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Further education

Whether you've just finished your GCSEs or are looking to return to education through adult learning, consider what the UK's further education (FE) sector has to offer. Discover how to apply for college courses, and explore studying for A-levels, T Levels, HNCs, BTEC diplomas or higher apprenticeships.

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Further education colleges in the UK

Hear John Mountford, International Director, Association of Colleges explain the work of further education colleges in the UK.

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UK Further Education

Not sure you’re ready for a Bachelor’s degree? Interested in both academic and vocational courses?

Enrol at a UK further education college. You can gain a UK Higher Education qualification such as a Higher National Diploma (HND), enhance your career prospects, and still top-up to a university degree later.

Why choose the UK further education?

If you would like to study in the UK and want to keep your options flexible, a course at a UK further education college could be the solution.

UK further education (FE) colleges are funded by the Government and offer access courses, higher education-level diplomas and in some cases full Bachelor’s degrees. College qualifications are designed to equip students with job-specific skills that they can transfer into the workplace, boosting their employability. They are designed in close partnership with employers, thereby ensuring a competitive edge and exposure to the latest industry.

UK college diplomas such as HNDs are often more affordable than other types of courses and offer articulation pathways to Bachelor’s degrees at a range of universities. Completion of an HND is considered equivalent to the second year of a university degree in the UK. In addition, many UK FE colleges also offer higher education qualifications in direct partnership with universities.

Studying at a college is a different experience to studying at university.College class sizes are generally smaller than at university and you will probably be in more timetabled classes. A college course is a great way to prepare for independent study and learning, progressing to university later if you choose to. There are colleges located all across the UK, in big cities, small towns and rural areas.

If you would like more information about the UK’s further education offer, including locations of colleges, courses and entry requirements, please visit the following links:

External links

England: Association of Colleges
Wales: Colleges Wales
Scotland: Colleges Scotland
Northern Ireland: NI Direct

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Why study at a further education college?

Colleges offer a wide range of higher education courses, from higher national diplomas (hnds) and foundation degrees to honours degrees and postgraduate study..

What’s college all about?

Colleges have their degrees validated by universities and often work closely with partner universities to broaden and enhance student opportunities.

Many colleges have well-equipped campuses and centres across a wide geographical area, offering easy access to higher education wherever you live, whatever your situation.

You'll have to apply through UCAS for some courses or directly to the college for others (often part-time and distance-learning courses).

What qualifications can you get at an FE college?

There’s a variety of qualifications you can get from college rather than university, including:

Foundation degree
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)
Higher National Certificate (HNC)
Higher National Diploma (HND)
International Baccalaureate

Benefits of studying at college

University isn’t for everyone. A college course might suit you and your career aspirations more than a long degree at uni.

There are some pros to studying at college. For example, the lower tuition fees and quicker degree mean you’ll leave and enter the working world quicker, and potentially saddled with less debt. In the same vein, you could remain at home and study, cutting expenses even more.

Colleges can also be more flexible, allowing for easier part-time courses, and the smaller student population can mean a more personal touch with more individual support.

Perhaps the most important part of college education is it can enable students who need, or want, a bit more vocational education. You can easily progress to a degree after your college course, with more confidence and an extra qualification.

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College or university?

There are some differences between a further education (FE) college and university. Some students see college as a stepping stone if they don’t feel comfortable or ready for university, or if they want to enhance their education in one sector before applying for a degree.

Colleges are more likely to focus on practical skills, but universities will split teaching between method, theory and practice.

Another thing to notice is that full university degrees tend to be three or even four years long, whereas college courses will often only be one or two years.

In an FE college, the students will more likely be mixed in both age and subjects. You’re more likely to find vocational subjects and skills-learning in an FE college than at university, where students study for degree qualifications such as bachelor’s, master’s and doctorates.

There are some differences in teaching methods between colleges and universities. Colleges are likely to have smaller classes and more intimate learning, allowing for more questions and face-to-face interaction with professors. Both tutors at FE colleges and universities will be of similar standard. Some may even teach at both kinds of institutions.

Graduate opportunities

An FE college degree will be awarded by a partner university, so the qualifications you’ll gain from both will be considered by employers. Other parts of your CV will usually be more important than the actual place you studied at, such as the grades you got and any extracurricular skills you gained.

College or foundation year at university?

Another option is a foundation year at university, which is essentially year 0 – a year to get up to speed before you start the three- or four-year degree.

This decision is personal and you should weigh up the pros and cons of both options. A foundation year at uni will add a year to your degree but can be helpful in making sure you’re ready to progress. A college course may be all you want or need to get you earning an income, but you’re also able to continue to uni afterwards.

Some courses already come with a foundation degree attached, such as the Art Foundation Diploma, designed to get you up to speed before completing your Art & Design degree.

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UK Education System

Further Education System

When students reach the age of 16 and have completed their GCSEs they have a few options to choose from:

Academic Qualifications

Vocational qualifications.

If students opt for carrying on with their education this will take two forms, either by pursuing further academic qualifications or by following a vocational pathway.

Most schools in the UK have what is called a "6th Form" for students to enter after they have taken their GCSEs. As an alternative, there are many "6th Form Colleges" that will offer the same courses from students at schools that do not have a 6th form. Here students typically study A-levels, further academic qualifications required of students before they enter higher education and a degree program.

A-levels, like GCSEs, follow a two-year program and there are two components to them: full A-levels and half AS-levels. Generally A-levels comprise of 6 modules, and an AS-level has 3 modules.

Students will generally take between two to three A-levels, but depending on your academic ability and drive you may take more. Students at independent schools may take anywhere up to 5 A-levels.

For students who are not so academically minded, they still have the option to further their education by studying a vocational course that will provide them with a more hands on experience and education.

The most popular vocation programs include:

BTEC Awards
National Vocational Qualification (NVQ)
City and Guilds Qualification
Apprenticeships

Most international students coming into the UK will be taking academic programs with the aim of gaining admittance to a degree program. If you are one of those students, visit the UK Higher Education System page.

Please note that Scotland has a separate education system and does not conform to the above structure. Please learn more about the Scottish Education System .

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UK Further Education System

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Further education in UK is the stage of education between compulsory education and higher education or university education. As we described here , at the UK education system students enter this stage at 16 years of age and finish it up when 18 years old.

In UK, once you complete the secondary school and get the GCSE results you’re free to decide whether you want to seek an education at higher stages or land the job market right away. As such, further education in the UK marks a vital time in one’s life since it indicates his further life’s track.

That said, a scholar has the following options after finishing secondary school:

Prepare for University
Vocational education

The education system in UK is very flexible regarding the fact that it offers numerous options for students in terms of career pathways they can get.

If you have no aspiration to attend education at higher stages, but you would rather like to find a good job and live independently then there are countless options to you at this point. Once you step out of your high school and take your GCSEs you can land the job market. Companies around are eager to recruit young and motivated individuals who are looking forward to starting their adventure in the job market. They value your motivation and therefore take care of your transition into the market comes with ease.

In line with this commitment, colleges in cooperation with many employers establish certain recruiting schemes offering short-courses to prepare candidates with the required skills for the job you’re willing to work.

Also, there are many apprenticeships you can get while under a constant professional provision. These short courses are mainly common for jobs in the industry that require a set of technical skills before start working. Surely this is much common for jobs which may require a bit preparation before start doing it. And also the opportunities to seek better job options afterwards are higher than if you have just landed a job which doesn’t require any level of expertise at all.

Further Education Qualifications

Further education qualifications rely on two purposes: to prepare you for seeking a job or to prepare you to get admitted into the university.

Qualifications that can be attained at this stage of education are divided into four sections

Academic qualifications

Applied learning-qualifications
Technical qualifications

Functional skills qualifications

On the other side of the coin, there are students who want to pursue higher stages of education. For these students, further education stage in UK represents a great opportunity to make their academic profile more appealing.

Furthermore, students who haven’t taken their GCSE exams at the age of 16 can still seek to make it through this stage of education. This is a much-desired option since UK universities are highly selective and getting a FE qualification will indicate a higher probability to take a university seat. Fortunately, in UK there’s a wide range of these courses covering particular subjects that lead to certain qualifications.

If you decide to get a university degree in a subject you’re interested than academic qualifications are a suitable option for you. These programs last for up to two years and aim to prepare you in a particular number of subjects required at the degree course you’re planning to apply at the university.

Your GCSE scores at particular subjects like English, Math and Sciences play a major role in your admission, while additional higher grades at particular subjects are required. For example, if you’re willing to apply for an Engineering course you may be required to have higher GCSE in English, Math and Physics.

Usually, further education courses cover 5 up to 5 subjects but are mainly focused on only 3 subjects because that’s how much universities expect from incoming applicants.

The following are academic qualifications you can attain in UK further education

A-Levels – are subject-based qualifications conferred about several subjects. Most students concentrate on three particular subjects because this is what most universities require to get admitted. Over two years, students gain a grounding in subjects they’ve chosen to study and their knowledge attainment is assessed through several examinations

Cambridge Pre-Us – the course leading to this qualification lasts for two years and students can choose up to four subjects from among 26 subjects available.

Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers – are the qualifications required to enroll a Scottish university. Students can choose to focus their course in four subjects among 60 available subjects. Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers are the equivalents of the A-Levels and AS-Levels.

Baccalaureates – are qualifications that combine several academic subjects and particular skills related to them.

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and Interdisciplinary Project – these qualifications can be taken aside from A-levels or Scottish Highers and you can run an independent study on your favorite subjects.

GCSEs – GCSEs are qualifications that students take when they get over their secondary school, but if one doesn’t score high at particular subjects, particularly in mandatory subjects (English, Maths and Science) he is obliged to undertake these exams during the stage of FE.

If you’re interested in a particular industry and would like to gain the professional skills required to find a job in that industry then vocational courses are are highly recommended to you. These courses are divided into Technical and Functional skills qualifications.

The followings are Technical vocational qualifications awarded as part of the further education in UK .

NVQs and SVQs – qualify you to do a specific job and can be taken if you have a full-time job a course that involves a work placement

Technical levels – several qualifications that grant you a set of practical skills to perform a particular group of tasks in the job environment.

Technical certificates – are designed to equip with a set of skills and knowledge for a particular job where employers hire applicants with level 2 qualifications.

TechBac – is a new programme which is a blending of Technical level qualification, the Extended Project qualification and some elements like teamwork

Aim to prepare you with a set of skills in core subjects of English, maths and ICT to be able to enter higher education or the job market. You can seek to get this qualification as part of an apprenticeship, traineeship or study programme.

Where can I attend a further education course?

Further education courses in UK are offered at so-called sixth form colleges. These are schools that run recognized courses and grant advanced qualifications like A-Levels required to apply at a UK university. Also, they offer similar courses to prepare you to sit in GCSE examination if you haven’t done it by the time you finished secondary school. Note that you can switch places if your school doesn’t offer further education courses.

What is the difference between Further education and Higher education?

For many foreign students when landing a new, unknown educational system which has its original terms and vocabulary, it’s hard to comprehend how it is structured and how it works out.

Many are confounded about the difference between further education and higher education. The reason has to do mainly with the uniqueness and contrast of UK education system to other traditional educational systems applied in other countries of the world.

In UK you cannot head directly to the university once you have completed secondary school, which is the case in most countries of the world. Here the final stage of compulsory education (the secondary school) terminates at 16 years of age in contrast to most countries where the high school is completed when a scholar turns 18.

Further education in UK is the stage at which students decide which path they’re going to take it in the forthcoming stages of their life. Those who have academic goals may choose a course that leads to a specific qualification required to succeed in university application afterwards, others may choose a short course that prepares them for a specific job place and some may drop further education to enter straight into the job market.

But, do universities in UK admit students aged under 18?

Rarely, they do. But there are certain rules applied in such scenario. Commonly a set of conditions and terms must be signed by your parents under an agreement presented by the University of your choice. That said during the further education in UK you either will be seeking to get advanced qualifications to enter university or you will start working full-time.

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Further education in England: the facts

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(Photograph) - Official statistics giving the most up-to-date information on the further education sector in England. The further education sector comprises 456 general further education colleges, tertiary colleges, sixth-form colleges (including former voluntary-aided and voluntary-controlled), agriculture and horticulture colleges, art and design and performing arts colleges and 14 specialist designated colleges.

The specialist designated colleges such as the Northern College of Residential Adult Education and Ruskin College recruit on a national basis in contrast to the predominantly local recruitment of most other colleges.

In addition to further education sector colleges, there are some 50 higher education institutions with further education work and some 400 other providers known as "external institutions", which are mainly local authority adult education centres also receiving cash from the Further Education Funding Council in 1994/95.

College information

* more than Pounds 2.6 billion in recurrent funding was allocated by the council to further education sector colleges, higher education institutions and external institutions in 1994/95 (figure 1)

* there are more than 450 further education colleges in England (figure 2). More than 60 per cent of colleges are general further education and tertiary colleges, 25 per cent are sixth-form colleges and the remainder are specialist art and design, agriculture and horticulture or designated colleges

* further education colleges vary in size (figure 3) both in terms of enrolments and full-time equivalents (FTEs). Thirty per cent of colleges had more than 18,000 enrolments. In terms of FTEs, 30 per cent of colleges have up 1,000 FTEs and 8 per cent have more than 5,000 FTE

* the proportion of income colleges receive from the council is around 90 per cent on average for sixth-form colleges, 71 per cent for tertiary colleges, 65 per cent for general further education colleges, 52 per cent for art, design and performing arts colleges, and 45 per cent for agriculture and horticulture colleges. The remaining income comes from a number of sources including education contracts with local education authorities, Training and Enterprise Councils, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, as well as tuition fees and charges Student information

* the majority of students in sixth form colleges are enrolled on full-time full-year programmes (figure 4). Students in other colleges in the further education sector are enrolled on a mixture of part-time and full-time programmes

* students in sixth-form colleges are mainly studying humanities, science, business and art and design subjects. Humanities includes foreign languages. In further education and tertiary colleges, there is a much wider distribution of students between programme areas. Students in other specialist colleges are studying on programmes that reflect the specialism of the college (figure 7)

Note that the total enrolments in figure 7 differ from figure 4 because of differences in institutional coverage and time period.

* a small amount of provision in further education colleges, some 5 per cent, is of higher education courses (figure 5)

* more than half of students in further education colleges study for vocational qualifications. A further quarter study for GCEs and GCSEs. Comparable information is not yet available for sixth-form colleges, however, the great majority are studying for GCE A levels

* 74 per cent of students in further education are adults, the majority of these are young adults. Men and women are fairly evenly represented up to the age of 24. At 25 and over, women outnumber men (figure 6). Comparable information is not yet available for sixth-form colleges, however, the great majority of students in sixth-form colleges are aged 16 to 18 Participation

* overall participation in education by 16 to 18-year-olds increased 15 percentage points from 1987/88 to 1993/94. Full-time participation by 16 to 18-year-olds is increasing in all institutions whereas part-time participation on FE courses is decreasing (figure 9)

Note that sixth-form colleges are excluded from figure 6, 8 and 9 as the data source for these tables is the further education statistical record (FESR) which sixth form colleges do not return.

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Further education and skills

Updated to add links to the interactive data visualisation tool

Updated with data covering the first two quarters of 2023/24. Achievement rate data also added covering 2022/23

Introduction

This release shows provisional in-year data on adult (19+) further education (FE) and skills in England reported for the academic year 2023/24 (August 2023 to January 2024) based on data returned by providers in February 2024. This includes apprenticeships in the overall FE and skills numbers, but for statistics relevant to apprenticeships and traineeships please see the ‘ Apprenticeships release ’.

Please note that the ‘ Explore data and files ’ section contains the underlying files and featured tables that underpin this release. You can also view featured tables or create your own table using the ‘ create your own tables ' functionality.

Headline facts and figures - 2023/24

Adult (19+) further education and skills participation.

Up 0.8% from 2022/23

Adult (19+) funded further education and skills participation for the 2023/24 academic year includes Apprenticeships, Community Learning, and Education and Training.

Adult (19+) education and training participation

Up 4.6% from 2022/23

Adult (19+) education and training participation for the 2023/24 academic year. This includes classroom, distance and e-learning and learning funded by advanced learner loans.

Community learning participation

Up by 1.6% from 2022/23

Community learning participation for the 2023/24 academic year. This includes a range of non-formal courses to promote civic engagement and community development.

Of the 1,308,800 adult (19+) government-funded further education and skills learners participating so far in 2023/24:

Females account for 59.1% (773,990).
Higher level (level 4 or above) participation increased by 4.6%, to 234,520 from 224,300 in 2022/23.
Learners recorded as having a Learning difficulty/disability (LLDD) account for 19.2% of the cohort (242,520) an increase of 7.0% from 2022/23.
The cumulative number of enrolments on Free Courses for Job qualifications, reported between April 2021 and January 2024, stands at 67,240, with 18,020 of these reported in the 2023/24 academic year so far.
Adult essential skills including digital skills participation reported was 343,520 – a decrease of 4.8% since 2022/23.
Female learners participating in Community learning was 74.8% (145,970) compared to 75.4% (144,970) in 2022/23 whilst males increased to 25.2% (49,190) compared to 24.6% (47,210).
From August 2023 Community learning types have been replaced by seven new purpose types. Of the 195,160 learners 46,610 are participating in Improving essential skills including English ESOL Maths and Digital.

Explore data and files used in this release

View or create your own tables.

View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool

Data catalogue

Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue

Data guidance

Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance

Download all data (ZIP)

Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file

Additional supporting files

All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:

Advanced learner loans applications - top 10 qualifications (csv, 14 Kb)

Advanced learner loans applications - top 10 qualifications

Education and Training Achievement Rates - By Provider with Provider Type (zip, 4 Mb)

2021/22 and 2022/23 achievement rates for individual providers. Also includes provider type.

