Funding for specialist colleges reviewed

Citation

(2005), "Funding for specialist colleges reviewed", Education + Training, Vol. 47 No. 4/5. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2005.00447dab.009

Funding for specialist colleges reviewed

A review carried out by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) has recommended changes in the way that specialist colleges are funded. At present, England’s 29 specialist colleges – which include colleges of art and design and land-based colleges – receive an extra 10 per cent funding to pay for the additional costs that their work incurs. LSDA was asked by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to review the evidence to support this additional funding and make recommendations. LSDA found little evidence to support continuing with the present system, where all specialist colleges receive 10 per cent additional funding, irrespective of their varying costs and circumstances. In short, it says the evidence to support many of the arguments for the 10 per cent additional funding is “logically flawed”.

The review, however, did highlight costs that do not appear to be reflected in the current funding arrangements for colleges – not all of them defined as “specialist”. Land-based colleges, for instance, spend around 13 per cent more per student on recruitment, marketing and estates than most other colleges. These extra costs include:

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  running and owning residential accommodation, particularly for students aged under 18;

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  running large estates and facilities for land-based colleges, such as college farms;

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  providing “flagship” courses and programmes; and

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  offering minority courses that meet a national need.

LSDA recommends that the specialist colleges’ extra funding be removed and replaced by arrangements for recognising these specific additional costs. Mick Fletcher, LSDA research manager, said: “The term ‘specialist college’ is unhelpful as it applies to a range of colleges that do not share the same characteristics. The notion that there is a common set of activities and costs that justify a 10 per cent uplift in institutions as diverse as a rural residential college of agriculture and an urban college of art, and across subjects as diverse as horticulture, construction and music, cannot be supported”.

Copies of the research report are obtainable from: Information Services, LSDA, Regent Arcade House, 19-25 Argyll Street, London W1F 7LS. Tel: 020 7297 9123; E-mail: enquiries@LSDA.org.uk