Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding the Government plans to allocate to non-academised sixth form colleges to assist with the increase of teachers' remuneration.

Last month, the department announced the pay award for teachers in maintained schools through the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. Sixth form colleges’ pay and terms and conditions are agreed separately through the National Joint Council for Staff in Sixth Form Colleges.

The government has never taken steps to cap the pay of teachers in sixth form colleges, as these are private and independent institutions. Further education colleges are independent institutions and the government has no current plans to allocate funding specifically to assist with the increase of teachers’ remuneration in non-academised sixth form colleges. However we are considering the overall needs of these institutions as part of our work on the efficiency and resilience of the further education sector. We will continue to look carefully at their funding requirements in preparation for the next Spending Review.