Education and Training Achievement Rates Transparency - Provider Redactions (pdf, 583 Kb)

Redacted 2021/22 Education and Training achievement rates for those providers whose data has been redacted from the official provider level national achievement rate tables. Note there are no redactions for the 2022/23 year.

FE and skills (FES) learner achievements (excluding Community Learning and non-regulated Multiply aims) (csv, 491 B)

Adult (19+) FE and skills (FES) learner achievements (excluding Community Learning and non-regulated Multiply aims) from 2016/17 to 2022/23. This file was published in January 2024. This summary file contains a count of learners achieving any funded FE and skills learning aim, with the exception of community learning and non-regulated Multiply aims. The main FE and skills publication contains total FES learner achievements that include Community Learning and non-regulated Multiply provision.

FE and skills (FES) learner achievements (excluding Community Learning and non-regulated Multiply aims) by local authority (csv, 62 Kb)

Adult (19+) FE and skills (FES) learner achievements (excluding Community Learning and non-regulated Multiply aims) by local authority from 2018/19 to 2022/23. This file was published in January 2024. This summary file contains a count of learners achieving a funded FE and skills learning aim, with the exception of community learning and non-regulated Multiply aims. The main FE and skills publication contains total FES learner achievements that include Community Learning and non-regulated Multiply provision.

FE and skills (FES) learner participation by provider and sex 2022/23 (csv, 598 Kb)

This contains adult (19+) FE and skills (FES) learner participation by provider and sex for the academic year 2022/23

Metadata for underlying data files (pdf, 436 Kb)

Explanatory information for using the underlying data files that accompany the FE and skills 2023/24 statistics publication.

Underlying data - FE and skills (FES) aims achievements (zip, 30 Mb)

This contains lots of additional data on FE and skills aims achievements. Full details of all our underlying data files can be found in the document called "Metadata for underlying data files".

Underlying data - FE and skills (FES) aims enrolments - 2022/23 updated with Under 19s (zip, 275 Mb)

This contains lots of additional data on FE and skills aims enrolments. Full details of all our underlying data files can be found in the document called "Metadata for underlying data files". This file is an update to the file published in Nov 23, it now contains Under 19 learners.

Underlying data - FE and skills (FES) aims enrolments - 2023/24 reported to date (zip, 213 Mb)

This contains lots of additional data on FE and skills aims enrolments. Full details of all our underlying data files can be found in the document called "Metadata for underlying data files.

Underlying data - FE and skills (FES) demographics (csv, 5 Mb)

This contains lots of additional data on FE and skills demographics. Full details of all our underlying data files can be found in the document called "Metadata for underlying data files".

Underlying data - FE and skills (FES) learner participation (zip, 80 Mb)

This contains lots of additional data on FE and skills learner participation. Full details of all our underlying data files can be found in the document called "Metadata for underlying data files".

Underlying data - free courses for jobs starts and achievements on individual courses (csv, 70 Kb)

Total starts and achievements on individual courses through the 'Free Courses for Jobs' offer, April 2021 to January 2024

View related dashboard(s)

The interactive data visualisation tool has been developed to complement the Further education and skills statistics.

The tool provides an interactive presentation of Education & Training and Community Learning data, which allows users to investigate the data by level, subject, provider, learner characteristics and geographical area.

About these statistics

This statistical release presents provisional information on adult (19+) FE and skills participation and achievements in England for the 2023/24 academic year (covering August 2023 to January 2024).

The data includes Apprenticeships, Community Learning, and Education and Training provision taken at General Further Education Colleges (including Tertiary), Sixth Form Colleges, Special Colleges (Agricultural and Horticultural Colleges, and Art and Design Colleges), Specialist Colleges and External Institutions.

A separate release covers apprenticeships data, please see ‘ Apprenticeships release ’, but note that apprenticeships are included in the overall FE and skills numbers in this release.

Individualised Learner Record (ILR) administrative data

The ILR is an administrative data collection system designed primarily for operational use in order to fund training providers for learners in FE and on apprenticeship programmes. We publish a high volume of FE statistics using provisional, in year data and use latest data as soon as available despite not being ‘final’. This enables us to provide the earliest picture of FE performance and allows users to assess the impact of government-funded provision and hold the ‘system’ to account.

The FE and skills data in this release are based on the sixth ILR data return from FE and apprenticeship providers for the 2023/24 academic year, which was taken in February 2024.

Quarterly release schedule:

Quarter 1: Data from August to October published in January
Quarter 2: Data from August to January published in March
Quarter 3: Data from August to April published in July
Full Year: Data from August to July published in November

Note: The academic year in the FE publications covers August to July.

National achievement rate tables data

Figures in the ‘national achievement rate tables’ section are as published in March 2024. These official statistics cover achievement rates for the 2022/23 academic year and would have been previously released as part of the standalone National achievement rate tables publication.

Provider reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic

Historic data in this publication covers periods affected by varying COVID-19 restrictions which will have impacted on further education including apprenticeship learning. Therefore, extra care should be taken in comparing and interpreting data presented in this release. It is likely to have impacted on provider behaviour in terms of the reporting of FE and apprenticeship learning during the affected period, and this could vary by provider.

How to find data and featured tables in this release

The content of the publication contains charts and tables which highlight key figures and trends that give an overview of the national picture.

At relevant points within each commentary section there are links to “ featured tables” that offer the next level of detail behind each of the tables embedded within the release. The table builder tool “featured tables” sit within, also enables the user to amend content, reorder and take away to meet their needs.

The user can also choose just to explore the data within this release by using the ' Explore data and files used in this release ' section. Here the user can either select “view or create your own tables” to view all of the ready-made “featured tables” in a single list, or build their own table by selecting a datafile that underpins the release, or use one of the featured tables as a starting point.

There is also a dashboard that provides interactive presentation of our published data, with a number of different views on to data and ‘drilldown’ capability to allow users to investigate different types of FE provision. It is particularly helpful in viewing data across different geographical areas and providers. See the Interactive data visualisation tool accordion for the dashboard link.

This release also contains an ‘ Additional supporting files ’ accordion containing mainly csv files that can be downloaded, which provide some additional breakdowns including unrounded data. They are provided for transparency to enable analysts to re-use the data in this release. A metadata document is available in the same location which explains the content of these supporting files. Please note some of the files are too large for proprietary software such as Excel and may need specialist analysis software such as R, SQL, etc.

We continually look to improve our data and statistics and your feedback is important to help us further improve and develop. To provide feedback on this release, please email us at [email protected] .

Full year Further Education and Skills data

The figures in this section cover adult (19+) further education and skills and relate to full-year final data up to and including the 2022/23 academic year, originally published in November 2023. This is a summary of all adult further education activity including Apprenticeships, Community Learning, and Education and Training provision.

Type of further education

Adult participation in further education and skills has declined in the last decade. From the most recent peak of nearly 3.3 million learners in 2012/13, participation fell to 1.6 million in 2020/21. However, the last two academic years have seen a reverse of this trend with participation rising to 1.7 million in 2021/22 and then 1.8 million in 2022/23.

Education and training, the largest component of FE & Skills participation, has shown a similar pattern, declining to 870,000 in 2020/21 from nearly 1.8 million in 2012/13 before rising to 954,000 in 2022/23.

Participation in community learning has seen a steady fall in most years. During the years affected by the pandemic, numbers dropped at a faster rate in 2019/20 and 2020/21, with recovery seen in 2021/22 and 2022/23.

In 2022/23, participation in all strands was up slightly on the previous years.

Further education and skills participation has changed over the years and has included different types of provision, including Apprenticeships, Community Learning, and Education and Training. Some provision and data sources are now more historical in nature such Workplace Learning (which had around 455,000 adults participating in 2011/12, dropping to 59,000 in the last year of reporting in 2015/16) and that relating to the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers, as well as data relating to pilots such as the Employer Ownership Pilots. Additionally, learners can participate at more than one level in different types of learning during an academic year and also on different types of provision, therefore it is not possible to sum individual levels or strands to obtain the overall total. For more detail on how we count different measures please see the Further education and skills statistics: methodology

Of the 1,818,480 adult learners participating in 2022/23:

The number on below Level 2 courses (excluding Essential skills) was 286,110.
The number on a Essential skills course was 438,440.
The number on Level 2 courses was 538,620 (on Full Level 2, there were 121,890 learners).
The number on Level 3 courses was 404,950 (on Full Level 3, there were 308,420 learners).
The number on Level 4 or above courses was 264,650.

Adult essential skills

Adult essential skills including digital skills participation reported for 2022/23 was 448,060 – an increase of 0.9% since 2021/22. Of these:

Participation on an English course was 222,990.
Participation on a Maths course was 242,230.
Participation on an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course was 144,560.
Participation on an Essential Digital Skills course was 17,510.

Adult essential skills excluding digital skills participation increased by 1.0% to 438,440 in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22.

Multiply is a new government-funded programme, introduced from April 2022, to help adults improve their numeracy skills. It includes both regulated and non-regulated courses up to Level 2.

