The Liberal Democrats' manifesto pledges to Raise the Rate - 20th November 2019

20th November 2019

In response to the release of the Liberal Democrats' manifesto, Bill Watkin, Chief Executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association said:

“The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto contains some very welcome commitments on post-16 education. Our understanding is that most of the £1 billion investment announced today will be used to Raise the Rate of funding for sixth form students. This would help to ensure that colleges and schools have the resources they need to provide every 16 to 18 year old with a high quality education – the fundamental aim of the Raise the Rate campaign. Schools have their VAT costs refunded but colleges do not – we estimate that the Lib Dem commitment to scrap this ‘learning tax’ would mean the average sixth form college had an additional £350,000 per year to spend on the front line education of students. Increasing investment for schools and colleges, and reducing inequality between schools and colleges, will benefit all sixth form students, irrespective of where they choose to study”.