Our Policy Asks
As one of the largest and most successful colleges in the country, New City College recognises the pressures and limits of public funding. However, we also know that within the further education sector there is a wealth of experience, innovation and common sense.
Like colleges across the sector, New City College wants to work in partnership with the next Government. We believe that a few simple policy and administration changes (at no or little cost) would have significant impact by maximising available funding, reducing inefficiency and making sure the money is targeted where it is needed.
The suggested policy adjustments below would cost little or nothing, but would help the further education sector to continue what we do best: supporting students to achieve and progress to great careers, and delivering the right skills and qualifications for individuals and for the economy.
We are grateful for your consideration of these suggestions, and hope to have the opportunity to start a meaningful discussion that will help the further education sector to remain at the forefront of skills and opportunity.
Gerry McDonald
Group Principal and CEO
New City College
Our Key Messages
1. Skills for our labour market and economy.
We need a greater focus meeting on the needs of learners rather than red tape initiatives.
Adult skills initiatives and funding streams are too complex and incoherent. We need the government to allow colleges the freedom to deliver what their communities need.
2. Fair funding.
A growing economy needs ongoing investment in skills.
We recognise and appreciate the recent funding awards for further education and the recognition given to colleges by the Prime Minister. However, we need an ongoing investment in skills and fair funding moving forward. We believe that colleges should be seen as important as schools - for adult skills as well as 16-19 students. The Treasury needs to look at VAT treatment for colleges and align this with schools and other public sector organisations. This would make an enormous difference.
Other public sector organisations benefit from the VAT refund scheme. Colleges do not.
New City College CEO and Group Principal Gerry McDonald looks into the very real financial impact of this:
VAT in FE: Why something is just not quite… | Association of Colleges (aoc.co.uk)
3. Trust us.
We need policy makers to have faith in the FE sector and to understand the true value of colleges.
We need policy makers to work with us and to visit their local FE campus to fully understand our context, our learners and the communities we serve. For too long policies have been made in the dark.
One College Group, Many Successes
Join us in the celebration by reading a few of our proudest moments and successes in 2023/24. Click the images below to read the articles.
Too many people can't get the job they want because they don't have the skills they need.
Meet aspiring nursery manager Aurora who says that Further Education is giving her the chance to change her life and study for her dream job in childcare.
“Money is a big issue. When there’s no money you can’t learn, you can’t get an education and you can’t better yourself or change your life. I think people are really going to struggle without further investment.”
Investing in skills.
A growing economy needs ongoing investment.
Did you know? Almost three quarters of medium size businesses report that skills shortages are currently a problem.
A growing economy needs ongoing investment in skills, for jobs today and to be agile as job needs change.
Without fair funding in further education and skills, we will not be able to fill these skills shortages in key priority areas of the economy and deliver the labour market the country needs.
Too many students will miss out if BTEC courses are cut.
Meet Mathew who is pursuing his dream of becoming a police officer to make a difference in his community. Without the BTEC he is studying, he wouldn’t be able to make this happen.
“There would be far fewer police officers on the streets of London if colleges were not able to offer the BTEC route into the Public Services.”
Providing opportunity.
We need a greater focus meeting on the needs of learners rather than red tape initiatives.
Colleges are ready to play their part. Trust us.
Local labour markets rely on the jobs which colleges help deliver year in and year out.
12 years of underfunding means colleges cannot deliver the breadth of provision colleges once did and adult retraining in particular is in real peril.
Economic assessments show that retraining adults are one way to ease the pressure of filling job vacancies, which remain at record highs. Colleges stand ready to quickly deliver retraining for adults but need the funding and regulatory flexibility to be able to do this.
Colleges are key in bridging the skills gap and labour shortages.
Calley explains how further education has been a life-changer for so many youngsters, providing them with not just qualifications but with the skills, knowledge and behaviours to make them a success in their chosen careers.
“We are seeing more ‘in work poverty’ than ever before, meaning employees need upskilling and continued development to fulfil their potential to gain higher wages. The only way they can do this is through further education and colleges. ”
Creating prosperity.
We need policy makers to have faith in the FE sector and to understand the true value of colleges.
We support the Future Skills Coalition in calling for:
A right to lifelong learning free from restrictive constraints – that would help reverse the historic and damaging decline in the number of adults upskilling, retraining and filling vacancies in key skills shortage areas.
Fair, accessible and effective funding – to ensure colleges have the resources to recruit the staff needed to teach subjects in key skills shortage areas.
A national strategy to support local, inclusive growth – that would support colleges to meet skills shortages in their local economies.
A growing economy needs an ongoing investment in skills.
Meet Hoda who is a dentist from Yemen. Without the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) course, she wouldn’t have been able to find out how to access and apply for work in the UK.
“This course is a bridge for me and allows me to bring all the experience I had before coming to the UK to support the economy.”