Redundancies, slashing professional development budgets and merging classes are among lengths colleges have gone to in mitigating the impact of the controversial AEB clawback (adult education budget), an FE Week investigation has found.
Analysis of government data showed that £61.4 million had been clawed back by the Education and Skills Funding Agency from 103 institutions, where less than 90 per cent of their AEB allocation was spent in 2020/21.
The threshold proved divisive when it was announced in March last year, after being set at 68 per cent the year before as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns limiting in-person teaching. Colleges had argued that the pandemic had continued to impact teaching and finances during 2020/21 – particularly in areas which experienced local lockdowns as well as nationwide restrictions.
