The Scottish Government

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REVIEW OF SCOTLAND'S COLLEGES

WORKING GROUP: THE DIFFERENCE COLLEGES MAKE

SUGGESTIONS ON DIFFERENCE COLLEGES COULD MAKE

Purpose

1. To provide members with comments received on the difference colleges could make.

Background

2. The final session of the Unlocking Opportunity conference on 3 October asked the remaining participant to consider two questions to assist the Group in its work considering the difference colleges could make in the next few years. The questions were:

1. What opportunities are there for colleges to make a bigger difference to learners, the economy and wider society?
2. What needs to be taken into account when considering colleges' future activities (and funding)?

Comments

The comments we received were:

Opportunities for colleges to make a bigger difference to learners, the economy and wider society

Group 1

• No's/ Student Support/ outputs/ or students acknowledging changes in quality due to market forces, more flexible funding, gathering of entry-level qualifications, more inclusive we become, more learners.

Group 2

• ESOL - diversity of learners on terms of nationality. Funding pressures.
• Choices of audiences to target - new or existing learning communities.
• School/college link/partnerships
• Use of SCQF framework - higher profile required.
• Support to develop partnership working + collaborative projects.
• Support & development of initiatives for ageing population (ie. 50+ groups, lack of funding support for over 25's etc.)

Group 3

• Procurement
• Asset management
• Shared services
• Demographic challenge - Real opportunities for retraining older workers, care professionals

Group 4

• Core skills
• Adult literacy & employability
• Flexibility of reaching people in employment
• Meeting challenges of rurality
• More collaboration/rationalisation

Group 5

• Uniform & smarter systems i.e. electronic
• More blended learning
• Files on students on line - assessment - course, feedback
• Increase IT systems - management info systems
• Attendance records
• Improve IT infrastructure & training to know how to use the IT system
• IT for the older population - funding for courses
• Delivering for community within the community
• Higher priority
• Value if this activity
• Widening participation
• CLD & ALN - better intelligence guidance & better info

Group 6

• Make the 2+2 work in Scotland
• Stronger links with CPPs (SIPs)
• A community building role

Group 7

• The 15% colleges turn away - could we squeeze this out of circumstances
• Image - marketing - who did you leave your children with? Who is your mechanic? Who did your hair? Marketing the sector; marketing Scotland's colleges.
• School pupils are influenced by parents, parent + teachers - we need to influence them - inform them about what Scotland's colleges are about. Successful choices!

Group 8

• Community hub - social/learning community centres.
• Address tensions between schools and colleges first
• Engage the "disengaged" of NEETs through citizenship
• Improve support for asylum seekers & refugees.
• More opportunities for networking, using IT etc to spread good practice. Forum for scoping ideas, visits - use SFEU site as a network hub.

Needs to be taken into account when considering colleges' future activities (and funding)

Group 1

• Needing high levels of support - emotional etc recognising individual needs resources team teaching
• Guidance to start at right level to recognise prior learning
• Money - input at access level, 1st certificate, 1st stepping stone
• Opportunities for small block (10hrs)
• Community outreach classes targeted.
• Funding extra funding big difference to those in community encourages into college ring fenced
• FE really good at saying you can do something. Can build momentum if peers are doing it.
• Research - closer links with local economic development and industries. Area mapping what college is delivering, complementary as opposed to competitive. Funding is a barrier and increases competitiveness - divisive.
• Role of single funding council parity of esteem with schools and university sector.

Group 2

• Bite sized chunks. Part time learning.
• Blended learning approach
• International initiatives
• Rural & small specialist colleges (lack of economics of scale)

Group 3

• Demographics - ageing population
• Asylum seekers
• Expansion of provision for S3/S4
• Profiling/marketing

Group 4

• Demography
• Colleges relationships with schools and universities
• Pay & reward for staff (McCrone)
• Parity of esteem.

Group 5

• Funding for college
• Funding for student
• Fee Waiver
• Aged over 60 discriminated
• Student funding problems - prospect of department

• School/College partnership - (right philosophy)

• Avoid duplications
• Skill academies will suck money away from colleges.

Group 6

• Resources
• SUMS (Grant in aid)

Group 7

• Aspiring to be a college lecturer - and to come and go back into your sector
• Researching SUMS target is quite easy - increasing demand is not a priority.
• Marketing - ASC's DVD - the sector
• Skills competition - worldskills 2011
• Market our qualities - inclusiveness

Group 8

• Learner needs - involvement on curriculum development
• Demographic change

• SSC agreements

Reviews Team:

Review of Scotland's Colleges

October 2006