The following is an outline of the political, economic, social, technology and environment factors that affect and influence the education industry. a national network of colleges should be established, with a dedicated capital investment, and the integration of small, local colleges into groups; full funding should be provided for all students participating in study for levels 2 and 3 to remove barriers to social mobility and productivity; the reduction in the core funding rate for 18 year-olds should be reversed; Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funding rules should be simplified, and government should commit to providing an indicative adult education budget; the government should invest in the FE workforce as a priority; FE colleges should have a protected title, as universities are entitled to. While it might seem like a tiring prospect to further your education in the healthcare sector, there is no denying that it is a fast-moving industry. The Welsh Government has accepted the recommendations. So, in terms of education, a stakeholder is FE in the United Kingdom is usually a means to attain an intermediate, advanced or follow-up qualification necessary to progress into HE, or to begin a specific career path outside of university education. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Most secondary schools also provide a Sixth Form scheme whereby a student can choose to attend said school for 2 additional years to complete their AS and A-levels. The House of Commons Education Committee has also identified FE as the hardest hit part of the education sector: “Participation in full time further education has more than doubled since the 1980s, yet post-16 budgets have seen the most significant pressures of all education stages. The many types of further education awards are known as Post Leaving Certificates. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! These include: Colleges are primarily covered by the Department for Education (DfE). Alongside teaching staff, the FE sector needs support staff in a variety of education-related positions. Colleges in England are represented by the Association of Colleges. Earlier this month, in his first Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed the Conservative Party’s election manifesto commitments for FE, including £1.8bn for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to upgrade college buildings. Wales Six regional colleges, operating across 40 campuses, are the main providers of technical and vocational education in Northern Ireland. ( Log Out /  But OECD figures show just 37% of men and 34% of women participate in further education (compared to averages of 49% and 44% respectively across other industrialised countries). DISCUSSION: 8 of the greatest challenges facing HE in 2020 (meet the panel): This is a form of corporate administration adapted to the needs of further education, to be used "where a further education body is unable to pay its debts or is likely to become unable to pay its debts" and intended "to avoid or minimise disruption to the studies of the existing students of the further education body as a whole".[4]. Technical education – reformed for whose benefit? Guest post: How working from home could revitalise rust belt cities, Skilling up: the case for digital literacy, Role models for a new economic landscape: lessons from Europe’s Green Capitals. Further education is the backbone of the UK’s efforts to meet the country’s growing skills gap, and may hold the key to improving productivity and social mobility. There are also high hopes that more money will be delivered to FE in the autumn spending review. Education sector - further education. Well, the Government is determined that even if there was any truth in that in the past, there shall be none in the future.”. This does not mean that the FE sector is by any means fit for purpose if we are to adequately provide for the further education learners in the future, but it is better placed than any other sector – university, charity, for profit, local authority – to meet the requirements of future learners and far more able to reach into every part of disadvantaged communities and society. The sector as a whole was known then as the Further Education sector, indicating that, for most, it followed on from school and provided learners – literally – with further education, to be distinguished from the universities and other institutions that provided degree-level higher education. By Deborah Hardiman Telford Education Published: Nov 27, 2020 Last Updated: Nov 27, 2020. This website covers schools (state funded and independent), further education establishments and higher education institutions. The Augar review observed that there is a powerful case for change in the FE sector, and made a number of recommendations to improve the quality, capability and capacity of England’s FE college network, including: The Augar recommendation that £3bn should flow to colleges, along with a one-off £1bn capital funding boost for the national network underlines the need for government to take further education seriously. From teaching and lecturing to leadership and support staff roles, you can search the latest further education jobs from colleges and other FE providers in your local area and across the UK. Join our Guardian Teaching Network today and make sure you keep up to date with all you need to know in your industry. In the United States and Canada, the term continuing education has a similar meaning. To: All Principals and Chief Executives in Further Education Dear Colleagues Priorities for the Further Education Sector 2017/18 I am writing to confirm my priorities for the further education (FE) sector in Wales for the 2017/18 academic year, to provide a framework which will help shape your future strategies and operational plans. Further Education is offered to students aged over 16 at colleges of Further Education, through work-based learning, or adult and community learning institutions. acl Consulting was commissioned in November 2018 to undertake