New arrangements for HE 14-16s attending college in England Sept 2013

[julienoshoes]

New Arrangements For 14-16s Attending College in England From September 2013

edyourself.org/articles/WolfReport.php#14-16scollege

Further education colleges will be able to enrol 14- to 16-year-olds who wish to study high-quality vocational qualifications from September 2013. Home educated students will be able to study part time or full time, but students transferring from school will only have the option of full-time study.

Prospective students will be expected to apply directly to colleges (rather than through the local authority admissions process). Colleges will be expected to deliver a broad curriculum, including English and maths, in line with the statutory Key Stage 4 curriculum.

Fiona Nicholson recently queried funding for part-time college courses for 14-16s from September 2013 and received the following from DfE in December 2012:

"From 2013/14, funding for home educated pupils aged 14-16 who are attending colleges will be passed directly to the colleges through the 16-19 funding formula. Some of these pupils may be attending part-time, some of them full-time.

The 16-19 funding formula allows for part-time participation and details on how it works can be found in our funding guidance at www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/executiveagencies/efa/fundingallocations/a00210682/funding-formula-review

For other 14-16 year olds (ie those who have been previously enrolled in a school but wish to undertake their KS4 education at a college), they will be able to enrol full-time at a college that is eligible and has made the decision to offer education to KS4.

These students will not be able to enrol part-time."

Fiona asked "will there be any role or responsibility for the local authority home education officer with the college prior to the part-time enrolment or with the college/family once the student is attending part-time?".

DfE answered that "arrangements are between the parents and the college and do not need to involve the local authority at all."

For further enquiries to DfE, please use the contact form on the DfE website www.education.gov.uk/help/contactus/dfe

[Saracen]

Thanks, Julie! And thanks to Fiona of course. Very interesting.

I am puzzling my brains to understand exactly what the educational status of such young people is, and whether it matters.

In the FAQ on the DfE website, they state that pupils who are leaving school in order to attend college must be deregistered from school by parents:

"How will a pupil be removed from the school roll?

The parent should notify a school in writing that they wish to educate their child otherwise than at a school. Once the school receives a written notification, the school can delete the child from their register. It is recommended that colleges enrolling 14- and 15-year-olds include a letter template in any joining instructions to new students, which can be signed by the parent and forwarded by the college to the previous school."

which sounds like these children are considered to be home educated in some sense. After all, other children for whom the LA provides an education but whose education is not at school (eg those in PRUs or hospital schools or being educated by a tutor provided by the LA) don't get deregistered in this way.

...but then how can they draw a distinction between "home educated" children who are allowed to enrol at college part-time and "others" who are not? Is it a question of how long the child has been HE before applying for the college place?

or am I wrong to interpret the formality of a deregistration letter as signifying the child is being home educated?

[FionaJNicholson]

it makes your head explode if you think about it too hard. The main point is that home ed makes up the rest of the hours, iff you are ongoing home ed.

[firefly11]

What if a HE youngster is interested to study academic subjects though? What are the current arrangements for that? I m thinking of sciences in particular. I would be grateful to hear any Home Edders' experience of this. Would they be able to enter an FE College to study this sort subject at the 14-16 year old age range? My daughter wouldn't be 14 anytime soon but I'm just asking out of interest

[FionaJNicholson]

you would need to take this up with the college. at present there aren't many colleges offering academic subjects at GCSE but this may change. the theory is it will be market-driven ie if there are enough students to make up a course, the college will put it on.