Government ignores call from 455 leaders to pause BTEC cull: SFCA response

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, which co-ordinates the Protect Student Choice campaign, said:

“Last week, 455 school and college leaders signed a letter to Bridget Phillipson urging her to honour the commitment made in opposition to pause the defunding of applied general qualifications such as BTECs. The ministerial response they received today does not address, or even reference, this request. It simply restates (using exactly the same text included in responses to individual headteachers and principals last month) the government’s current plan. That plan is well understood, which is why the leaders signed the letter. 

The message from school and college leaders is clear: being told in December 2024 what qualifications they can offer in September 2025 is too late and will disadvantage some young people. It is disrespectful to respond to these concerns using boilerplate text that does not address the practical solution put forward by leaders, and impossible to square with the secretary of state’s recent commitment to the education sector to “listen, to draw on your wealth of experience and to act on your honest feedback”. It is also misleading to claim in the response that “We are pausing defunding for the duration of the review” when the pause does not apply to applied general qualifications, the focus of the leaders’ letter. 

The voices of 455 school and college leaders (and before them, of the organisations in the Protect Student Choice coalition, the Education Select Committee, a cross-party group of parliamentarians, Ofsted, NHS Employers, and many others) have been ignored. Ministers believe they know best and are pressing ahead despite near-universal opposition. The Protect Student Choice coalition will meet in the coming weeks to discuss how we can help schools and colleges to navigate an entirely avoidable period of disruption and uncertainty for them and almost 600,000 young people.”

Notes:

1. The response to the 455 school and college leaders from Skills Minister Jacqui Smith can be found here.
2. The 455 signatories to last week’s letter lead institutions that between them educate 388,000 16 to 19 year olds, 33% of the 1.18 million 16 to 19 year olds in state funded education. 
3. The letter was co-ordinated by the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign, a coalition of employer groups and organisationsthat represent students, staff and leaders in schools, colleges and universities. More information can be found on the campaign website here. 
4. 590,000 students currently study at least one qualification in scope of the government’s review, whose future from next September is in doubt.
5. For more information, please contact Noni Csogor.