There were 67,040 total enrolments on Multiply courses in academic year 2022/23 with 52,740 learners participating. There were also 45,990 achievements in 2022/23 (qualifications obtained on regulated courses and completions of non-regulated courses).

This does not include any activity not recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). People who participate in engagement events funded by Multiply do not need to be recorded in the ILR unless they participate in actual courses.

These figures include only learners funded by Multiply. There is a small overlap between these figures and those in the Essential Skills section above which captures participation in Essential Skills courses across all further education and skills provision types - apprenticeships, education and training and community learning.

Demographics

Three-in-five learners participating in FE & Skills were female in 2022/23 (60.6%). This share has increased slightly from 58.1% in 2017/18 and has fluctuated around the 61% mark in the last few years.

The proportion of learners aged 50 and above reduced from 20.1% in 2017/18 to 14.7% in 2020/21. However, this age-group has seen large growth in the last two years with nearly a third more learners in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22, increasing the share to 17.5%.

The proportion of learners declaring a learning difficulty or disability increased to 18.5% in 2022/23 – one percentage point greater than in 2021/22 and 2.2 points greater than in 2020/21.

The proportion of learners participating in FE & Skills who are white has declined in recent years. 72.6% of learners were white in 2022/23 compared to 77.5% in 2017/18. Over the same period:

Asian learners increased from 9.4% to 11.1%
Black learners increased from 7.3% to 8.1%
Learners from mixed/multiple ethnic groups increased from 2.8% to 3.8% and
Learners from other ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) increased from 2.9% to 4.5%

Learners in receipt of benefits

In 2022/23, the number of adult (19+) learners in receipt of benefits when they started their learning was 288,820. Based on self-reporting through the ILR, these are defined as those learners reporting that they were in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance - Work Related Activity Group (ESA WRAG), Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or Universal Credit (if unemployed and looking for work).

Further information can be found in the following featured tables :

Further education and skills participation and achievements by learning difficulty/disability Further education and skills learner characteristics by sex and ethnicity group Further education and skills participation by age and IMD quintile Essential skills participation and achievements by subject AEB - Adult education budget full year comparisons by level Further education and skills participation and achievements per 100,000 of population by region

Full year Education and Training data

The figures in this section cover adult (19+) education and training and relate to full-year final data up to and including the 2022/23 academic year, originally published in November 2023.

Subject and Level

Adult participation in Education and training increased by 8.6% to 953,840 compared to 2021/22 but has fallen by 15.7% since 2017/18. Achievements have increased in each of the last three academic years to 745,550 in 2022/23 but remain 17% below 2017/18 achievements. For 2022/23, participation and achievements in Multiply courses are contributing to these totals for the first time and explain much of the increase seen in this academic year (see the 'Full year Further Education and Skills data’ section for further information on enrolments, participation and achievements on the Multiply programme).

Level 2 courses remain the most popular (430,400 learners participating), followed by Essential skills (285,690). There has been a large rise in participation on courses that have no level associated with them – 115,840 in 2022/23 compared to 42,100 in 2021/22. Much of this rise is due to the Multiply programme.

Out of 1,827,410 education and training learning aim enrolments in 2022/23:

Science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) subjects represent 14.2% of enrolments where sector subject area is known - a slight decrease from 14.6% in 2021/22.
Just under half of all enrolments (867,850) are in the Preparation for life and work sector subject. Courses in Health, public services and care had the second highest number of enrolments (296,070).
Entry and Level 1 courses together make up 51.1% of enrolments – 932,920 in total. The majority of these are in preparation for life and work (73.3%).
Level 2 courses account for 30.8% overall (562,720) – just over a third of which are in health, public services and care (200,690).
At Level 4 or above, the largest proportion of enrolments are in health, public services and care (41.9%) followed by business, administration and law (19.2%). Business, administration and law has seen a fall in its share of level 4 enrolments, dropping from 26.9% in 2020/21 to 21.4% in 2021/22.

Of the 953,840 learners participating in adult education and training:

Females account for 63.2% (602,560). The rate of female participation in 2017/18 was lower at 55.7%.
Learners aged 19-24, 25-49, and 50 and over accounted for 19.5% (186,440), 62.7% (598,300) and 17.7% (169,070) respectively - broadly in line with the previous year.
Those declaring a learner learning difficulty and/or disability (LLDD) account for 21.3% (197,480) - an increase from 20.5% in the previous year.
The proportion of White learners dropped to 64.0% from 65.3% in the previous year. All ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) increased their proportion of education and training participants compared to 2021/22.

Education and training learner participation and achievement by age Education and training participation by ethnicity and sex Education and training learner characteristics by IMD quintile and age Education and training learner characteristics by LLDD

The North East consistently has the highest rates of education and training participation among adults when population size is taken into account and the South East and East of England the lowest.

Advanced Learner Loans

Of the 51,440 learners participating with an advanced learner loan in 2022/23:

Most of the learners were at Level 3 (43,650).
Of those at Level 3, the highest participation was from the 31-40 age group (13,630) followed by the 24-30 age group (11,120).
Level 4 or above participation was 8,200.

Education and training provider breakdowns Education and training provider aims enrolments Education and training subject aims enrolments by detailed level Advanced learner loans applications by age

Full year Community Learning data

The figures in this section cover community learning and relate to full-year final data up to and including the 2022/23 academic year, first published in November 2023.

Community learning participation increased by 8.0% to 328,690 in 2022/23 and is over a third higher than in 2020/21. Prior to this, there was a period of continual decline since 2012/13 when the number participating was 684,700.

In 2022/23:

74.5% (244,780) of learners were females compared to 74.4% (226,580) in 2021/22. Whilst 25.5% (83,910) of learners were male compared to 25.6% (77,840) in 2021/22.
21.2% (65,770) of learners declared themselves as having a learning difficulty and/or disability LLDD in 2022/23 compared with 20.5% (58,910) in 2021/22.
29.4% (92,670) of learners declared themselves as from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) in 2022/23 compared with 28.7% (83,690) in 2021/22.

Community learning participation and achievements by primary learning difficulty/disability Community learning participation and achievements by sex and age Community learning provider breakdowns Community learning by ethnicity

Latest in year Further Education and Skills data

The figures in this section cover adult (19+) further education and skills in the first two quarters of the 2023/24 academic year (August to January) and show corresponding data at the same time point for the previous three years.

Adult participation in Further Education and skills reported to date has increased by 0.8% to 1,308,800 compared to 2022/23 (1,298,970).
Level 2 courses were the most popular across the first two quarters (341,900 learners participating), followed by Essential skills (336,870).

Further education and skills in year comparisons by provider type and level Further education and skills in year comparisons by region Further education and skills in year comparisons by sector subject area

Additional data : AEB - Adult education budget in year participation comparisons by level

Latest in year Education and Training data

The figures in this section cover adult (19+) education and training in the first two quarters of the 2023/24 academic year (August to January) and show corresponding data at the same time point for the previous three years.

Adult participation in Education and training reported to date has increased by 4.6% to 652,210 compared to 2022/23 (623,550)
Level 2 courses remain the most popular in the first two quarters (266,080 learners participating), followed by essential skills (233,860).
There has been a large rise in participation on courses that have no level associated with them – 78,880 reported to date compared to 40,800 in 2022/23. Much of this rise is due to the Multiply programme.

Education and training participation by provider type in year comparisons Education and training achievements by provider type in year comparisons Education and training in year participation by English devolved area

Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs

As part of the government’s Plan for Jobs , eligible adults can access free level 3 qualifications through the Free Courses for Jobs offer.

A level 3 qualification is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or A levels.

From April 2021, adults aged 19 or over who did not already have a level 3 qualification could use the offer to access a course from the list of qualifications approved for funding .

At the beginning of the offer, there were 387 qualifications approved for funding and the number of eligible qualifications has fluctuated over time as some have been added and removed from the list. Previously, learners aged 24 or over would have had to pay the course fee for these qualifications, normally through an Advanced Learner Loan.

Since April 2022, the offer has been extended to adults in England who are earning under the National Living Wage annually (£20,319 from April 2023) or are unemployed, regardless of whether they have a full level 3 or higher qualification.

Figures reported up to second quarter of the 2023/24 academic year show that;

The cumulative number of enrolments on the offer, reported between April 2021 and January 2024, stands at 67,240 ; with 18,020 of these reported in the 2023/24 academic year so far. This includes those taking up free courses for jobs under the extended offer from April 2022.
The number of enrolments based on the eligibility criteria before it was extended (i.e. excluding those already holding full level 3 qualifications) stands at 57,300 .
Free courses for jobs enrolments are 61% higher than on equivalent courses in 2018/19, for adults who would have been able to access the offer before eligibility was extended. This is comparing enrolments in each year of the offer, under the original eligibility criteria and the qualifications valid within that year, with enrolments in the same or very similar courses that were also operational in the 2018/19 academic year.
Level 3 qualifications can take longer than a year to be completed and for learners to receive achievement status - especially if, for example, learners are balancing study with employment. We calculate that there have been 31,020 achievements by learners enrolled and funded through Free Courses for Jobs since April 2021.

