Area review reports published

Commenting on the publication of 13 reports from Wave 1 and 2 of the area reviews of further education and sixth form colleges, Julian Gravatt, Assistant Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “The publication of these reports will open the door for the colleges involved in waves 1 and 2 of the area reviews to proceed with the recommendations, if this is what they want to do. The process has been difficult for some colleges but there have been benefits in coming together to consider issues across a local area. “The Government has set aside funding through its Restructuring Facility which must now be swiftly allocated to support colleges in implementing the recommendations. “All 13 reports published so far reference the small size of some of the school sixth forms and the Department for Education has approved 200 new sixth forms in the last 10 years without reviewing the effectiveness of this policy. We believe the Government should carry out targeted reviews of post-16 provision in schools as they have done for colleges through post-16 area reviews.”