Government must boost accountability of education providers

The amount spent on the age group has risen to £6bn per year which, according to the Getting Value for Money from the Education for 16- to 18-year-olds report, led to an eight per cent increase in young people participating in education or training from 2002 to 2009. Achievement has also improved nationally over the past four years, although there is variation across different providers with learners in larger providers achieving, on average, better academic results.

The report also revealed that inconsistencies remain regarding accountability, performance and monitoring and intervention, especially between sixth-form schools and colleges.

While the Department for Education (DfE) has proposed to reduce the inconsistencies between providers by 2015, the report highlighted shortcomings in measuring performance management and accountability. It states that although Ofsted measures the quality of education and the Young People’s Learning Agency provides information on participation and achievement there is currently no review of how councils fulfil their responsibility for securing adequate provision or data on how providers contribute to wider outcomes such as preparing young people for employment.

NAO also recommended that the government begins to collect specific information about education of 16- to 18-year-olds rather than incorporating this in analysis of a wider age group.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: "There are some positive indicators of value for money in the department’s expenditure on educating 16- to 18-year-olds. A number of issues will need to be addressed, including performance management and accountability arrangements, before I can conclude that value for money is being delivered across the board."

The problem of inadequate advice and guidance given to pupils in some schools and the fact that although sixth-form colleges perform best overall, they receive £280 less per student than school sixth forms, are some of the other problems cited in the research.

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: "This is a valuable and insightful report, which confirms some longstanding problems in 16 to 19 education that result in poor value for money.

"We are encouraged by the DfE’s promises to end the funding gap between college and school sixth forms by 2015 and the plan to bring school sixth form data up to the standard of colleges by the 2012/13 academic year. The beneficiaries will be the taxpayer, parents and young people themselves — as long as all institutions teaching students of this age (including university technical colleges and free schools) are subject to the same performance and data standards."