Further-education finances improve

Citation

(1999), "Further-education finances improve", Education + Training, Vol. 41 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.1999.00441eab.003

Further-education finances improve

Keywords: Education, College, Growth

The financial health of the further education sector improved in 1997-1998, with many colleges breaking even for the first time since incorporation. This is revealed in the latest annual report from the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC). The report highlights:

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  particularly strong growth in student numbers for part-time enrolments;

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  increased collaborative working by colleges - especially with the private-sector training providers, voluntary organizations and private and public-sector employers; and

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  the funding of 26 widening-participation strategic partnerships, at a total cost of £2 million.

The FEFC distributed £3.1 billion to 800 institutions, covering 4 million students, between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. Lord Davies of Oldham, who chairs the FEFC, said: "Over the past year, the further-education sector has developed its position as a central player in the provision of post-16 education and training. The Government looks to the sector to play a key and expanding role in meeting its major educational and social objectives." David Melville, FEFC chief executive, commented: "Further education is vital to the social and economic wellbeing of the nation, and is rightly developing into a sector that is central to delivering the Government's lifelong-learning agenda. In building towards this, the sector has accepted the challenges - of greater responsiveness to student need, of widening participation and improving quality. "There is still much work to do ... but I believe that further education is moving forward."