In addition, Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have had the flexibility to use up to 20 per cent of Free Courses for Jobs funding to deliver selected qualifications in the sector subject areas covered by the offer but not included in the national list. In April 2023 this flexibility increased to 50 per cent for any Level 3 provision. There have been 5,290 starts on such courses between April 2022 and January 2024.

Additional data : Free courses for jobs - cumulative enrolments and achievements by subject and sex

Latest in year Community Learning data

The figures in this section cover community learning in the first two quarters of the 2023/24 academic year (August to January) and show corresponding data at the same time point for the previous three years

Community learning participation reported to date has increased by 1.6% to 195,160 compared to 2022/23 (192,180).

From 1 August 2023 changes were introduced to how Community learning is recorded. Seven new purpose types have replaced the four Community learning types.

So far in 2023/24:

74.8% (145,970) of learners were females
21.6% (40,110) of learners declared themselves as having a learning difficulty and/or disability LLDD
31.7% (57,070) of learners declared themselves as from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities)

Community learning in year comparisons by region Community learning age by purpose type Community learning LLDD by purpose type Community learning ethnicity by purpose type Community learning participation by learner characteristics in year Community learning in year provider breakdowns and purpose type

National achievement rate tables

The following statistics are classified as official statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, rather than being classed as national statistics and accredited as such by the Office for Statistics Regulation . The statistics are included for transparency purposes. Data in this section refers to 2022/23 and was first published in March 2024. Data for 2023/24 is planned to be released in March 2025.

The National Achievement Rate Tables (NARTs) present detailed tables of provider level Qualification Achievement Rates (QARs) that we use for performance management and informed choice purposes. Additionally we provide some national summary tables to show overall performance in the sector with a three year time series to enable comparison of change in performance over time. Whilst NARTs provide data on 19+ provision for performance management purposes, 16-18 provision is also included to give a complete view of individual provider performance.

In March 2020, the Secretary of State announced that the summer 2020 exam series in England would be cancelled to help fight the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). This announcement also stated that Government will not publish any school, college or provider-level educational performance data based on tests, assessments or exams for the 2019/20 academic year. 

In February 2021, given the continued disruption, it was confirmed this would also be the case for the 2020/21 academic year.  As a consequence of the disruption to the assessment process, the government announced a change to its school and college accountability approach , stating providers will not be held to account on the basis of exams and assessment data from summer 2020. This release will therefore only contain provider level data for 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Headline figures at a national level are available to provide a three-year time series, showing data from 2020/21 to 2022/23. That historical data has not been re-calculated and is shown as originally published in March 2023.

Data for years prior to 2019/20 can be found in the Statistics: national achievement rates tables collection.

Apprenticeship achievement rate statistics are available in the Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication.

Headline facts and figures

Overall achievement rates within the 19+ Education and Training cohort have increased from 86.2% in 2021/22 to 86.8% in 2022/23, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. Compared with 2020/21 they are up by 1.3 percentage points.

Things you need to know about this release

Care should be taken when comparing  outcomes with previous years. 

The purpose of releasing national level achievement rate data for 2019/20 and 2020/21 is to maintain the continuity of information and to provide context alongside the achievement volumes found elsewhere in this publication. It is important to maintain transparency by presenting the national level data for this cohort of learners whilst recognising the extraordinary circumstances surrounding 2019/20 and 2020/21 achievement rates, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Care should be taken when comparing with previous years due to the effects of the pandemic such as disruption to exams and assessments. 

Significant change in the way some assessments happened in 2019/20, and to a lesser extent in 2020/21, compared to previous years. Additionally, a significant change in some qualifications with the size of the cohort participating.  As a result, care should be taken when comparing data with previous years.

19+ Education and Training achievement rates by sector subject area

Different sectors have been affected in different ways and  as a result, care should be taken when comparing data with previous years.

The largest sector is Preparation for Life and Work (710,600) making up 49.0% of the total. 88.1% of this activity is below level two.

The sector with the highest achievement rate in 2022/23 is Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies with 92.0%.

The sector showing the highest increase in achievement rate since last year is Leisure, Travel and Tourism with an increase of 8.9 percentage points from 78.9% in 2021/22 to 87.8% in 2022/23.

The sector with the largest decrease is History, Philosophy and Theology, decreasing by 1.7 percentage points from 87.7% in 2021/22 to 86.0% in 2022/23.

Use our table tool to explore this data further by level and qualification type, by pressing the green “Explore Data” button.

19+ Achievement Rates by ethnicity

The figures in this section cover the achievement rates for those learners who are from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities). Please note the figures for “White ethnic groups” includes white minorities.

In 2022/23, learners aged 19+ from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) had an overall education and training achievement rate of 86.6%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from 85.9% in 2021/22.

The number of learners from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) was 614,600 which represents 42.4% of all learners. The take up of education and training for learners from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) varies according to the sector subject area.

The sector with the highest proportion of learners from minority ethnic groups (excluding white minorities) was Preparation for Life and Work where 54.7% of learners were from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities). The sector with the lowest proportion was Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care at 13.5%.

Caution should be used interpreting simple averages because differences in provision mix across sectors will lead to change in overall averages. Press the green ‘Explore data’ button above to look at the data by age, level, sector subject area, qualification type.

Achievement rates by provider

Data for individual providers can be found here : 19+ Education and training achievement rates by Provider

Background information 

National achievement rate tables are based on underlying Qualification Achievement Rates (QAR) data. Information about the process surrounding QARs can be found here: 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/introduction-to-qualification-achievement-rates-qars

How rates are calculated

Information about how QARs are calculated can be found here: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualification-achievement-rates-2022-to-2023

We have redacted no providers for 2022/23 and three providers from 2021/22 from our formal performance tables (NARTs) where we are unable to form a reliable QAR. This is done where the data we hold does not allow us to calculate a reliable estimate and therefore provides an unfair measure of performance. We publish headline information for these providers separately for transparency, but they do not constitute a formal QAR and should not be used to compare performance. The underpinning data is included in our national achievement rates to provide a complete view of performance.

Details can be found in the ‘Education and Training Achievement Rates – Transparency Redactions.pdf’ supporting file in the Additional supporting files accordion.

19+ Education and training achievement rates by Demographics 19+ Education and training achievement rates by Ethnicity 19+ Education and training achievement rates by Learners with a Learning Difficulty and or Disability 19+ Education and training achievement rates by Sex 19+ Education and training achievement rates for essential skills 19+ Education and training achievement rates for essential skills by provider

To view achievement rates by provider, with provider type, please see the supporting 'Education and Training Achievement Rates - By Provider with Provider Type’ file in the Additional supporting files accordion.

Help and support

Methodology.

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

Further education and skills statistics: methodology

National statistics

These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics . Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 .

Accreditation signifies their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics which broadly means these statistics are:

managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
meet identified user needs
produced according to sound methods
well explained and readily accessible

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing [email protected] or via the OSR website .

If you have a specific enquiry about Further education and skills statistics and data:

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Handbook of Comparative Studies on Community Colleges and Global Counterparts pp 253–269 Cite as

Further Education Colleges in the United Kingdom: Providing Education for Other People’s Children

Kevin Orr 3
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First Online: 22 March 2018

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1 Citations

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

Further Education (FE) colleges have existed in towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom (UK) in some form for well over a century. They bear similarities with American Community Colleges and Australian TAFE colleges, but they are characterized by their diversity and by the breadth of their curriculum, which includes vocational, academic, and higher education courses. Their primary role has, however, always been the provision of work-related courses, mainly for young people. Despite their size and apparent significance, FE colleges are often poorly understood by policy makers who have had little if any experience of these institutions which cater mainly to the less privileged in society. This chapter provides an overview and an analysis of FE colleges in all four nations of the UK, but it focuses mainly on England. It examines the history of these colleges to explain their very local roots, and it finds continuity in what has determined how colleges have developed up to the present day. English FE colleges have been subject to frenetic policy initiatives since the 1990s, and despite their ostensible independence they have been more and more tightly managed by central government agencies. The present juncture is an important one for the sector as FE colleges in the UK are currently facing major challenges due to sweeping cuts in funding. Yet, even if they have little control over their own future, FE colleges have continually demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to adapt and survive, mainly by providing individual students with the courses they choose to follow.

Curriculum for FE college
Design of FE colleges
Further Education (FE)
Further Education (FE) colleges
Teachers of FE colleges

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Elliott, Geoffrey. 1996. Educational management and the crisis of reform in further education. Journal of Vocational Education and Training 48 (1): 5–23.

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Orr, K. (2018). Further Education Colleges in the United Kingdom: Providing Education for Other People’s Children. In: Latiner Raby, R., Valeau, E. (eds) Handbook of Comparative Studies on Community Colleges and Global Counterparts. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50911-2_42

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Education, training and skills
Teaching and leadership
Teacher training and professional development

Teach in further education

Find out how you can become a further education teacher.

Applies to England

What is further education.

