Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the 2025-26 16 to 19 funding settlement, what estimate she has made of the real-terms change in per-student funding for further education colleges after inflation and energy cost increases are considered.

The average total programme funding for all 16 to 19-year-olds, including those at further education colleges, school sixth forms and other providers, has increased from £6,219 in the 2024/25 academic year to £6,762 in the 2025/26 academic year, an increase of 8.74%. This is much higher than the current GDP deflator measure of inflation for 2025/26, which is 3.24%.