research for the UK Department for Education (DfE) aimed at understanding costs and cost drivers in the Further Education (FE) sector. England's further education (FE) sector has been characterised by instability and policy churn for at least three decades during which time reform of vocational education and training (VET) has been piled on top of reform, with few resulting in lasting change. Further education is the backbone of the UK’s efforts to meet the country’s growing skills gap, and may hold the key to improving productivity and social mobility. The FE sector has welcomed the change in approach. That forthright pledge came, not from a politician in our own times, but from the president of the board of education in 1935. In 2016, the Northern Ireland Executive reviewed FE, resulting in a strategy with nine themes covering areas such as economic development; social inclusion and delivery. It may be at any level in compulsory secondary education, from entry to higher level qualifications such as awards, certificates, diplomas and other vocational, competency-based qualifications (including those previously known as NVQ/SVQs) through awarding organisations including The Technical and Further Education Act 2017 laid out a framework for an insolvency regime for further education colleges known as "Education Administration". Scotland A lot has changed since but I think this description still holds up. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. It reported that 12 colleges were forecasting recurring financial deficits by 2022-23. Teachers and learners can now benefit from e-books, vocational learning resources, virtual reality resources, and ‘home use’ licences for personal devices. With the number of colleges in financial difficulty expected to rise rapidly, there are fundamental structural problems which might require decisions at a regional or sector … You could be a librarian, careers advisor, lab technician or work on an IT help-desk. But the word stakeholder refers to a person who has an interest or concern in the organization at hand. Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It has been a turbulent few years for the further education sector, which has been the victim of large swathes of cuts. Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. Employment opportunities in the education sector vary from teaching and training to finance and human resources. Further education institutions have been hit particularly hard by continuing reductions in public funding. One might think of a person holding a wooden stake, like the kind driven through the hearts of vampires in folklore. Clearly, more needs to be done to help FE level up. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Change ). If there is anything you do not understand and want some more … Northern Ireland's Department for Employment and Learning has the responsibility for providing FE in the province. The review also recommended that education policy and institutions should be more focused on Wales’ social and economic goals. Stay on top of the latest further education vacancies by signing up to Guardian Jobs. According to the Institute for Government (IfG), since the 1980s there have been: 28 … Typical areas include apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications in many disciplines, such as childcare, farming, retail, and tourism. It includes a commitment to, in partnership with the colleges, review the funding model to ensure that it supports and incentivises colleges to deliver the strategy. They face the challenge of maintaining and increasing quality of provision while resources continue to contract. Per student funding fell by 16% in real terms between 2010–11 and 2018–19 – twice as much as the 8% school funding fall over a similar period.”. The site makes clear that a sensible approach to risk management is essential. Almost a century later, further education (FE) is still struggling to break away from its position as an overlooked and under-resourced Cinderella sector. FEjobs is the number 1 further education-only job board trusted by over 350 colleges and training providers But OECD figures show just 37% of men and 34% of women participate in further education (compared to averages of 49% and 44% respectively across other industrialised countries). In the face of this adversity, London needs a strong further education sector more now than ever. Through FE, individuals can get a second chance to obtain qualifications, equip themselves for higher education, and improve their employability or chances of promotion, as well as enjoying countless health and wellbeing benefits. We hear a lot about universities but it's actually the further education sector which has had the biggest cuts since 2010," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Five current challenges facing Further Education. Further Education covers education and training which occurs after second level schooling but which is not part of the third level system. Further education in Northern Ireland is provided through six multi-campus colleges [1]. Witnesses contributing to the Committee’s investigation were in no doubt that FE has been hit harder than other parts of the education sector because it doesn’t have the ear of politicians in the way that schools and universities do. The main aim of the research was to provide estimates of the cost of delivering good quality FE provision. Safeguarding in social isolation: how social care teams are adapting to the new normal. Further education in the Republic of Ireland is similar to that offered in the UK. As things stand, FE is still awaiting a definitive government response. Frequently, the first two years of higher education – usually in the form of an HND – are taken in an FE college, followed by attendance at university. A 2019 Audit Scotland report noted that Scottish colleges are operating within an increasingly tight financial environment. