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ERIC Number: EJ1201971
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0309-877X
EISSN: N/A
The Impact of Funding Cuts to Further Education Colleges in Scotland
McMurray, Stephen
Journal of Further and Higher Education, v43 n2 p201-219 2019
This article explores the impact of funding cuts to the Further Education colleges in Scotland. The reduction in the number of students in the colleges has been hugely politically controversial. The research utilised the Infact database on the Scottish Funding Council's website and also a literature review. The research found there had been a significant reduction in the number of students aged under 16 and 25 and over. This is related to a decision to focus on full-time courses for school leavers and to stop funding courses which lead to no recognised qualifications or last less than ten hours. The implications of this are that an increased focus on employability and qualification attainment of school leavers is important to increase employability and reduce the likelihood of NEET and/or enter a long-term cycle of low skilled work and unemployment. However, the reduction of other courses may affect part-time and older students. Many people will be prevented from retraining or upskilling as they are only able to study part-time. This would likely hit those with disabilities and caring responsibilities proportionately harder. Furthermore, there is a concern over the loss of staff from the sector, particularly those with skills of assisting students with additional support needs. The focus on employability courses may well come at the expense of basic living skills courses, which some students may have to undertake before progressing to an employability course. The implications may be that these students simply do not attend college at all and there may be additional costs to support them elsewhere.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Scotland)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A