The founder of university technical colleges (UTCs) has insisted that the model hasn’t “failed” - but admitted it was a “struggle to keep them going” because of the difficulty in attracting students at 14.

The UTC movement - championed by former education secretary Lord Baker - has suffered some high-profile problems in recent years. Four colleges have been forced to close to date, with three more projects being aborted before opening.

UTC Lancashire, which closed its doors this summer, had just 113 students on its books in 2015-16, despite having a capacity of 800. And last month it was confirmed that the £8.6 million Burton and South Derbyshire UTC had been scrapped before opening because of “low pupil recruitment numbers”.

In an exclusive interview with TES, Lord Baker gave his most candid admission yet of the problems that have plagued the 14-19 institutions.

He also said that the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, which supports the UTC programme, had been calling on the government to do more to inform young people about UTCs in their local area. In response, the Department for Education told TES that it was “exploring whether more can be done to improve recruitment”.

Collectively, the 48 open UTCs educate more than 11,000 students. Lord Baker said that the support from schools and local authorities in promoting UTCs has been variable, and argued that authorities should be required to send out letters about UTCs to parents of Year 10 students.

“We’ve got some [UTCs] now that have got waiting lists,” he said. “But recruitment at 14 is still challenging. We’ve been asking the government for three years to help us. They’ve said they are going to help by making changes.”

Vicious’ claims

A DfE spokesperson refused to confirm whether any specific changes had been finalised. “UTCs play a key part in our education plans by providing young people with the technical knowledge and skills employers demand to effectively prepare for the world of work,” the spokesperson added.

Lord Baker told TES that he had been “surprised” by the recruitment difficulties faced by some colleges.

“UTCs have not failed. It’s a struggle to keep them going - there’s no question about that. We didn’t think there would be so many [difficulties] because we thought that schools would be more cooperative.”

‘We thought that schools would be more cooperative’

He added that some UTC principals had been refused access to students in neighbouring schools. “They also make vicious claims [about UTCs] - they are so worried about losing students when they do that,” the Conservative peer said.

“I’m not in the business of wanting to keep failing UTCs open, really I’m not. They are usually failing because of a poor head and a poor governing body, quite frankly.”

But Lord Baker pointed out that, according to data collected by UTCs, 99.5 per cent of their students who leave at 16 remain in education, employment or training. The figure drops slightly to 97 per cent for those students who leave at 18.

“We are very proud of this [statistic]…really very proud,” he said.

Financial fears

Joanne Harper, principal of UTC Reading - the only college rated “outstanding” by Ofsted - said that while parents of Year 10 students in neighbouring Oxfordshire were told about the UTC by the local authority, no letter was sent out in Reading.

“Schools are in such a terrible financial situation at the moment, many headteachers are talking the students into staying with them rather than going somewhere else,” she said. “Because if they then lose students…that’s a considerable amount of funding they’d lose. I think that hasn’t helped, and that’s difficult.

“I just think everyone should know what’s there and make an informed decision. At the end of the day, it’s taxpayers’ money going into these [UTCs]. They’ve been set up for a very good reason - to address the skills shortage we’ve got in the country - so I think local authorities and other schools have a duty to let children know that we exist.”

Ian Parry, principal of Liverpool Life Sciences UTC, said that while its post-16 recruitment had been “extremely positive”, recruitment at key stage 4 had proved to be a “different challenge”.

“I think many parents, students and schools believed the UTC to be either a place to have a fresh start, or if they weren’t performing in the school they were at [they would go there],” he said. “There is a very academic focus that sits alongside our vocational offering. Expectations are extremely high.”

He added that while 16 was the “natural” time for students to switch school, awareness among younger students and their parents was growing, thanks to increased support from neighbouring schools.

“They initially viewed us as competitors, but a lot of them are starting to work closely with us and realise we have a lot to offer in the city region,” he said.

@stephenexley