Further education college

The further education (FE) sector provides high-quality post-16 education and training that puts learners' needs first, and aims to raise participation and attainment, contributing to the Learning and Skills Council's vision that by 2010 young people and adults in England will have the knowledge and productive skills matching the best in the world.

Context

The FE sector comprises five different types of college:

• General further education college (or tertiary college)
  General FE colleges deliver general (academic) and specialist (vocational or occupational) courses at levels 1, 2 and 3, plus basic adult skills provision (the term 'tertiary college' is sometimes used to describe colleges for 16-19-year-olds that combine the functions of both a general FE college and a sixth form college, or were formerly designated by the local authority as sole provider of post-16 learning in the area).
• Sixth form colleges
  These deliver mainly general (academic) courses at level 3.
• Agricultural and horticultural colleges
  These deliver specialist vocational courses in the field of agriculture and horticulture.
• Art, design and performing arts colleges
  These deliver specialist vocational courses in dance and drama.
• Other specialist colleges

The FE sector (as defined in the Education Act 1996 - see below) is part of the wider learning and skills sector, for which the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has had overall strategic responsibility since 2001.

The learning and skills sector encompasses also school sixth forms, adult and community learning providers, independent 'for profit' colleges, and employers with significant training capacity, for example. None of these are part of further education.

Compulsory schooling lasts for 11 years, from age 5 to 16. Having completed GCSEs at age 16, pupils have a choice as to whether to continue with their education at school (secondary education) or college (further education), or to undertake employment.

What does it do?

Through its various colleges, the FE sector provides:

• Academic and vocational learning for 16-19 year olds
• Vocational education and training for adults seeking employment
• Workforce development for employers and employees
• Basic literacy and numeracy skills improvement
• 'Second chance' general education for adults
• Learning for leisure, personal and community development

FE colleges cater for significant numbers of disadvantaged learners; they draw more than a third of their students from the 15% most disadvantaged wards. Only half of 16-year-olds going to further education have good GCSEs, compared with three quarters in school sixth forms.

FE has a key role to play across four areas of the government's plans for making England better skilled and more competitive:

• The development of a more coherent 14-19 phase of education, including stronger vocational opportunities and greater flexibility post-14
• Widening participation in higher education, towards the target that 50% of 18-30-year-olds should have participated by 2010
• Improving basic adult skills and meeting the target that 1.5 million adults should have improved basic skills (with a 40% reduction in adults lacking level 2 qualifications) by 2010
• Improving workforce skills

What is its structure?

Under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, FE colleges became legally independent incorporated bodies (with charity status), free of local authority control. The principal is chief executive, with overall responsibility for executive management and day-to-day running of the college. Each college also has a clerk, responsible for ensuring the business of the corporation is conducted properly.

The college's governing body must include representatives from business, industry or professions relevant to the college's work, staff, students, the local authority, the community, and parents, where appropriate. Each college has an 'Instrument and Articles of Government' which, among other things, determines the educational character of the institution and  has to be approved by ministers.

Learning and Skills Council

The LSC is a non-departmental public body that is responsible for planning and funding education and training for over-16-year-olds in England. It was established under the Learning and Skills Act 2000, and became fully operational in April 2001.

The LSC is responsible for all post-16 education and training, other than in higher education. Its remit therefore includes the whole of the further education sector. The LSC's mission is to raise participation and attainment through high-quality education and training. It operates through a national office in Coventry and 47 local offices, known as local learning and skills councils.

The LSC is advised by two statutory committees: the Adult Learning Committee; and the Young Person's Learning Committee, which advises on achievement of national targets for 16-21-year-olds, and works closely with Connexions, schools, colleges, and local authorities.

Click for more about the LSC.

Legislation

FE is defined in the Education Act 1996, section 2(3), as:

(a) full-time and part-time education suitable to the requirements of persons  who are over compulsory school age (including vocational, social, physical  and recreational training), and
(b) organised leisure-time occupation provided in connection with the  provision of such education, except that it does not include secondary education or higher education.