WORCESTER sixth-formers are losing out because the funding system discriminates against colleges, city MP Michael Foster told Ministers yesterday.

Further education colleges receive about 10 per cent less funding per pupil than school sixth-forms due to an historic funding imbalance.

This means that students attending Worcester College of Technology and Worcester Sixth-Form College get less money than those taking A-levels at schools elsewhere.

During a Westminster Hall debate on adult education, Mr Foster - a former lecturer - said: "FE colleges were perilously poorly funded before 1997 and there was great hope and excitement when Labour was elected.

"In 2001, the promise was made to close the gap in funding between schools and FE colleges, but I'm sad to say progress seems to have stalled on this particular aspect."

A report by the Learning and Skills Development Agency in February found that the funding gap could even be as big as 14 per cent. Mr Foster called on the Government to publish the report for public scrutiny.

He added that there were other ways in which colleges lost out to schools on cash, such as schools not having to pay VAT and having transport services paid by the local education authority.

Mr Foster said: "Worcester city has a tertiary sector, no local school has its own sixth form, and we are very well served by the Worcester College of Technology and Worcester Sixth Form College. But with a funding gap of this proportion, it is my constituents that are losing out compared to those in other parts of the county."

He called on Ministers from the Department for Education and Skills to meet stakeholders from the FE college sector.

Skills Minister Phil Hope agreed to hold further meetings with MPs to discuss individual cases.

He added: "Nine out of 10 FE colleges have had funding increases this year, and seven out of 10 are above inflation.

"So there is substantial extra resources going into FE."