§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will commission independent research to establish the gap in the level of funding per pupil between school sixth forms and colleges of further education. [73645]
§ Margaret HodgeGiven the different ways in which schools and colleges are funded and the very much broader remit of colleges, comparisons on the funding of school sixth forms and colleges of further education are far from straight forward. My Department is currently considering the best basis for making sound comparisons and we do not believe that external research is necessary. The Government remains firmly committed to bring up the level of funding of colleges towards that of school sixth forms. However, as we have repeatedly made clear, this will take time and must be done as resources allow.