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. They offer a wide range of vocational qualifications to young people and older adults, including vocational, competency-based qualifications (previously known as SVQs), Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas. There are number of providers of Further and Adult Education and Training and a wide variety of schools, organisations and institutions, are involved in the delivery of continuing education and training for young school leavers and adults. Further education in Wales is provided through: Further education in Wales comes under the remit of the Welsh Assembly Government. England’s further education (FE) sector has been characterised by instability and policy churn for at least three decades during which time reform of vocational education and training (VET) has been piled on top of reform, with few resulting in lasting change. "We hear a lot about schools. helped by the institutions and their relationships with their communities. It was this sector of education, which was concerned with education beyond the normal school-leaving ages of 16 or 18, that experienced the most astonishing growth in the number of students. Further education has expanded immensely in recent years,[when?] All colleges and FE providers are subject to inspection by Ofsted which monitors the quality of provision in publicly funded institutions in England and Wales. With the abolition of BIS and formation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on 14 July 2016, responsibility for FE colleges moved to DfE. Virtual reality: a game changer for mental health treatment? In spite of all these benefits, FE colleges attract less attention and funding than schools or universities, and their impact is not so widely recognised. When I wrote my foreword to the Further Education Trust for Leadership’s (FETL) first major publication, Remembered Thinking, in 2015, I described further education as “a Rubik’s cube of a thing, adept at dealing with the colourful twists, turns and about-turns in policies, purses, politicians and partners”. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Following the merger of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) in 2017,[2] funding for colleges is provided through the Education and Skills Funding Agency[3] (ESFA) for all further education students. Colleges in England are incorporated under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. In the education sector, this analysis also makes it possible to determine environment changes that might impact the planning, management and future financing of the industry. The decline in the financial health of further education (FE) colleges since 2010/11 is highlighted in a National Audit Office report today. Scotland's further education colleges provide education for those young people who follow a vocational route after the end of compulsory education at age 16. An independent review of post-18 education, led by Philip Augar, reported that in 2018 English universities received £8bn in government funding to support 1.2m undergraduates, while just £2.3bn was allocated for the 2.2m full and part-time students aged over 18 in further education. Adult education funding … In 2018, researchers from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education identified six key issues affecting FE policy in England: As the Ontario study noted, funding is a key factor in the precarious position of FE in the UK, something echoed by further research. There is always something new to learn or a new type of treatment that can help improve patient care in general. Education beyond secondary schooling, typically used in the UK and Ireland, List of further education colleges in England, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, List of further education colleges in Scotland, List of further education colleges in Wales, Education in the Republic of Ireland § Further education, List of further education colleges in the Republic of Ireland, National Union of Students of the United Kingdom, "Department for Education taking over FE, skills and higher education", "New agency to provide joined-up education and skills funding", "Minister Quinn merges educational agencies to establish QQI", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Further_education&oldid=985261819, Further education colleges in the United Kingdom, Vocational education in the United Kingdom, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 24 October 2020, at 22:59. Further Education (FE) in England refers to any study taken after the age of 16 that is not part of higher education (that is, not taken as part of an undergraduate or post-graduate degree) 1. Find various roles working in further education including work in colleges, universities, teaching abroad and teacher training. What is a stakeholder? Following the Budget speech, the Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes said: “Today showed a clear shift in attitude towards technical and vocational education, after a decade of neglect.”. The strategic objectives of the further education sector are: 1. to support regional economic development and, in particular, to provide the skills necessary for the knowledge-based economy 2. to increase participation and widen access to those previously under-represented in the sector 3. to improve the quality of provision and enhance standards of performance The Department of Education's Education and Training Inspectorate provides for inspections of FE colleges in relation to the quality of teaching and le… A further report, published by the Institute of Fiscal Studies  found that over the last decade further education and skills spending for young people and adults received the largest cuts across all areas of education spending. The Further Education (FE) Sector is now undergoing significant reforms. Policy reforms. ( Log Out /  ( Log Out /  Further reading from The Knowledge Exchange blog. Read on get up to speed and ask any questions about the challenges you face by joining our member-only LinkedIn Group called Higher Education – The Conversation.. Employers look to FE  to provide a workforce with the skills they need. Guidance on managing the significant risks in the sector for pupils and members of staff is included. FE matters in many ways to many people. Provides practical information and guidance on competition issues in the further education (FE) sector for FE providers. Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree.Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education.It represents levels 6, 7 and 8 of the 2011 version of the International Standard Classification of Education structure. The colleges are also a large service provider for apprenticeships where most of the training takes place at the apprentices' workplace, supplemented with day release into college. ( Log Out /  It may be at any level in compulsory secondary education, from entry to higher level qualifications such as awards, certificates, diplomas and other vocational, competency-based qualifications (including those previously known as NVQ/SVQs) through awarding organisations including City and Guilds, Edexcel (BTEC) and OCR. There are also opportunities to provide learner support to learners with personal difficulties, including learning difficulties and disabilities, language issues, or financial hardship. ‘Bending the Curve’ of biodiversity loss – could Covid-19 be the catalyst for change? It is delivered by a range of public, private and voluntary sector providers and, in Funding came from Education and Learning Wales from 2000 until 2006, when that organisation was merged with the Assembly. Until July 2016, colleges were also covered by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Further education thus embraced the vast range of university, technical, commercial, and art education and the wide field of adult education. In a show of support to the further education (FE) sector, service and content providers are extending free access to resources during the COVID-19 crisis. More recently, research by the principals of Scotland’s two largest colleges reported that FE boosts Scotland’s GDP by £3.5bn a year. We interviewed a panel of senior higher education leaders to discuss the challenges in higher education for 2020. Learn how your comment data is processed. In addition, the FE sector employs staff in HR, finance, marketing, IT, maintenance and administration roles, all helping to build an environment … In the context of another ambitious new reform of VET in England, this article reports on a study that examined the chronic difficulties in recruiting teachers of … Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. It might still be too soon to forecast a happy ending for the Cinderella sector, but the signs are that FE is coming in from the cold. [1] The regulatory body for sixth form colleges was already DfE prior to the 2016 changes. Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), which was established in November 2012,[5] is the regulator for FE qualifications. “It has, I believe, been an old complaint among many concerned with the technical side of education that that part of education has been the Cinderella. Further education – or abbreviated to FE – includes any study after secondary education that’s not part of higher education (that is, not taken as part of an undergraduate or graduate degree). FE colleges may also offer HE qualifications such as HNC, HND, foundation degree or PGCE. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. As one contributor put it: “…there are more votes in schools than colleges.”. In Scotland, where FE colleges provide around 71 million hours of learning to over 242,00 students each year, financial pressures are increasing. Sign up to Jobs by Email to get the latest FE jobs sent directly to your inbox and explore expert careers advice to support your career … So many of the services we rely on today depend on people who learned their skills in FE colleges, from car mechanics to care workers, hairdressers to housing managers. English FE is not defined clearly and stably; the strength and continuity of FE colleges have been undermined by multiple and changing funding sources and funders, frequent government reviews and frequent substantial policy changes; increasing numbers of college lecturers are employed on zero hours contracts; mergers and closures have undermined colleges’ community and employment functions; competition among the multiplicity of private bodies awarding FE qualifications is leading them to make their qualifications easier to attain; cuts in FE funding have greatly weakened colleges, leaving them under-resourced. Here you will find information about becoming a teacher, incentives for training, qualifications, the Society for Education and Training (SET), the variety of the sector and most of what you need to know as a new entrant or an existing worker. The 2016 Hazelkorn review made recommendations for post-compulsory education in Wales, including a new Tertiary Education Authority to distribute funding to universities and colleges, and to shape the vision of the post-compulsory sector. Further education sector has vital role in helping to rebuild country, says college principal. Not incidentally, the wider economy benefits from the improved productivity, increased tax-take and knowledge transfer that FE delivers. How we work The report suggested that there is scope for the Scottish Funding Council to work with individual colleges and their boards to improve financial planning and to achieve greater transparency in the sector’s financial position. With the resumption of the devolved assembly in Northern Ireland, the hope is that the government can work with the FE sector to meet the challenges of funding and the needs of the economy. college.jobs.ac.uk is the specialist job board for the further education sector by jobs.ac.uk. Northern Ireland Courses and apprenticeships can provide important education and training for school-leavers and for adults to help them acquire new skills, meet job-specific requirements, or benefit from mid-career top-up. This is the website for information about the Further Education and Training sector in England.