The crucial role that colleges play in offering students from the most deprived parts of the country access to higher education has been acknowledged in a landmark study.
The research, commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), reveals that one in 10 HE students attended an FE college in 2013-14.
The make-up of HE students in FE institutions differs significantly from those attending universities, with a higher proportion of part-time and older learners. The percentage of learners from “cold spots” - the 20 per cent of areas with the lowest HE participation - is almost double that seen in HE institutions.
Local learning
Today’s report, produced by RCU for the ETF, also shows that student recruitment is far more localised in colleges: the average distance between home and college is just 17 miles, less than a third of the average distance for those attending a university.
As a result, the study concludes that colleges are “much better placed” than universities to deliver the skills required by local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and local employers.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, said the research confirmed the positive impact of colleges in their communities: “We know there has been a drop in part-time higher education numbers nationally, so I am pleased further education colleges are still offering flexible routes in higher education to adults who want to get on in life and in work.”
Mr Hughes added that skills devolution offered greater opportunities for local authorities and LEPs to work more constructively with colleges to address the skills requirements of people already in work who needed that flexibility and progression.
Economic boost
The report also quantifies the economic impact of HE in FE: the lifetime benefits for college-based HE students who completed their degrees in 2013-14 have been valued at just under £4 billion.
This figure, the report stresses, does not take into account the productivity boost for employers resulting from individuals gaining higher-level qualifications - which could be as much as twice the increase in wages.
Sheila Kearney, head of research at the ETF, said: “The analysis illustrates how successfully FE is responding to the government’s expectations for college-based HE.”
Some 9.8 per cent of HE students in 2013-14 were enrolled at a college, the statistics reveal - of these, 44 per cent were on part-time courses. This compares with only a quarter of university students studying part-time.
While almost half of undergraduates studying at HE institutions were aged under 21, this was the case for less than a third of HE students in colleges.
Degree-awarding powers
Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said that the report demonstrated colleges were a “vital part of our higher education system”.
John Widdowson, principal of New College Durham, said the study confirmed the important role played by colleges in HE provision, and called for them to be given greater powers to award degrees.
While 244 FE colleges in England offer HE qualifications, only five of them have foundation degree-awarding powers. The rest are required to have their degrees validated by a university partner. Last month Teesside University revealed that it was severing its partnership arrangements with 10 colleges.
This is an edited version of an article from the 22 April edition of TES. Subscribers can read the full article here. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To subscribe, click here. TES Further Education subscription packages are available here.
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