I AM sick of Oldham being the test bed for the next big idea, when at the same time the basic educational needs are being cut to the bone.
Now I’ve uncovered the financial cost of the failed Greater Manchester UTC Tory experiment.
In response to a written question I submitted the Government has confirmed that the failed University Technical College has cost at least £13,463,605 with more to follow.
The Department for Education published final capital costs for all open free schools once projects are completed and are no longer commercially sensitive. The £9.3m building and fit out costs were widely reported.
What has since come to light is that an additional payment of £1,016,000 was made by way of an ‘opening grant’.
Information for 2017/18 has yet to be published but is expected to push the final bill to over £14m.
The UTC was unsuccessful in attracting pupils with just 127 on its roll compared to reported capacity of 600. The school received £3,130,790 to support the education of pupils.
It hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when it came to light that the previous summer none of its pupils secured the required an English or maths GCSE grade. Even former Education Secretary Michael Gove has admitted to the UTC fiasco.
But’s this is just one piece in a long string of failed Tory experiments across our education system. While government handed out around £14m of taxpayer money to this one school, they also slashed £18m from other Oldham schools. This means that £480 per pupil would have been snatched away while teachers are stretched and schools battle to cover the bills.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 