18-537: Loughborough College is a general further education college located in Leicestershire , England that offers further education, higher education , apprenticeships and professional qualifications. Loughborough College offers courses in beauty, business, childcare, creative industries and computing, electrical installation, engineering, hairdressing, hospitality and catering, leisure, travel and aviation, motor vehicles, public services and sport. It has partnered with
36-401: A framework for an insolvency 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
54-631: 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. Provision for further education colleges
72-534: 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 – are taken in an FE college, followed by attendance at university. Further education in Wales
90-416: Is provided through seven multi-campus colleges. Northern Ireland's Department for Employment and Learning has the responsibility for providing FE in the province. 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's further education colleges provide education for those young people who follow
108-882: Is provided through: Further education in Wales comes under the remit of the Welsh Assembly Government . Funding came from Education and Learning Wales from 2000 until 2006, when that organisation was merged with the Assembly. 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
126-611: The Department for Education . The ESFA was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). It brings together the existing responsibilities of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and Skills Funding Agency (SFA), creating a single agency accountable for funding education, apprenticeships and training for children, young people and adults. Previously
144-606: The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 , which removed further education colleges from local government control. Types of college include: 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 (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
162-1004: The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). 52°46′05″N 1°13′11″W / 52.7680°N 1.2198°W / 52.7680; -1.2198 Further education Further education (often abbreviated FE ) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities 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 ( BTEC ) and OCR . FE colleges may also offer HE qualifications such as HNC , HND , foundation degree or PGCE . The colleges are also
180-595: The National Space Academy to form the Space Engineering program. The college offers students work experience as part of their course. The college offers apprenticeships for students who wish to gain practical skills in a working environment whilst earning a wage. Many of the courses are offered in association with the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and
198-555: The Young People's Learning Agency and Partnerships for Schools . From 2013, the EFA oversaw a schools capital building programme, appointing construction contractors under national and regional framework agreements to enable schools and other education bodies to select and appoint contractors. A report was issued in 2015 which highlighted that the EFA had discriminated against small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when appointing to
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#1732869534305216-693: The EFA was responsible for distributing funding for state education in England for 3–19 year olds, as well as managing the estates of schools and colleges; and the SFA was responsible for funding skills training for further education in England and running the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Careers Service . The EFA had been formed on 1 April 2012 by bringing together the functions of two previous non-departmental public bodies ,
234-473: The framework agreements, contrary to UK government guidance promoting SME access to government procurement opportunities. In the 2019–20 financial year, the ESFA was responsible for a budget of £59 billion and had approximately 1,500 staff. The budget had increased to £65 billion by 2022. David Withey is the current Chief Executive; appointed in 2022. On September 11 2024, Bridget Phillipson announced
252-482: 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,
270-705: 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 (FECTF). 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. Further education in Northern Ireland
288-454: 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. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Education Funding Agency The Education and Skills Funding Agency ( ESFA ) is an executive agency of the government of the United Kingdom , sponsored by
306-890: 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 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
324-553: Was laid out in sections 41 to 47 of the Education Act 1944 ; 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 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
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