A COLLEGE principal has warned that English students are receiving almost half the teaching hours given to their European counterparts.

Darren Hankey, principal at Hartlepool College of Further Education, has thrown his weight behind Colleges Week campaigning for improved sector funding, saying English students are falling behind on the global stage.

He said: "Young people on the continent studying in their respective further education and skills sector will receive between 25 and 30 hours of tuition per week. In England this will be closer to 15 hours per week - for every week that passes an English student falls behind their European counterparts."

Denmark has a minimum of 26 teaching hours per week, Norway has 24.5, while the Netherlands has 40 hours per week.

The statistics are from the Association of Colleges which also highlights the 30 per cent cut in funding the sector has faced over the last 10 years.