REVIEW OF SCOTLAND'S COLLEGES
WORKING GROUP: THE DIFFERENCE COLLEGES MAKE
This paper is also available to download as a PDF file
Minutes of Meeting
on 16 February 2006
at Oatridge College
Attendees
John Burt (Chair)
Linda Hall (Secretariat)
Col Baird, Review of Scotland's Colleges Team
Audrey Robertson, FAED
Colin MacBean, ASD
Karen Corbett, HMIE
Gordon Craig, SFC
Gordon McBride, SFC
John Kemp, SFC
Carl Bow, Scottish Enterprise
Gordon Rodgers, SQA
Julie Gilstrap, ASC
Brian Lister, Cumbernauld College
Christina Potter, Elmwood College
Adam Gaines, Equalities Co-ordinating Group
Mary Senior, STUC
Lilian Anderson, NUS Scotland
Jacqui Hepburn, SSDA
Lesley Berry, Skill Scotland
Apologies
Gerhard Mors, ASD
Sean Stronach, Communities Scotland
Gordon MacDougall, Careers Scotland
Garry Clark, Scottish Chambers of Commerce
1. College Visit
The Chair thanked David James, Principal of Oatridge College and the staff and students of the College.
2. Introductions
The Chair welcomed Karen Corbett as the new HMIE representative on the Group, Lesley Berry who will now be representing Skill Scotland and Jacqui Hepburn, the new Sector Skills Development Agency representative. The Group placed on record their thanks to the former members for their work to date.
3. Minutes of meeting on 1 December 2005 and Action Points
3.1 Minutes of meeting on 1 December 2005
· Agreed with one minor amendment.
Action Point: Final version of minutes of meeting on 1 December 2005 to be circulated to the Group prior to being published on the ROSCO website. (Linda Hall)
3.2 Action Points
· Economic Value of Colleges - no comments on the proposed methodology were received by ASD so they will be proceeding as outlined at the meeting on 1 December.
4. Draft Final Report
· Agreed that the draft report circulated prior to the meeting was to be considered as work-in-progress.
Timescales
· The report has two purposes:
- to provide evidence for the next Spending Review to justify the investment made in the sector.
- to provide a solid foundation to help consideration of the other workstreams in the review.
· Therefore although there may be some scope for extending the original timescales it is imperative that this report is completed first. It will require to be signed-off by the Core Group who are co-ordinating the full review. It is anticipated that the report will be published as a stand-alone document.
· The final report on the full review is due to be completed in January/February next year.
General Comments/Impressions
· Agreed that it was important not to oversell the sector and to acknowledge other educational providers e.g. Community Learning and Development.
Action Point: Case study on college and CLD working in partnership to be included in final report. (Karen Corbett/Brian Lister)
· As this review and the Budget Review exercise now being undertaken by the Executive will be running in parallel we will need to be alert to any possible different timescales.
· If we are going to be using statistics in the report we will need to be clear about the definitions we are using e.g. the term 'enrolment' will need to be clearly defined in the document to make the statistics meaningful to the reader.
· Case studies are a very powerful tool for showing what colleges can do but it was felt that we also need to highlight opportunities and challenges. However this type of information will be being picked up by another of the workstreams to be explored in the scenario development process so we need to be careful not to duplicate this work.
· The qualitative and quantitative data has to be tied more closely together to make them more meaningful. The case studies should be interspersed throughout the document so that they are put in context.
· The present draft needs to make a robust case for the FE sector. It is important that we get the core message right and that it is backed up by accurate and meaningful statistics and case studies which are representative of the sector.
· We should try to link the report to other SE publications and strategies e.g. Smart, Successful Scotland, promoting confidence, working with schools. Explain the root of the problem which the SE policy is trying to solve so that people will better understand the contribution being made by colleges.
· Need to capture the transformational aspects of what colleges do i.e. use case studies and statistics to show how people's lives have been transformed.
· Need to be stronger on promoting active citizenship.
