England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

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 ...

, a tertiary college is a type of further education (FE) college that offers both academic and vocational courses to both youngsters and adults, combining the main functions of an FE college and a

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 A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate ...

. Unlike a sixth form college these also have a substantial involvement in the education of adults over 18, therefore tend to have a wide spectrum of curriculum. In its truest form, a "tertiary college" is the sole provider of public post-16 further education in a single local authority;https://pure.hud.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/27932872/Macfarlane_Rev.pdf however with the effective halt of new tertiary colleges following 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 ...

, the term is nowadays not used by these colleges anymore, referring to themselves as simply the umbrella term of further education colleges. The first tertiary college was Exeter College, Exeter in 1970. Numerous local authorities implemented the tertiary structure that decade and in the 1980s, including

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

Kirklees Kirklees is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Kirklees Council with the status of a metropolitan borough. The largest town and administrative centre of Kirklees is Huddersfield, and the district also inclu ...

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, Harrow,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, Bury,

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the Lo ...

, Knowsley,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and others. In Wales, tertiary colleges were set up in Gwent and

West Glamorgan , HQ= County Hall, Swansea , Government= West Glamorgan County Council (abolished 1996) , Status= , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Wes ...

. The tertiary system reflected the confidence and power at the time of

local education authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wi ...

(LEA) to plan centrally. Additionally a 1980 paper noted that the tertiary system would encourage more schoolchildren to undertake post-16 study while giving further opportunities in terms of subjects as opposed to secondary schools. In

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, the council's approval of tertiary colleges in 1987 caused widespread opposition as it involved closing three schools and removing sixth form provision from ten other schools. However colleges did eventually open in Wilmorton and Mackworth with some of the schools remaining as a compromise. In 1991 there were 55 tertiary colleges in England across 32

. As of 1992 there were 63 tertiary colleges compared to 224 general further education colleges, 116 sixth form colleges, 35 agriculture/horticulture colleges and 13 art and design colleges. Not all colleges necessarily have or had 'Tertiary' in its name - many colleges have since dropped this name from titles even if they are technically still tertiary. According to a research by Responsive College Unit published in 2003, 16 to 18-year-old students at tertiary colleges had higher achievement rates than other sixth form students as well as FE students at all levels. However other statistics, dating from 1999, point that school sixth forms with 200+ students and sixth form colleges have higher A-level scores.

References

{{reflist School types Further education colleges in the United Kingdom Vocational education in the United Kingdom