The aim of this article is to exemplify the value of using a phenomenological approach when investigating graduates' lived experiences of vocational learning. For this study, qualitative data was obtained during a series of email interviews with 35 participants. As a group they are highly aspirational and, during their graduate studies, were…

Computer Based Assessment (CBA) is propounded as a technique which seeks to meet competing pressures within higher education, both economic and pedagogic. There is, however, a need to better understand the use of CBA across different subject areas and levels, identifying barriers and enablers to its efficacy whilst also ensuring its fit with other…

It is claimed that Personal Development Planning (PDP) is the only approach to learning in UK higher education that has been actively encouraged through a policy. This paper reviews the background to the development of PDP as policy, under conditions described as the "new moral economy", and the impact of these conditions on contemporary…

UK awarding bodies increasingly use technology to distribute digital copies of students' examination scripts to examiners for marking. This process allows senior examiners (team leaders) to remotely monitor and feedback on the marking quality of examiners under their supervision throughout the marking period. The objective of this study was to…

This paper seeks to illuminate the crucial and contradictory features of Higher Education (HE) in Further Education (FE) student experience as seen through students' perceptions. The empirical study of Foundation degree (Fd) students studying in FE Colleges using a critical hermeneutics approach, raises a contrasting perspective on the HE in FE…

Study tours abroad are important arenas for post-compulsory education. This paper focuses on how personality affects students' learning on study tours abroad. The research involved 66 learners from one higher education institution in Taiwan on tours to the UK, the USA and Australia. Data were gathered using questionnaires and learning journals,…

This paper identifies the need to think differently about educational partnerships in a changing and turbulent post-compulsory policy environment in England. The policy and institutional contexts in which universities and colleges currently operate seem to be fuelling performativity at the expense of educational values. There appears to be a sharp…

This paper is about writing effective recommendations for action based on inquiries, evidence or arguments that have the purpose of effecting change. The importance of the topic for higher education is evident in the increasing accountability being asked of research from within institutions, in other words, research which provides evidenced-based…

There is widespread international concern that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and some ethnic minorities are less likely to continue education or training after compulsory schooling, or are less likely to follow the highest-status and prestigious routes. Based on work done in the UK, this paper presents the results of a systematic…

Reflective practice is held to be a means of practitioner development; however the range of models of reflection do not seem to suit practitioners working in the Post-Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) sector. Current models ignore the contextuality and specificality of PCET practice and do not consider its unique practitioner-student and…

This study reports the findings of a research on the trust relationship between practitioners in the Skills for Life (SfL) area and the policy that informs their practice. The exploration of this relationship was premised on an extended notion of trust relationship which draws from the Speech Act theory of Austin (1962; Searle 1969; Kissine 2008),…

This case study shows the imaginative methods adult learners use to stay motivated while studying. Respondents used social network sites and texts to motivate themselves, and each other, to continue studying. I call this innovative application of technology "e-motivation". Students used communication technology to transform their attitude, to…

Set in the context of a falling budget, the purpose of this study was to investigate how the impact of Aimhigher funds could be maximised in Herefordshire and Worcestershire schools. A case study approach using phenomenological methods was used to examine three key areas: How are funds distributed and utilised by schools and colleges? How are…

In the "age of austerity", educational institutions in many countries are under pressure from a variety of sources to work more closely, reduce costs and raise educational performance. There are a number of possible outcomes that follow on from developing closer institutional ties: sharing of professional expertise through best practice networks,…

This seminal study investigates the use of the EFQM Excellence Model[R] in the UK Further Education sector. Following initial interviews with Senior Managers and Quality Consultants, an online survey was sent to Principals and Senior Managers in all Colleges across the UK to critically investigate the relationship between the use of the Model and…