· We need to consider the wider economic activity of colleges. It was suggested that we could maybe look at OECD comparators but SE economists argue that there would not be much value in this because of the problem of comparing like with like.
Action Point: HMIE to provide an introductory paragraph for each case study set in context with the typical work of the sector. (Karen Corbett)
[Brian Lister left the meeting at this point.]
· We are still awaiting case studies for the following:
- progressing to university
- modernising the curriculum
- workplace
- prisoner rehabilitation
- promoting growth and increasing productivity
- sustainability
- diversity
- promoting Gaelic.
Action Point: ASC to help liaise with colleges on missing case studies or to look for alternatives. (Julie Gilstrap)
· Explain the role played by the Funding Council in distributing funding to the colleges.
· Try to ensure that the final report is not too lengthy - remember we want people to read it!
Discussion of individual pages of the draft report
Page 1
- An Executive Summary will be added and the figures will be updated to include the most recent data available.
Page 2
- Is there such a thing as a 'typical' college?
- Courses are listed rather than subjects for brevity but it might be better to say that there is a wide range of subjects covered and give some examples.
- Use the term 'Scotland's colleges' throughout the document and define what this means.
- Provide definition of terms used e.g. 'enrolments'.
- People reading the report will need to understand SUMS - explain this fully.
Page 3
- Should mention that staff in colleges are BRITE trained.
- Add something more on young people and specifically the NEET group.
- Colleges deliver vocational qualifications i.e. employability skills, and this needs to be highlighted and tied in to social inclusion and economic development.
- Add something on international students - distinguish between EU and non-EU students and tie in to Fresh Talent initiative.
Page 4
- The diagram needs to be explained i.e. cap on growth following change in policy.
- Need to capture change in ethos of colleges which statistics don't explain.
Page 6
- Employer views - compare with HE and schools.
- Mention continued use of apprenticeships and colleges' role in developing bespoke training for local employers.
Page 7
- Consider removing the table - how useful is it?
- We don't have a lot of data on destinations but this will need to be covered. Colleges collect this data but SFC don't ask for it because of data quality issues. This could perhaps be covered by a case study.
Action Point: ASC to check if there is any data available on destinations. (Julie Gilstrap)
Pages 8-9
- Add more on citizenship and student participation.
Pages 10-13
- Need evidence to back up statements e.g. smaller class sizes.
- Don't contend that what colleges do is unique - acknowledge other providers. What is unique is the whole package of what colleges provide - the individual elements are not necessarily unique by themselves.
Page 12
- Amend second paragraph as it could be misleading.
Page 14
- Include commercial income and SFC income.
- Social value - this should also be referred to in the introduction to the report.
Efficiency of Colleges
Action Point: Efficiency paper to be amended and circulated to the Group. (Gordon Craig)
Case Studies
Action Point: Any comments on the case studies should be sent to Col Baird. (All)
Action Point: Small drafting group to be formed to work on report. ( Col Baird, Julie Gilstrap, Karen Corbett, Gordon Craig , Gordon McBride )
5. Any other business
· There was no other business.
6. Date and venue of next meeting
· The next meeting will be on Friday 31 March from 11 am to 3 pm at Elmwood College.
List of Action Points
· Final version of minutes of meeting on 1 December 2005 to be circulated to the Group prior to being published on the ROSCO website. (Linda Hall)
· Case study on college and CLD working in partnership to be included in final report. (Karen Corbett/Brian Lister)
· HMIE to provide an introductory paragraph for each case study set in context with the typical work of the sector. (Karen Corbett)
· ASC to help liaise with colleges on missing case studies or to look for alternatives. (Julie Gilstrap)
· ASC to check if there is any data available on destinations. (Julie Gilstrap)
· Efficiency paper to be amended and circulated to the Group. (Gordon Craig)
· Any comments on the case studies should be sent to Col Baird. (All)
· Small drafting group to be formed to work on report. ( Col Baird, Julie Gilstrap, Karen Corbett, Gordon Craig , Gordon McBride )
Linda Hall
FAED
22 February 2006