FOUR in 10 sixth form and further education (FE) colleges could be forced to shut forever under Tory plans to cut £1.6 billion, the Labour Party warned yesterday.

Academics’ union UCU members, striking against a 17 per cent real-terms pay cut over five years, gave shadow chancellor John McDonnell a standing ovation as he told them how FE had changed his life and that he knew colleges were a lifeline for working-class people.

Shadow education secretary Lucy Powell said that investing in tertiary education was vital for young British people’s future as they face stiff competition from overseas students and job applicants.

“It is simply not possible to build a 21st-century economy on falling investment in education,” she said. “Yet this government is putting post-16 education on a cliff edge, harming opportunities for the next generation and holding our young people and our country back.”

Even Tory former education minister Tim Loughton has told Chancellor George Osborne that forcing “unrealistic cuts” upon the colleges will put them in jeopardy.

A report by the Sixth Form College Association has said that adult education is now just about surviving on “starvation rations” imposed during the last parliament.

Now half of sixth forms and a third of FE colleges are at risk of closing because of cuts expected in Mr Osborne’s spending review this month.

Courses like modern languages and science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects are being axed by colleges because of fund shortages and extracurricular outings are also on the decline.

Barrow-in-Furness Sixth Form College, in Cumbria, has scaled back on Spanish, design and technology, music technology and religious studies, said principal David Batten.

“A large proportion” of the students are the first in their families to consider studying at university and the sixth form’s tight finances are “simply not enough” to support their aspirations and enhance social mobility, he added.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said that the cuts to adult education made for a devastating blow.

“Not everyone needs or wants to study an apprenticeship, but colleges are being forced to prioritise apprenticeships over other kinds of learning,” she said.