Cuts pose threat to college staffing levels and courses

Of the 69 staff from 55 colleges surveyed by the NUT and the University and College Union (UCU), almost all (96 per cent) said their budgets are being cut during the current financial year.

Nine out of 10 said the cuts would have a negative impact on their teaching and more than half expect to see a reduction in the number of courses offered.

Three-quarters expect to see cuts in sports, music, dance and drama and two-thirds anticipate cuts in tutorial hours due to a 75 per cent cut in funding in these areas.

Government proposals to replace the education maintenance allowance (EMA) with an annual grant for children in care and care leavers, as well as a discretionary fund for colleges to hand out, have also come under fire.

None of those surveyed reported that students in their college thought the proposals were an adequate replacement for the previous EMA. About two-thirds thought that EMA changes would also harm student recruitment.

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: "Teachers in this crucial sector face job losses and increased workload, while students will be forced out of education by the two-thirds cut in funding for the EMA."

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, urged colleges not to be "panicked into making short-term changes that will do lasting damage to education".

She added: "The government can say all it likes about being committed to social mobility, yet the reality doesn’t square with the rhetoric."