This article focuses on a Western Vocational Lifelong Learning Network (WVLLN) initiative aimed at supporting Level 3 vocational tutors in further education (FE) who have moved into a teaching career via professional experience rather than through higher education (HE), but who play a significant role in advising young people about progression to…

This paper represents a contribution to the Skills Commission's call in 2009 for more research into the attitudes of apprentices towards advanced further education and higher education. Understanding of the perspective of apprentices has been argued to be important to informing any policy change aimed at increasing the low progression rate of…

The term "Special Needs" is one which is poorly defined in general and particularly nuanced in the Lifelong Learning Sector, where its meaning has been extended to incorporate economic and social needs in addition to the more "traditional" interpretation of the term. Although the sector apparently operates inclusively, welcoming learners with…

In an era of financial constraint, this article gives attention to the role of "community college global counterparts" by comparing colleges of further education in the UK with community colleges in the US. It points to similarities between the two and the ways in which budgetary constraints impact on them--and, in particular, on access…

Acknowledging the general difficulty of new e-learning pedagogical approaches in achieving wide acceptance and use, the study described in this article examines a class of MBA students' adoption of a proposed online interactive learning environment. To this end, a web-based, case-based constructivist learning environment was developed, embedding…

How young people make career/occupational choices and why they enter particular careers/occupations are questions to which the answers are complex. One hundred and ninety seven-students drawn from two non-selective comprehensive schools and two further education (FE) colleges in the North of England took part in a questionnaire survey relating to…

This article considers the views and perceptions of lecturers delivering Higher Education Business Programmes (HEBPs) in Further Education Colleges (FECs) about whether they desire to undertake research, thus enabling them to both become and be viewed as specialists in their subjects. The methodology employed took an interpretivist perspective,…

As a policy initiative to improve student achievement, a number of jurisdictions have introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy standards for senior secondary students, the meeting of which forms a hurdle requirement for the award of the senior secondary exit certificate. While such a requirement is sometimes justified by policymakers as a…

This article discusses the implications of continuing to support the delivery of higher education (HE) in further education (FE) settings. Although a critical mass of students studying HE in Further Education Colleges (FECs) is significant in sustaining the viability of the provision, we argue that the qualitative dimensions to "capturing HEness"…

The process of transition from high school to higher education might be viewed as a continuum of learning new codes of conduct that guide the exercise of a (re)new(ed) student craft. This article presents a qualitative analysis of the results of interviews conducted with students, focusing on the need for students to trigger a set of adaptive…

Integrated Quality Enhancement and Review (IQER) was introduced as quality assurance designed specifically for Higher Education (HE) in Further Education Colleges (FEC) in 2008. Following a historical account of the quality assurance systems applied to HE in FECs prior to this date, we analyse the first 64 IQER Summative Review reports produced…

This paper draws on a longitudinal study of students who entered an ancient Scottish university directly from further education colleges (FECs) to discuss the role that different assessment regimes played in their university careers. It illuminates aspects of learning from feedback from the perspective of students whose pre-university experiences…

Teaching larger groups of students is a growing phenomenon in HE and this brings with it its own challenges, not least for the students themselves but also for their lecturers. Demographic factors as well as the experiences that characterise us as individuals will impact upon our ability to learn. The pilot study reported here considered the…

This article reflects on the interplay between the recommended policy of providing mentors for PCET ITT (Post-Compulsory Education and Training Initial Teacher Training) students and the praxis or application of this policy. The findings are based on questionnaire data that has been gathered from 80 PCET ITT students and their mentors alongside…

This study compares the aspirations of students in further education (FE) colleges and non-FE post-compulsory settings. Within the context of a survey about their education, 928 students across 26 institutions were asked what their "hopes, goals and plans" were, with space for five open responses. Coding of responses was based upon…