Further education ( FE ) is for learners who want to:

learn a skill or trade
study a vocational subject
develop their professional career
take post-16 academic studies
study as part of an apprenticeship
take adult learning courses in basic English, maths and other entry level courses

As a teacher in FE you could teach a diverse set of learners, including young people and adults.

If teaching a skill or trade, you’ll spend more time in practical settings such as workshops rather than in a classroom.

Visit Teach in further education to learn how to start your journey.

How to get into FE teaching

To teach in FE , you’ll need:

skills, knowledge and experience in your subject
the willingness to work towards a teaching qualification (or have one already)

Ideally you’ll have industry experience. For some providers, it is preferable for you to have a relevant trade qualification, usually at level 3. You can find out more information about what qualification levels mean .

You’ll also need level 2 maths and English skills. If you do not have these qualifications, FE providers might want to assess your knowledge and skills. They may support you to improve your maths and English skills as part of your training.

It will be expected that those who train on the job or in their own time will be working towards completing either a teaching qualification or a level 5 FE teaching apprenticeship .

Train on the job

There is no specific entry path to becoming a teacher in FE . One way is to apply for a teaching job with an FE provider that can support you to train on the job.

Government programmes, such as Taking Teaching Further, cover the cost of training while working as a teacher. If you are an education provider and would like to find out more about how to apply for this scheme, visit Taking Teaching Further .

You can start work as an FE teacher as soon as you can get a job with an FE provider . When you apply for a job, FE providers will look for:

knowledge of your subject
experience of your industry
practical skills you’ve learnt in your career

Find a job in FE teaching .

Benefits of training on the job

This may be the best approach if:

you want to start teaching in FE soon
there is a suitable job available at a local college or training provider
you do not want to pay for teacher training yourself

The provider may support you to study, for example:

a teaching qualification
a level 5 FE teaching apprenticeship

The qualification you work towards will be decided by your employer. Find out more about what qualification levels mean .

Train in your own time

If you prefer to train before starting a new role, you can do your teacher training in your own time around your commitments.

Once you have completed your training you can apply for any suitable jobs.

Benefits of training in your own time

you do not want to be tied-in to any one provider once you’ve qualified
you want to get a taste for FE before you commit to teaching in it

You may be eligible to apply for a student loan to help pay for the course fees and living expenses. Find out about student finance .

Depending on your subject, you may be able to get a tax-free bursary with your teacher training course. The value of these bursaries has increased for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

FE teacher training bursaries are worth up to £30,000 over the length of the course. The value of the bursary depends on the subject you are training to teach.

If you are training to teach maths and your course is 2 years in length, a £30,000 bursary would amount to £15,000 per year.

A limited number of bursaries are available each year. Your course provider will let you know if you are eligible. Find out about bursaries available for 2024 to 2025 .

Where you could work

Places where FE teachers work include:

independent training providers ( ITPs )
adult community learning

FE is not the same as:

secondary school, including school sixth forms

There are many types of colleges including general colleges, sixth form colleges, land-based colleges and national specialist colleges. Colleges offer a wide range of courses, both vocational and academic, and you may teach a wide variety of full-time and part-time students.

Independent training providers ( ITPs )

ITPs are typically a part of the private or charity sector, with many working closely with employers to deliver work-based courses.

Adult community learning

Adult community learning includes a range of community-based and outreach learning opportunities. This type of learning is managed and coordinated by local authorities and their partners to deliver adult education and training courses.

Some companies deliver in-house training which allows them to support their staff through their qualifications.

Courses are normally available to help prisoners gain new skills, for example learning to read and write, use computers, or do basic maths.

What you could teach

FE providers teach a huge range of courses, from social care to construction.

Often the subjects taught reflect the needs of the local economy.

The courses taught include:

T levels (new qualifications in technical subjects, broadly equivalent to 3 A levels)
apprenticeships
entry level courses

Professions, vocations and trades

There are many subjects taught in FE . The best way of discovering them is to explore your local FE provider websites.

Here’s a sample list of sectors covered by FE teaching:

agriculture, environment and animal care
business, administration and office management
catering and hospitality
childcare and education
construction
creative and design
digital and IT
emergency and armed services
engineering and manufacturing
hair and beauty
health and life sciences
legal, finance and accounting
sales, marketing and procurement
social care
transport and logistics

Academic subjects

You could teach subjects like:

social sciences
modern foreign languages
art and design
performing arts

Some FE providers require you to have a degree in the subject you want to teach.

Benefits of working in FE

FE providers are independent employers and may offer a range of benefits, in addition to salary packages.

These may include:

pension schemes
childcare vouchers
cycle to work schemes
support with travel costs

This is not a complete list. You can find what each FE provider offers on their website.

FE providers like colleges and training providers can:

set their own entry requirements in terms of qualifications or prior experience needed to teach in FE
have their own pay structure and other terms and conditions

This means that you will need to make your own assessment of any FE provider you consider applying to work for.

Like colleges, some ITPs will provide teacher training on the job. ITPs may differ from colleges in other ways, and could:

be industry or sector specific
have a more commercial focus
have a greater use of remote working

Working hours

A full-time FE teacher is typically contracted to 35 to 37 hours a week. Some teaching occurs in the evening, so the working day may vary.

Many FE teachers work part-time or flexible hours to fit around other commitments.

Look at job vacancies on FE job boards or providers’ websites to gain an idea of how flexible jobs in FE can be.

As an employee you are entitled to paid holidays.

Term-based holidays mean college-based FE teachers typically get 37 days’ paid leave per year, plus all bank holidays.

ITPs do not usually follow academic terms, so annual leave can usually be taken at any time.

The amount of leave offered varies by provider.

Read real-life stories of current FE teachers and discover what it’s like to teach in FE .

Find a teaching qualification

Teacher training is not linked to your subject. Instead, it will help you gain the specific teaching skills you need to best share your skills, knowledge and experience with your students.

The college or training provider will arrange this for you when you start a job with them.

Teacher training courses vary by:

minimum qualification requirements

What qualifications are available

These qualifications are good if you want to:

complete teacher training part-time or on the job
get a full teaching qualification

These are not the best qualifications if you want to:

teach in secondary schools
teach in sixth forms in secondary schools

Course structure

Typically, full-time study will involve at least 100 hours of teaching practice, including 50 in your chosen area if you are on a specialist pathway. You can do this over 1 year if studying full-time or 2 years if part-time.

Teaching status

Following the course, you will be eligible to apply for Qualified Teacher Leaning and Skills status ( QTLS ) .

This varies by provider, but is usually between £6,000 and £9,250. You can have this funded by a student loan or by your provider.

Non-teaching roles

There are many other roles in addition to teaching in FE , which includes working as a:

teaching assistant
learning support assistant

These sorts of jobs are advertised on FE providers’ websites, and on general job finder websites.

Where to find a job

The first place to look for a job is on your local college or training provider’s website.

Other places to look include:

Association of Colleges job site
FE Jobs - Further Education job site
College Jobs
Education Week Jobs
FE Careers - Further Education careers site
Times Educational Supplement ( TES ) job site
job sites such as Indeed, TotalJobs and Reed

The Department for Education does not endorse any particular providers or job sites.

Got a question about finding a job in FE ?

Call our advisors on 0800 389 2502. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5:30pm.

If you prefer, you can email us instead at Teach. FE @education.gov.uk .

Updated the bursaries information for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

Information on FE teacher training bursaries has been updated for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

First published.

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What are the differences between a further education college and a sixth form?

Basic guide written by Jade Archer, Outreach Assistant, Make Happen

There are roughly 90 school sixth forms, more than 200 colleges, and around 50 sixth form colleges to currently choose to study at throughout the UK.

What do these terms actually mean?

In the UK there are three types of institutions that provide further education (FE):

school sixth forms
sixth form colleges
further education colleges

Sixth forms offer a variety of A-level and BTEC qualifications and are attached to a secondary school, which is why they are often referred to as school sixth forms.

Sixth form colleges offer the same provision as a school sixth form however, they are separate from secondary schools. Unlike the latter, Further Education (FE) colleges offer a much wider variety of courses including access courses, higher education-level diplomas and often, bachelor’s degrees.

Colleges may also offer apprenticeships and other community provision. So, one way to think about it is that FE colleges are on one end of the spectrum and school sixth forms are on the other, with sixth form colleges being the middle ground.

What the sixth form or college environment is like

School sixth forms tend to be more formal places, as the site is often shared with younger students in years 7 to 13. The learning environment in a school sixth form can therefore already be very familiar to you, particularly if you’ve stayed on at the same place where you did your GCSEs. Teachers within a school sixth form may request that the same level of formality is retained in school, and students may still address their teachers as ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss’.

FE colleges provide a different learning environment to what you were used to at school. In FE colleges there are no students below the age of 16, and because they’re open to the community, there tend to be many students who are older than 16-19 studying there. Some FE colleges even have classes later in the evening to try and suit all learners.

The environment within an FE college is generally more adult-like, where students take responsibility for themselves and their learning. FE colleges tend to be slightly more relaxed when comparing them with school sixth forms, and students usually address their teachers on a first name basis.

