157 Group welcomes extra funding for degree places in FE colleges
2nd February 2012
For immediate release: Thursday 2 February 2012
157 Group welcomes extra funding for degree places in FE colleges BEGINS The 157 Group has strongly welcomed the announcement by the universities minister, David Willetts that 143 further education colleges will receive funding for about 9,500 extra degree places.
Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said, "The further education sector already provides nearly 40 per cent of new entrants to higher education, and colleges are increasingly making a distinctive contribution to the provision of higher education. Their strengths include combining high-quality teaching with responsiveness to local employment needs; reaching out to non-traditional HE learners, including mature and part-time students; and delivering locally relevant, vocational higher-level qualifications. We see today's announcement as a huge statement of confidence in FE colleges.
"Last year's higher education white paper set out the government's intention to enable a greater diversity of provision, and we are pleased that there will be funding for an extra 9,500 or so learners to take degree-level courses in FE colleges.. The benefits of studying HE in FE are vast, as outlined in our October 2011 policy paper, Rising to the challenge: how FE colleges are key to the future of HE. HE provision in colleges is very cost-effective for students, with more hours a week of tuition than universities, typically, which is reflected in very high rates of reported student satisfaction."
Marilyn Hawkins, chair of the 157 Group and principal of Barnet and Southgate College, said, "This is excellent news for our colleges and we hope it sets a precedent for even greater expansion of HE in FE. Expanding the number of HE places in FE colleges offers greater choice for to many learners, including those who have to juggle learning, work and family commitments. Many people who would otherwise have been unable to progress on to HE level courses will now do so, and we believe all learners should know that FE colleges can be a first choice for access to HE, not a second choice ."
ENDS
Notes for editors
About the 157 Group
The 157 Group represents 27 of the most influential colleges in the FE sector. It was formed in 2006 in response to paragraph 157 of Sir Andrew Foster's report on the future of further education colleges, in which he argued that principals of large successful colleges should play a greater role in policymaking.
The 157 Group policy paper Rising to the challenge: how FE colleges are key to the future of HE can be downloaded here: http://www.157group.co.uk/files/rising_to_the_challenge_how_fe_colleges_are_key_to_the_future_of_he.pdf
CONTACT
Gemma Knott 07581 354 750
Email [email protected] The 157 Group Limited P O Box 58147 London SW8 9AF
Website: www.157group.co.uk
