Introduction
This report is the first substantive outcome of the Review of Scotland's Colleges. We - the 'Difference Colleges Make' Working Group - have produced it so that others can gain a better understanding of the breadth of colleges' activities and the difference that they make. We intend in this report to describe the varied work of colleges adding detail to the statistical information found in the Scottish Funding Council's baseline publication for Scotland's colleges, which will be published shortly.
Skills and knowledge coupled with positive attitudes and behaviours are key to unlocking opportunity. For many learners colleges provide the most suitable environment to acquire them. Together they can enable learners to adapt to the ever-changing demands of the marketplace and provide a route out of poverty. They can encourage individuals to participate actively in society.
Colleges receive significant public funds to achieve this - about £400m from the Scottish Funding Council ( SFC) in academic year 2004-05 for their general operation plus over £50m from the Council to allow colleges to provide bursaries to students. This funding will increase as a result of the 2004 Spending Review, which is delivering additional funds for Scotland's colleges for the financial three-year period from 2005-06. During the period, an additional £128m of capital funding will be available to invest in substantial modernising of the college estate, including the building of significant new campuses. Over the same period, current funding will also increase by £108m supporting growth, further improvements in the quality and innovation of learning, modernisation of the curriculum, development of the Higher National qualification, and enhancements of teaching methods.
We know that colleges on the whole deliver learning consistently well. We can rely on the reports of HM Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) to demonstrate this. Between 2000 and 2004, HMIE reviewed all colleges and 88% of cross-college grades were 'good' or 'very good' 1. In the 306 individual subject reviews that were also carried out the comparable figure was 86%. We did not therefore need to review the sector to discover how well colleges generally do. We already have confidence in the sector's ability to deliver. A new review cycle began in 2005. As the data sets for each year represent different groups of colleges, we have relied on the last full cycle of reports because it is inappropriate to interpret as evidence of sector trends differences in grades in individual years. That said, we are not complacent that problems may arise in individual colleges that require prompt action to bring standards back into line with the sector.
What we have been missing is a sector-wide understanding of the difference that college learning makes to learners, the economy and wider society. This report aims to fill that gap. By understanding the difference colleges currently make, we hope we will help inform discussions about the potential difference they could make in the future.
Information about the Review of Scotland's Colleges, including the remit, work and membership of the Working Group on the 'Difference Colleges Make' can be found at Annex A.