Schools should pay for maths and English failures

It was a similar story over the same period for maths resits, he added, when 110,811 students re-took maths at an FE college, compared to 27,579 at schools.

According to the Policy Exchange, 100,239 students re-took English at an FE College compared to the 20,544 who stayed at school and the 8,738 who went to a sixth form college.

Policy Exchange says hundreds of thousands of students fail each year and are required to resit the exams.

There are five times more students retaking English in FE colleges than in schools, says the report.

The think tank said FE colleges are being “left to deal with a far greater proportion of students taking results in GCSE maths and English compared to secondary schools and sixth form colleges” – and that the fines imposed on failing schools should be re-allocated to boost funding for FE colleges. Of those retaking maths, 66% at FE college got below a D grade, compared with 47% both at school and at sixth form college.

Brian Lightman, of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the idea of a levy was an “own goal”. He said while a levy would bring in “welcome additional funding” it would be easier if the Government recognised the extra pressures facing colleges in the national funding given to FE.

A Department for Education spokesman defended the existing arrangements.

However, she said: “While we agree that FE colleges should receive additional funding for helping students pass their re-sits, we do not think schools should have to pay for it”.

He said: “It is extremely disappointing therefore that government consistently refuse to place a protective funding ringfence around the education for 16- to 19-year-olds, leaving their education extremely vulnerable in the spending review, unlike the five- to 15-year-olds who are protected”.

This burden is growing in the wake of government reforms which require teenagers who fail to score at least a C at GCSE in English or maths to continue studying the subject and re-take qualifications, it says.

“This is particularly pressing because the level of funding for 16-19 education is inadequate and urgently needs to be addressed”.

Paper author Natasha Porter: “Given that colleges are undertaking a large burden that is, in part, caused by the failure of some elements of the school system to have adequately ensured that 16 year old school leavers have achieved an appropriate baseline of qualifications, there is a case for a remedy”.

But Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the levy would penalise schools without improving the outlook for FE colleges.

However head teachers said a resit levy would be an “own goal” as schools were also facing increasing pressures on their budgets. “If young people have not mastered them by 16, it is more likely they will be held back for the rest of their life”.

Since September 2014 it has been compulsory for pupils who did not achieve an A* to C grade in English and maths to retake the subjects in post-16 education.

A separate report being published on Tuesday emphasised the achievement gap between rich and poor that had opened by the age of 11.

The Department for Education said it already provided an extra £480 per student per subject for all those with GCSE English or maths below grade C.

“This important new research shows the deep inequality that still exists within the state school system”, said director Nick Timothy.

If such a system were introduced Yorkshire schools could be likely to face more fines than those elsewhere.