Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the
United Kingdom and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the seco ...
is
education in addition to that received at
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, that is distinct from the
higher education (HE) offered in
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
and other academic institutions. 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
Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. Its ...
(
BTEC BTEC may refer to:
* Begumgonj Textile Engineering College, a college in Bangladesh
* Biomass Thermal Energy Council, a US advocacy organization
* Business and Technology Education Council, a British body, now part of Edexcel, which awards vocationa ...
) and
OCR. FE colleges may also offer HE qualifications such as
HNC,
HND HND or H&D may refer to:
Transport
* Haneda Airport, serving Tokyo, Japan
* Hanborough railway station, in England
* Henderson Executive Airport, in Nevada, United States
* Hinterland Aviation, an Australian airline
Other uses
* Croatian J ...
,
foundation degree or
PGCE. 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.
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. Further Education is offered to students aged over 16 at colleges of Further Education, through work-based learning, or adult and community learning institutions.
In the United States and Canada, the term
continuing education has a similar meaning. In Australia, education at this level is referred to as
technical and further education
Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...
or TAFE.
By country
United Kingdom
England
Provision for further education colleges was laid out in sections 41 to 47 of the
Education Act 1944
The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historian ...
; their role was to offer "full-time and part-time education" and "leisure-time occupation" for persons over compulsory school age. In the 1960s,
A-level
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...
students predominantly studied at school rather than colleges (often referred to as "techs" at that time). More types of colleges were introduced over the next decades, and by 1990 colleges took in almost half of A-level students.
Colleges in England are corporate bodies under the
Further and Higher Education Act 1992
The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within England and Wales, with consequential effects on associated matters in Scotland which had previously been ...
, which removed further education colleges from local government control. Types of college include:
* General further education colleges
*
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the Internation ...
s
*
Tertiary colleges
*
Land-based colleges (e.g. agricultural specialisms)
* Specialist designated colleges (e.g. working men's clubs)
* Art, design and performing art colleges
Policies relating to colleges are primarily the responsibility of the
Department for Education (DfE). Until July 2016, colleges were also covered by the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
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, logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg
, logo_width = 200px
, logo_caption =
, picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG
, seal =
, se ...
(BIS); on the abolition of BIS and formation of the
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), responsibility for FE colleges moved to DfE. The regulatory body for sixth form colleges was already DfE prior to the 2016 changes.
Following the merger of the
Education Funding Agency and the
Skills Funding Agency in 2017, funding for colleges is provided through the
Education and Skills Funding Agency
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is an executive agency of the government of the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Department for Education.
The ESFA was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of the Education Funding Agency an ...
for all further education students.In 2018/19, colleges’ income totalled £6.5 billion, of which £5.1 billion (78%) was public funding. Most college funding follows the learner. Colleges must attract students, competing with each other and with other types of education and training provider. Colleges can borrow commercially, own assets, employ staff and enter into contracts, and they may make financial surpluses or deficits.
The Technical and Further Education Act 2017 laid out a framework for an
insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company (debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet ins ...
regime for further education colleges known as "Education Administration". 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". Education administrators were appointed to run Hadlow College and West Kent College in 2019.
All colleges and FE providers are subject to inspection by
Ofsted, which monitors the quality of provision in publicly funded institutions in England. Membership organisations for providers include the
Association of Colleges and the
Sixth Form Colleges' Association.
In 2020, the government allocated £200 million for repairs and upgrades of FE college buildings, subject to a degree of matched funding by the colleges, and the Department for Education is allocating this to colleges via the Further Education Capital Transformation Fund.
Sixteen colleges with sites in poor condition have been selected, and detailed proposals were invited for submission before October 2021, for projects which can be completed by December 2024.
[Department for Education]
Further Education Capital Transformation Fund: Guidance for applicants for stage 2
published July 2021, accessed 17 August 2021
Northern Ireland
Further education in Northern Ireland is provided through seven multi-campus colleges. Northern Ireland's
Department for Employment and Learning has the responsibility for providing FE in the province.
*
Belfast Metropolitan College
*
North West Regional College
*
Northern Regional College
*
South Eastern Regional College
South Eastern Regional College (SERC) is a further and higher education college in the south-east of Northern Ireland.
SERC was created following the merger of three institutes of further and higher education in the south-east of Northern Irela ...
*
South West College
*
Southern Regional College
Most secondary schools also provide a sixth form scheme whereby a student can choose to attend for two additional years to complete their AS and A-levels.
Scotland
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. 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. Frequently, the first two years of
higher education – usually in the form of an
HND HND or H&D may refer to:
Transport
* Haneda Airport, serving Tokyo, Japan
* Hanborough railway station, in England
* Henderson Executive Airport, in Nevada, United States
* Hinterland Aviation, an Australian airline
Other uses
* Croatian J ...
– are taken in an FE college, followed by attendance at university.
Wales
Further education in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 202 ...
is provided through:
*
Sixth form colleges
* FE colleges
*
Sixth forms within
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
s
Further education in Wales comes under the remit of the
Welsh Assembly Government
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
. Funding came from
Education and Learning Wales from 2000 until 2006, when that organisation was merged with the Assembly.
Republic of Ireland
Further education in the
Republic of Ireland is similar to that offered in the UK. Typical areas include
apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications in many disciplines, such as childcare, farming, retail, and tourism. The many types of further education awards are known as
Post Leaving Certificates.
Further education has expanded immensely in recent years, helped by the institutions and their relationships with their communities.
Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), which was established in November 2012,
is the regulator for FE qualifications.
See also
*
Bullying in further education
*
Community colleges in the United States, American equivalent
*
Education by country
*
European Qualifications Framework
*
Learning environment
The term learning environment can refer to an educational approach, cultural context, or physical setting in which teaching and learning occur. The term is commonly used as a more definitive alternative to " classroom", but it typically refers to ...
*
Learning space
Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical setting for a learning environment, a place in which teaching and learning occur. The term is commonly used as a more definitive alternative to " classroom," but it may also refer to ...
*
ISCED
The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) is a statistical framework for organizing information on education maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is a member of the in ...
*
Jisc
*
National Union of Students of the United Kingdom
*
Technical and Further Education
Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...
(
Australia)
*
Workers Educational Association
References
External links
UK Association of Colleges websiteUK Further Education & College VacanciesUK National Union of Students websiteUK Ofsted websiteUK Skills Funding Agency website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Further Education
Continuing education
Education in the Republic of Ireland
Educational stages
Further education colleges in the United Kingdom
Higher education in the United Kingdom
Vocational education in the United Kingdom