On the other hand, sixth form colleges can be somewhat in between a typical FE college and a school sixth form. Sixth form colleges are typically more informal than school sixth forms and they often provide a wider range of courses when compared to them too. However, they are similar to school sixth forms in the way that only students aged 16 to 19 can study there.

When looking at the size of each type of institution, FE colleges and sixth form colleges tend to be larger than school sixth forms.

Your peer group

As previously mentioned, school sixth forms and sixth form colleges provide academic education to students who are between the ages of 16 and 19. On the contrary, FE colleges provide academic and vocational education to anyone above the age of 16 who wishes to study there. Therefore, the students around you will vary depending on the type of FE institution that you choose to study at.

Colleges may tend to be more informal, or more relaxed, but student work is more independent, and students must be self-sufficient in order to progress. At a college, you tend to meet students who are on a range of different courses which could mean that your timetables could be completely opposite, and you may only see each other two days a week.

Available courses

One of the first things you may notice when searching FE options is that most FE colleges offer a wider range of courses when compared to school sixth forms and sixth form colleges.

Most colleges offer A-levels, similar to school sixth forms, but they also offer other qualifications at a variety of levels including vocational courses; here is a brief rundown of the levels of qualifications that are typically available at most colleges:

Level 1: These qualifications are equivalent to GCSEs grades 3, 2 and 1 (D, E, F & G). They are basic qualifications that build confidence and provide students with essential and functional skills. Level 1 qualifications can also provide students with an introduction to a subject or area of work.
Level 2: These qualifications can provide students with a deeper understanding of a subject or area of work and are roughly equivalent to GCSEs grades 9 to 4 (A*-C).
Level 3: These qualifications include AS and A-levels, NVQ Level 3s, BTEC Nationals and so on. This level of qualification is required for entry into a university and employers can look for this level qualification in applicants when hiring for a technical or supervisory role.
Level 4 to 8: These levels can also be available in a college however they are classed as Higher Education (HE) qualifications rather than FE qualifications. Qualifications at this level can include Foundation degrees, Honours degrees and Postgraduate degrees or other professional qualifications.

School sixth forms tend to offer an extensive list of A-level qualifications for students to choose from; ranging from Modern Languages to Chemistry. Students are usually required to pick 3 A-levels and one AS-level with the choice of carrying on their AS to A-levels. AS-levels are only studied for the duration of one year, whereas A-levels are studied over the course of two years. Sixth form colleges typically offer a wider range of study options than a sixth form, but these options can vary by institution.

Timetable and term time differences

Whilst studying at school in the UK, students aren’t usually assigned free time or study time in their timetables. So, one of the first things that you may notice when looking at FE options is that timetables can vary. When studying at FE level, students are given more free periods, but the restrictions on these free periods depend on the institution itself.

FE colleges typically offer students several different study options including part-time, distance learning and full-time as well as a variety of qualification types, including academic and vocational courses; timetables for each option would look very different. Term times can also vary depending on the course and which study route you choose. For more vocational courses, such as catering and hairdressing, there is often the option of doing work placements which usually occur one day a week.

Students may find that, even on a full-time timetable at an FE college, they have several free periods in between classes, they may even have a whole day free, or be required to attend college from 8.30am to 5pm, three days a week. Your term times and weekly timetable will vary a lot depending on the qualification type that you want to study, the study route you choose, and the type of assessment that your course includes; for qualifications that require exams, your exam timetable may determine when you finish your course.

For example, if you were studying at FE level and your last exam was on 3rd May, then this could be your last day for that academic year. Sensible students would use that free time to complete coursework, assignments or revise.

School sixth forms and sixth form colleges usually offer more academic courses such as A-level Sociology and BTEC Health and Social Care. Your timetables will vary depending on what subjects you decided to study, and how many you decided to study. It is possible to start Year 12 studying four different subjects at AS-level, then you decide whether to continue with all four subjects into Year 13 as A levels or whether you drop one. The decision to drop a subject when reaching Year 13 may impact your timetable in a way that may allow you to have more free periods. School sixth form and sixth form college students usually have free periods, or even entire days free, throughout their two years of studying.

The restrictions on these free periods vary greatly, depending on the individual institutions’ rules and regulations. Sixth form colleges can tend to be more lenient with these free periods as there aren’t younger, more impressionable, students around to observe. The term ‘lenient’ in this case refers to students spending their free time whichever way they like, with no restrictions on how or where they can do this. School sixth forms can sometimes have stricter rules to follow line with the school that they’re a part of.

For example, a school sixth form may say that all free periods are spent on site, with the only exception being lunch time where sixth form students can leave the site and walk to the close amenities. Other school sixth forms may urge their students to stay in designated areas, or attend extra-curriculum activities, but it is solely down to the institution itself.

The location

In general, FE colleges and sixth form colleges tend to be located in the middle of town or city centres. Their location, and the variety of courses they offer, make them more accessible to the wider community. Several students opt to travel further in order to study at an FE college because of the wide range of opportunities and courses that they offer.

This central location means that they are often next to bus and railway stations, as well as all the town centre amenities. On the other hand, where school sixth forms are attached to secondary schools, they are often more localised and can be found throughout villages, towns and cities. Students who attend school sixth forms are usually students who previously studied at the secondary school attached, or one that is close by. Students who attend secondary school at the institution that they also want to study their FE qualifications still need to formally apply for their place, like any other student.

One thing to remember…

There is no wrong or right answer when it comes to deciding where to go next; every decision you make is going to be individual to you.

There are so many options to choose from, and it can be very daunting at first for anyone in your position. Most FE colleges and sixth form colleges have a dedicated careers team that is there to support, advise and guide you throughout your studies there – so make sure you check out the help available to you. School sixth forms don’t tend to have an entire team dedicated to careers, but your teachers and support staff can always offer you guidance.

Just remember to decide your next step by looking at what is right for you. It may help you to ask for support or advice from the people you are closest to such as your family and friends but remember the teachers and careers team from your school or college can also guide and support you.

If you’re thinking about completing a Higher and Degree apprenticeship, why not check out this video?

"Just remember to decide your next step by looking at what is right for you."

Consultation Hub

This site hosts consultations run by the Department for Education. Public participation is important to the development of our policies and guidance so please have your say.

Open Consultations

Childminder recruitment and retention consultation.

We're seeking views on how to support the recruitment and retention of childminders.

Closes 10 May 2024

National Standards for Personal, Social and Employability Qualifications

As part of qualifications reforms in Post -16 education in England, we are seeking to improve Personal, Social and Employability qualifications (PSEQs) (including Independent Living qualifications). This consultation presents the new N ational S tandards we have...

Closes 20 May 2024

Safeguarding Children in Schools and Colleges: A Call for Evidence

Safeguarding is one of the most important responsibilities that schools and colleges have, and we know how seriously teachers, designated safeguarding leads, support staff, and school and college leadership take that responsibility. Safeguarding is never static. As new safeguarding...

Closes 20 June 2024

Improving non-medical help for disabled students in higher education: Government call for evidence

A call for evidence to help improve non-medical help provision for disabled students in higher education.

Closes 3 July 2024

Closed Consultations

Further education residential standards.

We're seeking views on one change in the further education (FE) residential accomodation: national minimum standards.

Closed 5 April 2024

A world-class education system: The Advanced British Standard consultation

Over the next decade, we are seeking to introduce the Advanced British Standard (ABS), a new Baccalaureate-style qualification framework for 16-19 year-olds. The ABS will: Bring together technical and academic routes into a single framework, taking the best of A levels and...

Closed 20 March 2024

Guidance for Schools and Colleges: Gender Questioning Children

The consultation is seeking views on the content of the guidance and whether it will help to support schools and colleges, teachers and leaders to make considered and lawful decisions in relation to children who are questioning their gender and the wider school and college community.

Closed 12 March 2024

Child and family social workers: agency rules statutory guidance

We are seeking views on the draft statutory guidance for local authorities on the use of agency child and family social workers .

Closed 28 February 2024

Lefelau Gwasanaeth Gofynnol mewn addysg

Trosolwg Rydym yn ceisio barn ar gyflwyno rheoliadau i weithredu lefelau gwasanaeth gofynnol mewn gwasanaethau addysg ym Mhrydain Fawr yn ystod streic.

Closed 16 February 2024

We Asked, You Said, We Did

Here are some of the issues we have consulted on and their outcomes. See all outcomes

Fees and frequency of inspections regulations 2024-25

We asked for views on our proposals to make changes to the fees for children’s social care providers and how we consult on them in the future. We also sought views on the frequency of children’s homes inspections when there are no children accommodated and the disclosure of names and addresses in secure 16-19 academy and secure children’s homes inspection reports.

13% of respondents said a 20% increase in fees payable by children’s social care providers would have no impact. 18% thought the impact of the proposed fee increase would be minor. 38% told us it would have a moderate impact. 31% said it would have a major impact.

Most respondents (69%) thought it was necessary to consult on future fee increases and 19% thought it was not necessary.

