and quality arguments against a proliferation of smaller school sixth forms in an area.’ He added that the NAO was also right to question the extra funding given to schools compared with colleges.
