Leaders of smaller colleges have been left feeling out in the cold after the government released capital funding allocations for energy projects based on student numbers, rather than need.
Colleges are set to receive a £53 million chunk of a £500 million fund that was announced on Tuesday to help “futureproof” the estates of schools and colleges.
According to the Department for Education, this will work out, on average, as £42,000 per secondary school, £16,000 for a primary school, and £290,000 for a further education college.
But, because allocations were calculated based on ESFA revenue receipts for 2021/22, the range around that average is massive, from £10,000 to £1.3 million, and the efficiency of recipient colleges’ buildings hasn’t been taken into account.
FE Week understands that the funding isn’t new but instead comes from underspends across DfE’s other capital budgets.
NCG, Capital City College Group and New City College will each receive over £1 million. At the other end, colleges such as Northern College have only received £62,000.
