The government is planning to make it obligatory for councils to provide information to parents on how their children could leave their school at the age of 14 to join a university technical college (UTC).

The proposal will require local authorities to write to parents of children about to enter key stage 4 about the option of joining a UTC. It is part of a plan to prevent more of the flagship schools for 14- to 19-year-olds from closing due to poor student recruitment.

Since the project began, five UTCs - Black Country, Central Bedfordshire, Royal Greenwich, Hackney, and Lancashire - have been closed, with two more being aborted before opening.

Mary Pooley, deputy director of the Department for Education’s free schools group, wrote in a letter to council directors of children’s services that she wanted “to ensure that those schools with atypical age ranges are not disadvantaged in admissions compared to schools with age ranges typical for their local authority”.

‘Recruitment is challenging’

In October Lord Baker, the founder of UTCs, insisted that the model hasn’t “failed”, but admitted that it was a “struggle to keep them going” due to recruitment issues.

“We’ve got some [UTCs] now that have got waiting lists,” he told TES. “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.”

Neil Patterson, principal of Silverstone UTC, said that the proposed change was “definitely needed”.

He said: “It’s all about funding. The money goes with the student. Clearly, schools do not want to lose students from their roll, as they will get less money.”

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