The majority of respondents (69%) were in favour of our proposal of removing the requirement for Ofsted to undertake a second inspection on a children’s homes when there are no children accommodated in the home at the time of the first inspection. 12% were not in favour and 19% were not sure.

Half of respondents (50%) did not foresee any issues with the proposal for Ofsted to disclose names and addresses in secure 16-19 academy and secure children’s homes inspection reports. 25% did foresee issues and 25% were not sure.

The results of the consultation have been set out in a report on the gov.uk website. Based on these results the department has decided to implement a 20% increase on current fees payable by children’s social care providers not paying the full cost rate and not consult on future fee increases of 20% or less.

The department will remove the requirement for Ofsted to undertake a second inspection on a Children’s Home when there are no children accommodated in the home at the time of the first inspection and will allow Ofsted to disclose names and addresses in secure 16-19 academy and secure children’s homes inspection reports.

Further education initial teacher training reform

The Department for Education published a consultation asking for sector views on a range of questions covering two broad themes to drive up quality in further education (FE) initial teacher training (ITT):

proposed changes to student support funding eligibility for FE ITT courses
longer term proposals to improve FE teacher training quality.

A total of 78 responses were received from individuals and organisations spanning a variety of stakeholder groups, including FE colleges, universities, awarding bodies, unions, other learning providers, and representative bodies. All parts of the consultation were positively received by a majority of respondents.

As a result of the responses received – and broader evidence reviewed by government – we have updated the eligibility for student support funding for FE ITT courses, effective from academic year 2024 to 2025: Recognised further education teacher training courses eligible for student support: 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . As a result, only those FE ITT trainees at English higher education providers with degree awarding powers, or their validated partners (including FE colleges), will be eligible to receive student support funding for FE ITT courses.

Government is undertaking further work to develop longer term plans for reform of the FE teacher training system. It is highly likely that this will require regulations to be made under section 17 of the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022. This section of the Act has not yet been commenced. A first set of regulations made under this section would be subject to affirmative resolution by Parliament. No timetable for commencement of the relevant section, or the making of regulations, has yet been set.

Generative artificial intelligence in education: call for evidence

This call for evidence sought the views of the education sector on their use of, and attitude to, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in education.

Respondents across primary, secondary and tertiary education are already beginning to see benefits from the use of GenAI and are positive about the opportunities it presents, though many also have concerns about the potential risks. The responses also provided suggestions on the support that the sector would find beneficial.

The Department will use this information to shape its future policy in regards to GenAI in education, including how to best support the sector to optimise the opportunities of GenAI while minimising the risks.

IMAGES

The UK Higher Education System Explained
Understanding further education levels
YOU CAN STUDY
British Education System and Equivalency
UK Further Education
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COMMENTS

Further education colleges in the UK
Where to find a list of publicly-funded further education (FE) colleges in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. From: Department for Business and Trade, Department for International ...
Further education
FE in the United Kingdom is usually a means to attain an intermediate, advanced or follow-up qualification necessary to progress into HE, or to begin a specific career path outside of university education. Further Education is offered to students aged over 16 at colleges of Further Education, through work-based learning, or adult and community ...
General further education colleges
General further education colleges offer high-quality academic, technical and vocational education to people of all ages. There are 158 further education colleges in England, educating hundreds of thousands of students each year. The colleges offer a broad suite of qualifications and courses in levels 1 to 6, including higher national ...
Overview of the UK's further education sector
The UK boasts a diverse and wide-ranging further education sector that provides opportunities for school leavers, young adults and mature students Further education includes study after secondary school. College is for people of all ages, with courses free for students aged 16 to 18. 1.6 million ...
List of further education colleges in England
This is a list of current further education colleges that are publicly funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in England. The government considers colleges of the further education sector to be: "general FE (GFE) and tertiary colleges, sixth form (6F) colleges, specialist colleges (e.g. colleges of agriculture, or drama) and adult education institutes."
Further education courses and funding: Overview
Overview. Further education ( FE) includes any study after secondary education that's not part of higher education (that is, not taken as part of an undergraduate or graduate degree). Courses ...
Further Education
Helping you navigate further education once you leave schools. Including sixth form, college, apprenticeships and preparing to go to uni. ... Benefits of studying in the UK; Moving to and living in the UK; Fees, loans, and funding. ... Further Education. More about your options after school, including apprenticeships, college, and sixth form. ...
Further education
Advanced Level Information Communication Apprenticeship - Barnstaple. BT Group (2 other jobs) £19,501-£22,000. Barnstaple. Explore the UK's further education (FE) sector as you consider your post-16 career choices, how to apply for college, study A-levels, T-levels or BTEC diplomas, or assess your adult learning options.
Colleges in the UK For International Students & Courses
Study at a UK College. Colleges of Further Education are a popular choice for international students taking a university preparation course or completing vocational qualifications full-time or part-time. Colleges in the UK perform a variety of roles, including further education for 16-18-year-olds, vocational training, and adult education.
Further education colleges in the UK
Employ a language assistant at your school, college or university; COP28 climate negotiation simulation events; International Education Week; International Women's Day; Languages; Stories from the classroom; Schools Connect; English, education and arts. Our work in arts; Our work in education. Schools; Higher education and science; Skills and ...
UK Further Education
UK further education (FE) colleges are funded by the Government and offer access courses, higher education-level diplomas and in some cases full Bachelor's degrees. College qualifications are designed to equip students with job-specific skills that they can transfer into the workplace, boosting their employability. ...
Why study at a further education college?
A college course might suit you and your career aspirations more than a long degree at uni. There are some pros to studying at college. For example, the lower tuition fees and quicker degree mean you'll leave and enter the working world quicker, and potentially saddled with less debt. In the same vein, you could remain at home and study ...
Further Education System
Here students typically study A-levels, further academic qualifications required of students before they enter higher education and a degree program. A-levels, like GCSEs, follow a two-year program and there are two components to them: full A-levels and half AS-levels. Generally A-levels comprise of 6 modules, and an AS-level has 3 modules.
UK Further Education System
Further education in UK is the stage of education between compulsory education and higher education or university education. As we described here, at the UK education system students enter this stage at 16 years of age and finish it up when 18 years old.. In UK, once you complete the secondary school and get the GCSE results you're free to decide whether you want to seek an education at ...
Further education in England: the facts
College information. * more than Pounds 2.6 billion in recurrent funding was allocated by the council to further education sector colleges, higher education institutions and external institutions in 1994/95 (figure 1) * there are more than 450 further education colleges in England (figure 2). More than 60 per cent of colleges are general ...
Further education and skills, Academic year 2023/24
This statistical release presents provisional information on adult (19+) FE and skills participation and achievements in England for the 2023/24 academic year (covering August 2023 to January 2024). The data includes Apprenticeships, Community Learning, and Education and Training provision taken at General Further Education Colleges (including ...
AoC Home
Association of Colleges is the national voice for further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges in England. We are a not-for-profit membership organisation established in 1996 by colleges, for colleges.
Further Education Colleges in the United Kingdom: Providing Education
Further Education (FE) colleges have existed in towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom (UK) in some form for well over a century. They bear similarities with American Community Colleges and Australian TAFE colleges, but they are characterized by their diversity and by the breadth of their curriculum, which includes vocational, academic, and higher education courses.
What is a Further Education College?
There are 48 Further Education colleges in London that offer a wide range of courses including vocational, academic, technical and professional level qualifications.. According to the Association of Colleges, Further Education colleges in the UK have helped approximately 2.2 million students in improving their employability skills and broaden their career opportunities.
Teach in further education
Call our advisors on 0800 389 2502. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5:30pm. If you prefer, you can email us instead at Teach. FE @education.gov.uk. Sign up for updates and hear from current ...
What are the differences between a further education college and a
In the UK there are three types of institutions that provide further education (FE): school sixth forms; ... Further Education (FE) colleges offer a much wider variety of courses including access courses, higher education-level diplomas and often, bachelor's degrees. Colleges may also offer apprenticeships and other community provision. So ...
A future for the further education sector in England
Though there may be poor financial management in some FE colleges, what is certain is that the sector as a whole is underfunded. Figure 1 shows how overall government spending on further education and skills, including but not limited to FE colleges, has been cut since 2010-11. Spending on the adult continuing education courses has been particularly squeezed, as Mason also highlighted.
PDF Understanding higher education in further education colleges.
Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to understand the current nature of higher education (HE) in further education colleges (FECs) in England. The study was carried out between March 2011 and March 2012 by a team from the University of Sheffield and the Institute of Education, University of London.
Department for Education
As a result of the responses received - and broader evidence reviewed by government - we have updated the eligibility for student support funding for FE ITT courses, effective from academic year 2024 to 2025: Recognised further education teacher training courses eligible for student support: 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).As a result, only those FE ITT trainees at English higher ...
PDF College financial handbook 2024
further education and sixth-form college corporations. However, they should have due regard to the principles and guidance insofar as they apply to the further education and charity sectors 2.41 Colleges must adopt the code that best reflects their legal structure and operations. If a college does not fully comply with the code adopted, it must ...