Chair of College Principals Group Comments on Survey of Further Education College Leavers Report

Commenting on the survey of Further Education College Leavers from 2018/19 which has been released by the Department for Economy on 5 November 2020 (below), Ken Webb, Chair of the College Principals Group said:

“This report is very encouraging and once again highlights the real value which our FE Colleges offer to learners completing and achieving a qualification at Level 3 or below. We are all committed to ensuring that each of our learners is equipped with the skills to succeed in a future career and it’s heartening to see an increased number of these students (up from 47.4% to 50.2%) in employment six months after achieving their qualifications.”

“As the job market becomes more uncertain, we know that challenges exist but we are confident our learners will continue to benefit from choosing to study at their local FE College. Our close links with the business community across all sectors ensures these learners can readily gain employment and we will continue to strengthen these. As we can see from this report, the subject areas with the highest proportions of leavers in full-time employment were Construction, Planning and the Built Environment, Business, Administration and Law and Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies. Our programmes in these subjects are vital not only for our learners but also employers who require a skilled workforce with the technical skills and expertise to meet the challenges of the future and it is crucial that these are continually supported.”

“Choosing to study in an FE College is about so much more than learning – it is about that wider experience. Figures showing that more than two thirds of our learners would choose to study again in the same College are really positive. Collectively, we all have to continue to champion the benefits and value of choosing to study in our FE Colleges and as Principals we remain committed to further improving these findings next year.”

Survey of Further Education College Leavers Report published

The Department for the Economy has published (5 November 2020) the following research report: Survey of Further Education College Leavers: Academic Year 2018/19.

This report presents findings from the sixth annual Northern Ireland Survey of Further Education (FE) College Leavers. Undertaken approximately six months after course completion, it provides a snapshot of the immediate added value to leavers of completing and achieving a regulated qualification at Level 3 or below in the FE sector during the academic year 2018/19.

Key points:

• Over half (50.2%) of FE college leavers who qualified at Level 3 or below were in employment six months after achieving their 2018/19 qualification, up from 47.4% before their course began; the proportion in learning also rose from 37.0% to 39.1%.
• When asked to give the most important reason for doing their course, FE college leavers were most likely to say: ‘I thought it would improve my career prospects’ (23.2%); ‘I wanted to learn something new / gain new skills’ (15.8%); or ‘I was interested in the subject’ (15.2%).
• Two-thirds (65.4%) of leavers agreed that, were they to do their course again, they would be unlikely to study at a different FE college. Over half (51.3%) said they would be unlikely to study a different subject, while 55.0% would be unlikely to do a different kind of qualification.
• Employment rates for FE college leavers varied depending on subject area studied. The subject areas with the highest proportions of FE college leavers in full-time employment were Construction, Planning and the Built Environment (73.6%), Business, Administration and Law (62.8%) and Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (54.7%).
• The subject areas with the lowest proportions of FE college leavers in employment were History, Philosophy and Theology (9.7%), Social Sciences (13.6%) and Arts, Media and Publishing (16.3%); however, these subjects had some of the highest proportions of leavers in further full-time study.
• Typically, unemployment rates were lower for those qualifying at higher levels.  One-eighth of those who had studied at Entry Level or Level 1 were unemployed (12.5%), in contrast to 3.9% of those who had studied at Level 2 and 2.9% of those at Level 3.

This report, along with tables (including notes and technical details), an executive summary and infographic are available to download from the Department’s website at: www.economy-ni.gov.uk/articles/further-education-research