7 November 2018

Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney, has lent his support to a national campaign aimed at increasing education funding for 16 to 18 year olds.

At a meeting in Westminster on Tuesday, Peter Aldous MP met with representatives from the Sixth Form Colleges Association that is co-ordinating the Raise the Rate campaign.

The campaign is backed by 12 associations that represent school and college leaders, governors, students, teachers and support staff in England and is aimed at increasing the funding rate for sixth form students that has been frozen at £4,000 per student, per year since 2013.

The campaign uses recent research from London Economics to press for a £760 per student increase to sixth form funding that is raised in line with inflation each year. In a letter sent to the Chancellor ahead of this week’s Budget, the associations behind the campaign claimed that “only a significant increase in the national funding rate for 16 to 18 year olds will make it possible for the government to meet its objectives for a strong post-Brexit economy and a socially mobile, highly educated workforce.”

The £760 increase is described as the “minimum required” to increase student support services to the required level, protect minority subjects such as languages that are at risk of being dropped, and increase extra-curricular activities, work experience opportunities and university visits.

Commenting on the campaign Peter Aldous MP said: “Young people form the lifeblood of our society and securing a good education is key to their life chances moving forward. Sixth form colleges such as Lowestoft Sixth Form College are enabling students to build the foundations of their careers and move onto higher education. The Raise the Rate Campaign calls on Government to provide more funding for 16 to 18 year olds, in addition to ensuring it is kept in line with inflation moving forward. I believe this is a vital campaign, and one which I will be urging the Chancellor to support over the coming months.